FFRF, others file motion for Louisiana injunction

In an effort to stop officials in Louisiana from implementing a new law mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, FFRF and other secular groups filed on July 8 a motion for a preliminary injunction on behalf of nine Louisiana families.

The plaintiffs initially filed suit in federal court on June 24 to block HB 71, the new state law requiring all public elementary, secondary and postsecondary schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

In their initial complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, the plaintiffs, who are Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious, assert that the newly enacted statute violates longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent and the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. The plaintiffs are represented by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel.

In their motion filed July 8, the plaintiffs asked the court to issue an order that blocks the state from enforcing the law or taking any other action to carry out the statute while their lawsuit remains pending.

“A state may not force religion upon a captive audience of young and impressionable students with varying religions — or none at all,” FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott said in a statement. “We look forward to protecting the constitutional rights of all families in Louisiana.”

Emphasizing the urgent need for judicial intervention, the plaintiffs’ brief supporting their motion explains:

“When students across Louisiana, including the minor-child plaintiffs, return to school this August, they will be subjected — as early as their first day of school and no later than the act’s Jan. 1, 2025, compliance deadline — to unavoidable, permanently displayed religious directives such as ‘I AM the LORD thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’; ‘Thou shalt not make thyself any graven images.’; ‘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.’”

As argued in the brief, these displays will violate longstanding Supreme Court precedent. More than 40 years ago, in Stone v. Graham, the Supreme Court overturned a similar state law, holding that the separation of church and state bars public schools from posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

In addition to their motion for a preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs also filed on July 8 a motion to expedite briefing and the court’s consideration of their injunction request.

Rev. Darcy Roake, a plaintiff in the case, issued the following statement: “We are eager to ensure that our family’s religious-freedom rights are protected from day one of the upcoming school year. The Ten Commandments displays required under state law will create an unwelcoming and oppressive school environment for children, like ours, who don’t believe in the state’s official version of scripture. We believe that no child should feel excluded in public school because of their family’s faith tradition, and we are optimistic that the court will grant our motion for a preliminary injunction.”

Signed into law on June 19 by Gov. Jeff Landry, HB 71 requires public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom on “a poster or framed document that is at least 11 inches by 14 inches.” The commandments must be the “central focus” of the display and “printed in a large, easily readable font.” The bill also requires that a specific version of the Ten Commandments, which is associated with Protestant beliefs, be used for every display.

“As a nonreligious family, we oppose the government forcibly subjecting all children to a religious scripture that we don’t believe in,” plaintiffs Jennifer Harding and Benjamin Owens said in a statement. “The state of Louisiana should not direct a religious upbringing of our child and require students to observe the state’s preferred religious doctrine in every classroom.”