Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and Gov. Jeff Landry stand among displays that they say comply with a new state law that requires the Ten Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom. (Piper Hutchinson/Louisiana Illuminator)
A federal judge’s order that blocks a Louisiana law requiring Ten Commandments displays to go up in classrooms doesn’t apply to the school districts that aren’t defending it, a U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel has ruled.
Attorney General Liz Murrill, who is defending the law that the Legislature and Gov. Jeff Landry approved earlier this year, filed an appeal after U.S. District Judge John DeGravelles issued an order Tuesday that stopped the law from going into effect Jan. 1. In his 177-page ruling , the judge said the state wasn’t likely to win the case.
In 2-1 ruling, a 5th Circuit panel agreed with Murrill that DeGravelles’ decision should apply to Louisiana’s other 68 public school districts. Judges Kurt Engelhardt, a federal court nominee of former President Donald Trump, and Jerry Smith, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, ruled in Murrill’s favor. Judge James Graves, a court pick of former President Barack Obama, wanted to deny the stay.