The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is challenging the constitutionality of The Pelican State's law requiring The Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school. Louisiana's law also requires a context statement explaining the history of The Ten Commandments in public education.
H.B. 71 is the law that was signed on January 1, 2025, that allowed the schools to display the biblical text alongside other historical documents, such as the Declaration of Independence. Schools, however, have creative freedom on how to design the displays. For example, they can study Supreme Court cases in relation to the commandments or compare Moses and Martin Luther King Jr.
Unfortunately, the ACLU filed a lawsuit only five days after the bill was signed and before any displays were put up. Roake v. Brumley was argued in federal district court, resulting in the judge blocking the law, which was later upheld by a panel of three judges on the Fifth Circuit.
According to Becket, who is helping to represent Louisiana, the state requested that the case be reheard “en banc,” in front of all the Fifth Circuit judges. The appeals court agreed, and arguments will be heard orally in January 2026.
Joe Davis, senior counsel at Becket, says that the Constitution has never prohibited the acknowledgement of religion.
"In recent years, the Supreme Court has only made that more and more clear. What they want to do is scrub every semblance of religion from our public life and our public square,” informs Davis. “After that three-judge panel opinion came out, we in Louisiana sought rehearing by the full Fifth Circuit, to all the active judges on the Fifth Circuit, and the district has granted that request."
Davis says this will be a far-reaching decision, going well beyond Louisiana.
"The Fifth Circuit is the court that sits over Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Whatever it rules will be the final word for those three states — unless the case goes up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is possible. But then, more broadly, it'll be persuasive precedent all over the country," states Davis.
