The Freedom From Religion Foundation and allied groups are disappointed in a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling today that it is premature to determine the constitutionality of a Louisiana law requiring public schools to permanently display a government-approved, Protestant version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
The decision vacates a federal district court’s November 2024 preliminary injunction in Rev. Roake v. Brumley, which prevented the defendant state officials and school boards from implementing House Bill 71. In its ruling, the appeals court held that the Roake lawsuit was premature because the scriptural displays had not yet been posted in the children plaintiffs’ classrooms, so it “cannot yet know . . . how the text will be used.” The court acknowledged, however, that “nothing in today’s narrow holding prevents future as-applied challenges once the statute is implemented and a concrete factual record exists.”
Represented by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the ACLU, ACLU of Louisiana, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel, the plaintiffs in Roake v. Brumley are a multifaith group of nine Louisiana families with children in public schools. The organizations representing the plaintiffs issued the following statement in response to the decision:
“Today’s ruling is extremely disappointing and would, if left in place, will unnecessarily force Louisiana’s public school families into a game of constitutional whack-a-mole in every school district where they must challenge each individual school district’s displays. Longstanding judicial precedent makes clear that our clients need not submit to the very harms they are seeking to prevent before taking legal action to protect their rights. But this fight isn’t over. We will continue fighting for the religious freedom of Louisiana’s families.”
The appeals court’s opinion today does not address the lawsuit Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District that challenges a similar law in Texas, Senate Bill 10. The court, sitting en banc, heard oral arguments in both cases on Jan. 20.
The plaintiffs’ counsel is exploring all legal pathways forward to continue the fight against this unconstitutional law.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 42,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
