Judge blocks Ten Commandments from Louisiana classrooms

U.S. District Judge John deGravelles on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction preventing authorities in Louisiana from enforcing a law putting the Biblical Ten Commandments in classrooms. Judge deGravelles described the law as facially unconstitutional. The Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union championed the verdict as a victory for religious freedom. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office told WORLD that Murill strongly disagreed with the ruling and that she would immediately appeal it.

What’s this case about? Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry approved a law in June that would require all classrooms in the state to hang up the Biblical Ten Commandments alongside a statement about their historical role in shaping American education. Less than a week later, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state, saying the law violated the First Amendment’s prohibition on government endorsing religion.

Has the Supreme Court ever ruled on something like this before? More than four decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar law in Kentucky violated that same provision of the First Amendment.

Dig deeper: Listen to Kim Henderson’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about how Louisiana lawmakers carefully crafted the Ten Commandments law with the First Amendment in mind.