In an important victory for church-state separation and religious freedom, a federal district court issued a preliminary injunction Nov. 12 prohibiting implementation of a Louisiana law requiring all public schools to permanently display a government-approved, Protestant version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
Americans United, which litigated the Rev. Roake v. Brumley case on behalf of the plaintiffs alongside the national ACLU, the ACLU of Louisiana and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel, applauded the ruling.
“This ruling will ensure that Louisiana families — not politicians or public school officials — get to decide if, when and how their children engage with religion,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. “It should send a strong message to Christian Nationalists across the country that they cannot impose their beliefs on our nation’s public school children. Not on our watch.”
U.S. District Court Judge John W. deGravelles determined that Louisiana’s H.B. 71, enacted last June, violates the First Amendment and longstanding Supreme Court precedent.
deGravelles noted that more than 40 years ago in the case Stone v. Graham, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a similar state statute, holding that the First Amendment bars public schools from posting religious displays. The defendants conceded during oral argument that Stone remains good law and is binding on lower courts.
“[T]hese displays must be posted in every ‘classroom in each school,’ all year round, regardless of subject matter, and regardless of the age of the student,” deGravelles wrote. “Thus, the question is not whether the Biblical laws can ever be put on a poster; the issue is whether, as a matter of law, there is any constitutional way to display the Ten Commandments in accordance with the minimum requirements of the Act. In short, the Court finds that there is not.”
In his ruling, deGravelles noted that H.B. 71 would lead to unconstitutional religious coercion of the children who serve as plaintiffs in the case by imposing religious doctrine on them for nearly every hour of the school day, throughout their entire public school education.
The plaintiffs, who are a multifaith group of nine Louisiana families with children in public schools, also welcomed the ruling.
“H.B. 71 is a direct infringement of our religious freedom rights, and we’re pleased and relieved that the court ruled in our favor,” said the Rev. Darcy Roake, who is a plaintiff in the case along with her husband, Adrian Van Young. “As an interfaith family, we expect our children to receive their secular education in public school and their religious education at home and within our faith communities, not from government officials.”