All 17 judges in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments yesterday afternoon on Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law, as well as a nearly identical law out of Texas. Louisiana’s law requires posters of the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom across the state. Last year, a three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit ruled it unconstitutional. Jonathan Youngblood argued the case for the plaintiffs and said the government needs to stay out of religion.
“The right to decide which religion, if any, to follow and practice are reserved for individual people, individual families, and they are not for state legislatures and governors to decide,” Youngblood said.
The Reverend Jeff Sims of St. Tammany Parish says Louisiana’s law not only interferes with his religious freedom, but it tramples on it.
“I send my children to public school to learn math, English, science, art, and so much more, but not to be evangelized by the state into its chosen religion,” Sims said.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill defended the law before the 17 judges. She said the Ten Commandments posters are specifically designed from a historical perspective and do not amount to indoctrinating students into a certain religion.
“We also think that coercion, in the context of Supreme Court precedent, has a very specific meaning, and this is not it,” Murrill said.
Governor Landry signed the law in 2024. He says the Ten Commandments are an important part of American history and, thus, belong in the classroom.
“The fact that our country is based upon Judeo-Christian principles. I think that Americans are just tired of hypocrisy,” Landry said.
It will be several months before the Fifth Circuit issues its ruling. Regardless of the ruling, it will certainly be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.