Attorney General Liz Murrill with a copy of the document.

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A federal appeals court unanimously struck down a Louisiana law on Friday that required public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, ruling that the mandate violates the U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a lower court’s preliminary injunction that blocked enforcement of the statute, known as House Bill 71, which was passed by state lawmakers in 2024. 

The appellate panel cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1980 decision in Stone v. Graham, which invalidated a similar law in Kentucky, concluding that the Louisiana measure infringes on the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

“The mandated display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, regardless of subject matter, poses irreparable harm to the religious freedom of students and families,” the court wrote in its opinion.

The lawsuit, Rev. Roake v. Brumley, was brought by a coalition of multifaith Louisiana families and backed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Louisiana, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and pro bono counsel from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Plaintiffs argued that religious instruction belongs to families and faith communities, not public schools.

Attorney General Liz Murrill criticized the decision, vowing to appeal. “We strongly disagree with the Fifth Circuit’s affirmance of an injunction preventing five Louisiana parishes from implementing HB71,” Murrill said. “We will immediately seek relief from the full Fifth Circuit and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court.”

The legal battle over the law unfolds amid growing national debates about religious displays in public schools and the constitutional boundaries that separate church and state.