Court temporarily limits scope of ruling that Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is unconstitutional

A federal appeals court in New Orleans on Friday temporarily limited the scope of a ruling that Louisiana’s law requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments in all classrooms next year is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge John deGravelles’ ruling that the law is unconstitutional remains in effect under the order from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. However, the appellate court temporarily blocked a part of the ruling that requires state education officials to notify public schools statewide that the law has been struck down.

State attorneys said in an emergency stay motion filed Wednesday that deGravelles’ finding that the commandments posting requirement is unconstitutional only affects five local school systems that are defendants in the case. They said deGravelles overstepped his authority when he ordered that schools in all 72 districts be notified of his finding. They asked that the notification requirement be paused immediately while they appeal all of deGravelles’ order. That broader appeal was filed later Friday night.

Friday’s 5th Circuit order was a temporary “administrative stay” granted in response to the state’s emergency request. The order may be altered or lifted as the appeal progresses. Judges Jerry Smith, nominated to the court by former president Ronald Reagan, and Kurt Engelhardt, nominated by former president Donald Trump, voted to grant the stay in a one-sentence order. A footnote said Judge James Graves, nominated by former president Barack Obama, would have denied the stay.

Attorney General Liz Murrill celebrated the ruling in a Friday evening social media post.

“I look forward to immediately working with all of our school boards who are not involved in this lawsuit to implement the law soon,” she wrote.

The law specifies a version of the Ten Commandments must be posted in all Louisiana public classrooms from K-12 and at public universities by Jan. 1. It was passed by the Republican-dominated legislature this year and signed by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry in June.

DeGravelles ruled Tuesday that the law was “overtly religious” and “unconstitutional on its face.” He said state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley and the state education board — who are defendants in the lawsuit — can take no steps to implement the law. And he told them to notify all school boards that it has been found unconstitutional.

Murrill, a Republican ally of Landry, said the state disagrees with the entire ruling. However, she said the notification requirement created an immediate problem because it will confuse school systems where, the state contends, the law remains in effect.