Louisiana Appeals Ten Commandments Ruling to Full Fifth Circuit

NEW ORLEANS, LA – Today, the full U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in Roake v. Brumley, a constitutional dispute about a Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be prominently displayed in all Louisiana classrooms. In June 2025, a three-judge panel from the Fifth Circuit ruled the law was unconstitutional and in violation of the Establishment Clause, and upheld a lower court ruling that blocked the state from posting the Decalogue in classrooms. However, the full court later vacated that decision in favor of rehearing the case with an en banc panel of 17 judges.Louisiana officials and proponents argue House Bill 71 passively exposes students to the moral guide and foundational principles upon which the nation and Western law were established. The state appealed citing that the Ten Commandments law is meant to teach students about the nation’s history, culture, and tradition where recent Supreme Court precedent favoring “historical practices and understandings” would seem to permit such expression. The challengers, a multifaith group of parents, represented by the ACLU, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, say the law endorses a specific religious doctrine and amounts to religious coercion in violation of the First Amendment.

In June 2024, Louisiana became the first state to require all its public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. Gov. Jeff Landry signed the law which directs all public classrooms from kindergarten to state-funded colleges and universities to post the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” on a poster or framed document. The law states the purpose of these displays is to educate the public on “historically significant documents” that shaped both “American and Louisiana law.”

The outcome of Louisiana’s case will also affect a similar challenge to Texas’ 2025 Ten Commandments law, which is under the Fifth Circuit’s jurisdiction. In Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, several Texas families successfully sued the state receiving a preliminary injunction blocking the Ten Commandments in Texas schools.

Recent Supreme Court precedents show that displaying the Ten Commandments is not necessarily a religious endorsement.  In American Legion v. American Humanists Association, the High Court wrote that the Ten Commandments “have historical significance as one of the foundations of our legal system” and represents a “common cultural heritage.” Then, in 2022, the cases of Shurtleff v. City of Boston and Kennedy v. Bremerton School District rejected and overruled the 1971 case of Lemon v. Kurtzman. The High Court replaced the “Lemon Test” by returning to a traditional First Amendment standard where courts must interpret the Establishment Clause by “reference to historical practices and understandings.”

Throughout this case, Louisiana officials have defended the Ten Commandments law as constitutionally valid by arguing that it has a historical and educational purpose. They cite the Decalogue’s “historical role” in developing American law and education, which displayed alongside other historical documents, would be permissible under the First Amendment. Since HB 71 also required public school classrooms to display the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance, the state’s legal team has argued that the law’s intent is not to endorse a religion but to teach where America’s longstanding moral values in civic life originate.

Liberty Counsel’s Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The Ten Commandments is a universally recognized symbol of law and has indelibly shaped the Western Legal Tradition and American government. There are more than 50 displays of the Ten Commandments inside and outside the United States Supreme Court. The Ten Commandments are ubiquitous and their central role in law and government pre-date the U.S. Constitution. Passive Ten Commandments displays do not compel religious exercise, so there is no Establishment Clause violation. The en banc Fifth Circuit has a chance to correct a terribly flawed ruling and restore the Ten Commandments to public school classrooms.”

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