A new Louisiana law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public classroom by the beginning of 2025 has been temporarily blocked after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on Tuesday.
The judge said the law was “unconstitutional on its face” – and plaintiffs were likely to win their case with claims that the law violates the US constitution’s first amendment, which bars the government from establishing a religion and guarantees the right to religious freedom.
The ruling marks a win for opponents of the law, who argue that it is a violation of the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state. They also argue that the poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments would isolate students, especially those who are not Christian.
Proponents say that the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance to the foundation of US law.
The US district judge John W deGravelles in Baton Rouge, who was appointed by the Barack Obama White House, issued the order in an ongoing lawsuit filed by a group of parents of Louisiana public school children after hearing arguments over the law in late October.
The state’s attorney general, Liz Murrill, released a statement on Tuesday saying she and her colleagues “strongly disagree with the court’s decision and will immediately appeal”, according to the New Orleans CBS affiliate, WWL Louisiana.
Any appeals in the case are going to be heard by the US fifth circuit, which is widely seen as perhaps the most conservative court. For now, 12 of the 17 active judges at the New Orleans-based court were named by Republican presidents.
The Louisiana law ruled on by deGravelles was passed by a Republican-dominated legislature and signed into law by the far-right governor, Jeff Landry, in the reliably conservative state that is ensconced in the Bible belt.
The law states that the text of the Ten Commandments must be shown in “large, easily readable font”, in a frame that is at least 11in by 14in, and is to be displayed in all public school classrooms from kindergarten to those in state-funded universities by 1 January.
Each poster must be paired with the four-paragraph “context statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries”.
The law does not require school systems to spend public funds on the posters – but rather, it allows the systems to accept donated posters or money for the display, according to the Associated Press.
In June, several Louisiana families backed by human rights groups lodged a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block the law, arguing that it was unconstitutional.
Landry in August told parents who did not want the Ten Commandments displayed in classrooms across the state to tell their children to “not look at them”.
On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana praised the ruling temporarily blocking the law from taking effect, calling it a “victory for religious freedom”.
“Religious freedom – the right to choose one’s faith without pressure – is essential to American democracy,” said Alanah Odoms, the executive director of the ACLU’s Louisiana chapter. “Today’s ruling ensures that the schools our plaintiff’s children attend will stay focused on learning, without promoting a state-preferred version of Christianity.”
The Rev Darcy Roake, who is a plaintiff in the case along with her husband, Adrian Van Young, celebrated the ruling, saying: “We’re pleased and relieved that the court ruled in our favor.”
“As an interfaith family, we expect our children to receive their secular education in public school and their religious education at home and within our faith communities, not from government officials,” Roake added.
The legislation, which has been touted by Republicans as well as Donald Trump as he successfully sought a second presidency, is one of the latest pushes by conservatives to incorporate religion into classrooms. The push includes Florida legislation allowing school districts to have volunteer chaplains to counsel students and Oklahoma’s top education official ordering public schools to incorporate the Bible into lessons.
In recent years, similar bills requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms have been proposed in other states including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah. However, with threats of legal battles over the constitutionality of such measures, none have gone into effect.
In 1980, the US supreme court ruled that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional and violated the establishment clause of the US constitution, which says Congress can “make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. The high court found that the law had no secular purpose but rather served a plainly religious purpose.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
