Court blocks Louisiana law requiring schools to post Ten Commandments in classrooms

NEW ORLEANS AP A panel of three federal appellate judges has ruled that a Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in each of the state s community school classrooms is unconstitutional The ruling Friday marked a major win for civil liberties groups who say the mandate violates the separation of church and state and that the poster-sized displays would isolate students especially those who are not Christian The mandate has been touted by Republicans including President Donald Trump and marks one of the latest pushes by conservatives to incorporate religion into classrooms Backers of the law argue the Ten Commandments belong in classrooms because they are historical and part of the foundation of U S law This is a resounding win for the separation of church and state and community guidance reported Heather L Weaver a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union With this day s ruling the Fifth Circuit has held Louisiana accountable to a core constitutional promise Population schools are not Sunday schools and they must welcome all students regardless of faith The plaintiffs attorneys and Louisiana disagreed on whether the appeals court s decision applied to every community school district in the state or only the districts party to the lawsuit All school districts in the state are bound to comply with the U S Constitution declared Liz Hayes a spokesperson for Americans United for Separation of Church and State which served as co-counsel for the plaintiffs The appeals court s rulings interpret the law for all of Louisiana Hayes added Thus all school districts must abide by this decision and should not post the Ten Commandments in their classrooms Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill declared she disagreed and maintained the ruling only applied to school districts in the five parishes that were party to the lawsuit Murrill added that she would appeal the ruling including taking it to the U S Supreme Court if necessary The panel of judges reviewing the scenario was unusually liberal for the th U S Circuit Court of Appeals In a court with more than twice as numerous Republican-appointed judges two of the three judges involved in the ruling were appointed by Democratic presidents The court s ruling stems from a lawsuit filed last year by parents of Louisiana school children from various religious backgrounds who explained the law violates First Amendment language guaranteeing religious liberty and forbidding administration establishment of religion The ruling also backs an order issued last fall by U S District Judge John deGravelles who declared the mandate unconstitutional and ordered state development administrators not to enforce it and to notify all local school boards in the state of his decision Republican Gov Jeff Landry signed the mandate into law last June Landry revealed in a report Friday that he supports the attorney general s plans to appeal The Ten Commandments are the foundation of our laws serving both an educational and historical purpose in our classrooms Landry explained Law experts have long revealed they expect the Louisiana matter to make its way to the U S Supreme Court testing the court on the issue of religion and establishment Similar laws have been challenged in court A group of Arkansas families filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month challenging a near-identical law passed in their state And comparable measure in Texas presently awaits Gov Greg Abbott s signature In the U S Supreme Court ruled that a Kentucky law violated the Establishment Clause of the U S Constitution which says Congress can make no law respecting an establishment of religion The court identified that the law had no secular purpose but served a plainly religious purpose And in the Supreme Court held that such displays in a pair of Kentucky courthouses violated the Constitution At the same time the court upheld a Ten Commandments marker on the grounds of the Texas state Capitol in Austin