The entire Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is hearing oral arguments this afternoon in Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law. The law requires posters of the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom throughout the state. Loyola University law professor Dane Ciolino says unlike the previous hearing before the Fifth Circuit, all 17 judges will hear these arguments.
“The court’s going to look to historical practices, traditions and understandings to evaluate the constitutionality of such laws,” Ciolino explained.
In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled in Stone v. Graham that an identical law in Kentucky is unconstitutional, in violation of the Establishment Clause since it lacked a nonreligious purpose. The state is arguing that the Ten Commandments is rooted in American history and, thus, is constitutional. Ciolino says given the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Fifth Circuit’s hands are likely tied.
“The Fifth Circuit, whether a panel, or the court En Banc, is in no position to declare that Stone v. Graham, which is pretty much on all fours with this case, is no longer good law,” Ciolino said.
Ciolino says Louisiana may know that it has no case before the Fifth Circuit – and that could be part of its strategy.
“That’s certainly the goal of the attorney general here in Louisiana, to get this issue presented to the United States Supreme Court, So it can decide whether it wants to overrule its own precedent,” Ciolino said.
The Louisiana case before the Fifth Circuit is being combined with a nearly identical case out of Texas, which also requires the Ten Commandments to be posted in classrooms throughout the state. Like Louisiana, that state’s law has been ruled unconstitutional.