A Louisiana law that sought to post the Ten Commandments in every schoolroom in the state has been shelved by a federal judge.
U.S. District Court Judge John W. deGravelles, who was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama, ruled the law violates the First Amendment’s free exercise and establishment clauses, according to CBS.
The Louisiana law was “unconstitutional on its face and in every application,” the judge ruled, granting a preliminary injunction to the groups fighting the law. That means that as the lawsuit over the law moves through the court system, it cannot take effect.
The law, which was to take effect Jan. 1, requires all publicly funded colleges and K-12 schools to have a poster-size version of the Ten Commandments on the wall.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement, “We strongly disagree with the court’s decision and will immediately appeal,” according to NBC.
The judge said the law forced all students to receive a specific religious message.
“Each of the Plaintiffs’ minor children will be forced ‘in every practical sense,’ through Louisiana’s required attendance policy, to be a ‘captive audience’ and to participate in a religious exercise: reading and considering a specific version of the Ten Commandments, one posted in every single classroom, for the entire school year, regardless of the age of the student or subject matter of the course,” deGravelles wrote.
Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has said while pushback was expected, the law was not extreme.
“Look, when the Supreme Court meets, the doors of the Supreme Court on the backside have the Ten Commandments. Moses faces the U.S. Speaker of the House in the House chamber. He is the original giver of law,” Landry said, according to The Hill.
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“Most of our laws in this country are founded on the Ten Commandments, what’s the big problem? And that’s the part I don’t understand,” he added.
However, critics of the law said it sought to impose Christianity on students.
“This ruling should serve as a reality check for Louisiana lawmakers who want to use public schools to convert children to their preferred brand of Christianity,” Heather Weaver, senior staff attorney for the Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief at the American Civil Liberties Union.
“Public schools are not Sunday schools, and today’s decision ensures that our clients’ classrooms will remain spaces where all students, regardless of their faith, feel welcomed,” the ACLU attorney added.
According to the Times-Picayune, the judge said that he was not persuaded that there was a secular purpose in the law.
“Any purported secular purpose was not sincere, but rather a sham,” he wrote.
He noted in his ruling that Landry asked supporters to “stand up for Judeo-Christian values” by defending the proposed law.
The judge also noted that Republican state Rep. Dodie Horton, who sponsored the law, said her goal was to have students see “what God’s law is.”
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