NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court on June 20 ruled that Louisiana’s law requiring public classrooms to display the Ten Commandments is unconstitutional, marking the second time the measure has been struck down in less than a year.
The unanimous decision from a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the law, known as House Bill 71, violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. The judges cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s longstanding precedent in Stone v. Graham (1980), which prohibits religious texts from being posted in public schools without a clear secular purpose.
“Despite claims that the law is educational or historical in nature, the court found overwhelming evidence that its primary aim is religious,” the ruling states. Judges pointed to comments from state lawmakers who described the legislation as promoting “God’s law” and criticized opponents as being anti-Christian.
The law, signed by Gov. Jeff Landry in 2024, required all public K-12 and college classrooms to display a framed copy of the Ten Commandments measuring at least 11 by 14 inches. While it allowed for displays to be funded with private donations, critics said it amounted to state-sponsored religious coercion.
A district judge initially blocked the law in November 2024 after several families sued. Friday’s appellate ruling affirms that earlier injunction and expands its constitutional critique.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has pledged to appeal, possibly taking the case to the full Fifth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court. But civil liberties advocates, including the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, celebrated the decision as a victory for religious freedom.
“This ruling reaffirms that public schools are not Sunday schools,” said one plaintiff. “Students of all faiths—or no faith—deserve to learn in a space free from government-imposed religion.”
It remains to be seen whether the Supreme Court, which has shown greater openness to religious expression in recent years, will take up the case.
