On Friday, a federal appeals court affirmed an earlier ruling blocking a Louisiana law mandating that public school classrooms display posters of the Ten Commandments. The decision is the latest development in a series of state-level attempts to mandate religious instruction in public schools.
"This is a resounding victory for the separation of church and state and public education," Heather L. Weaver, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a Friday press release. "With today's ruling, the Fifth Circuit has held Louisiana accountable to a core constitutional promise: Public schools are not Sunday schools, and they must welcome all students, regardless of faith."
Last June, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, signed House Bill 71 into law, which mandates that all public school classrooms display the Ten Commandments "on a poster or framed document that is at least eleven inches by fourteen inches," printed "in a large, easily readable font." The state tried to avoid claims that the law violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, which prohibits the government from "respecting an establishment of religion," by requiring displays to either be donated or purchased with privately donated funds and allowing teachers to display the Ten Commandments next to other important historical legal documents. However, courts have not found these arguments convincing. In November, a Louisiana federal judge blocked the law, writing that it was "facially unconstitutional."
