Appeals court deals blow to state seeking to force public schools to post Ten Commandments

A federal appeals court has blocked Louisiana — for now — from forcing all public school classrooms to post the Ten Commandments.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the state's request to temporarily pause a federal judge's order as litigation continues, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. The appeals court's decision means the block will remain in effect until after the law's New Year's Day deadline to post the commandments.

Arguments are planned in the appeals court on Jan. 23.

Sam Grover, an attorney with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, told AP they're "pleased" that the appeals court left the lower court's injunction "fully intact."

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“As the district court ruled, this law is unconstitutional on its face.”

The state law mandates the display from Jan. 1, 2025, of the Ten Commandments in all public school classrooms, from kindergarten through state-funded universities. It requires the biblical text to be displayed as a poster or a framed document "in a large, easily readable font."

District Judge John deGravelles has said the law is unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment.

"If you want to respect the rule of law, you gotta start from the original law given -- which was Moses," Louisiana's Republican governor, Jeff Landry, said at the bill's signing ceremony.