Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
Donate to our newsroom

Menu

Topics

  • Abortion
  • Politics
  • Education
  • LGBTQ+
  • Caregiving
  • Environment & Climate
  • Business & Economy
View all topics

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

  • Latest Stories
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Ways to Give
  • Search
  • Contact
Donate
Home

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

Topics

  • Abortion
  • Politics
  • Education
  • LGBTQ+
  • Caregiving
  • Environment & Climate
  • Business & Economy
View all topics

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

  • Latest Stories
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Ways to Give
  • Search
  • Contact

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

Become a member

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Education

Families celebrate after judge rules on Ten Commandments law in Louisiana classrooms

A federal judge found the law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in all public school classrooms to be unconstitutional on Tuesday.

empty desks and cubbies are seen in a classroom.
(Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Nadra Nittle

Education reporter

Published

2024-11-13 12:24
12:24
November 13, 2024
pm

Republish this story

Share

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Email

Republish this story

The nine multifaith families who sued over a Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in all public school classrooms are celebrating a federal district court ruling on Tuesday that found H.B. 71 to be unconstitutional.

Enacted in June, the legislation mandates that schools permanently display a Protestant version of the Judeo-Christian code of conduct, but a preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana on Tuesday will stop its implementation. The injunction takes effect immediately, even though the defendants are appealing the decision. 

Civil liberties advocates say that ignoring church-state separation in schools not only violates the Constitution by imposing religion on students but also risks exposing young people to harmful stereotypes about gender, race and the LGBTQ+ community. The Bible could be used to teach girls that wives must obey their husbands or to limit girls’ ambitions for their lives, they say. President-elect Donald Trump, however, plans to incorporate prayer into public education, according to his Agenda 47. It’s unclear if the courts will allow schools to implement his policy proposal. 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

The plaintiffs in Rev. Roake v. Brumley include the Rev. Darcy Roake and her husband, Adrian Van Young. The families represented are of Unitarian Universalist, Christian, Jewish and nonreligious backgrounds. The defendants include Cade Brumley, Louisiana’s state superintendent of education, and several state and local school officials. 

“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,” Roake said in a statement. “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.” 

  • More like this
    Image of an open bible.
  • Thou shalt teach religion in schools? Activists, parents and pastors object
  • These states are under fire over spending millions of taxpayer dollars to push religion in schools

Judge John W. DeGravelles found that the law violated the First Amendment along with years of Supreme Court precedent. In 1980, the high court ruled in Stone v. Graham that a Kentucky statute ordering the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms was unconstitutional. The First Amendment’s Establishment Clause bars the government from “establishing” a religion.

“First, Stone remains good law and is directly on point, and this Court is bound to follow it,” DeGravelles wrote in his opinion. “Second, even putting Stone aside . . .  Plaintiffs have adequately alleged that H.B. 71 fails to comply with the Establishment Clause.”

DeGravelles said that requiring the commandments to be posted in all classrooms year-round, regardless of course content or grade level, would make schoolchildren a “captive audience” and coerce them “to participate in a religious exercise.”  

Liz Murrill, the state’s Republican attorney general, said in a statement: “We strongly disagree with the court’s decision and will immediately appeal.”

The plaintiffs in Roake v. Brumley, who have children in public schools, are represented by the national ACLU, ACLU of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is involved as pro bono counsel.  

“Religious freedom — the right to choose one’s faith without pressure — is essential to American democracy,” said Alanah Odoms, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, in a statement. “Today’s ruling ensures that the schools our plaintiffs’ children attend will stay focused on learning, without promoting a state-preferred version of Christianity.”

Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said in a statement that the ruling will ensure that families, and not politicians, choose how their children engage with religion.  

“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,” Laser said. “Not on our watch.”

Republish this story

Share

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Email

Recommended for you

Image of an open bible.
Thou shalt teach religion in schools? Activists, parents and pastors object
People supporting the right to opt-out their children from classes containing LGBTQ-related content demonstrate outside the Supreme Court.
How children’s picture books got to the Supreme Court
Department of Justice sues Texas over abortion ban
Protesters rally for abortion rights on the Alabama Capitol steps.
Alabama can’t prosecute groups helping people travel out of state for abortions

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

Become a member

Explore more coverage from The 19th
Abortion Politics Education LGBTQ+ Caregiving
View all topics

Our newsroom's Spring Member Drive is here!

Learn more about membership.

  • Transparency
    • About
    • Team
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Community Guidelines
  • Newsroom
    • Latest Stories
    • 19th News Network
    • Podcast
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Fellowships
  • Newsletters
    • Daily
    • Weekly
    • The Amendment
    • Event Invites
  • Support
    • Ways to Give
    • Sponsorship
    • Republishing
    • Volunteer

The 19th is a reader-supported nonprofit news organization. Our stories are free to republish with these guidelines.