Louisiana’s public schools enroll upwards of 680,000 students. These students and their families adhere to a broad array of faiths, and many do not practice any religion at all. Yet a newly enacted Louisiana law, House Bill 71, seeks to impose one religious perspective on all Louisiana schoolchildren by requiring Louisiana public schools to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Under H.B. 71, public-school students will be forcibly subjected to scriptural dictates, day in and day out, including: “I AM the Lord thy God”; “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”; “Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain”; “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”; and “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
On June 24, 2024, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and Simpson Thacher Bartlett LLP filed a lawsuit in the Middle District of Louisiana on behalf of a multifaith group of nine families with children in Louisiana public schools. The plaintiffs, who are Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist, and non-religious, assert that H.B. 71 is a violation of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment.
Our suit argues that, through H.B. 71, Louisiana is adopting an official religious text and taking an official position on religious issues, in clear violation of the Establishment Clause’s guarantee of separation of church and state. In addition, H.B. 71 coerces children to view, venerate, and obey commandments that are against their beliefs and interferes with parents’ ability to direct their children’s religious upbringing. H.B. 71 thus also violates the Free Exercise Clause, which protects the right to hold and exercise religious beliefs of one’s choice, including no religious beliefs.
Our suit asks for an injunction against implementation of the law and against posting of the Commandments, and for a declaratory judgment that the law is unconstitutional.
On November 12, 2024, in a victory for religious freedom, the district court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting implementation of the Ten Commandments law. The court relied on the U.S. Supreme Court case Stone v. Graham, which struck down a similar state statute. Shortly after the court issued its ruling, the Defendants filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Oral arguments were held before the Fifth Circuit on January 23, 2025.
In December 2024 and January 2025, we joined our partners in sending letters to public-school superintendents across Louisianna warning school districts not to implement the Ten Commandments law, which was initially scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2025. Our January letter rebutted misleading guidance issued by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, in which she encouraged schools to implement the law despite the district court’s decision.
On June 20, 2025, a Fifth Circuit panel upheld the district court’s decision, holding that H.B. 71 violates the Establishment Clause.
