Louisiana school district leaders are grappling with how and when they will be required to display the Ten Commandments after a court order preventing a 2024 law from taking effect was vacated last month. The ruling cleared the way for the displays to be installed in every public school classroom, from kindergarten through college.
Immediately following the Feb. 20 ruling from the full U.S. 5th Circuit of Appeals, Gov. Jeff Landry instructed schools to follow the law and post the Ten Commandments.
“Schools shall now proceed with placing the posters in classrooms,” Landry wrote in a Feb. 26 letter to educators across the state.
Landry offered the full backing of state Attorney General Liz Murrill should schools face any pushback, stating they “should implement the law without fear of litigation.”
However, K-12 school leaders appear to be proceeding with caution.
The state’s three largest school districts — East Baton Rouge, Jefferson and New Orleans — did not answer questions from the Illuminator about whether the now-required posters have been hung in school classrooms since the ruling.
The injunction was in place in all three districts, along with St. Tammany and Vernon parishes, where children of the plaintiffs attend public schools.
Taylor Gast, communications director for East Baton Rouge Schools, said the district “will comply with all state laws and meet the requirements as directed.” Public school officials in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish did not respond to questions for this report.
Gast’s response aligned with advice coming from Murrill, whose spokesman, Lester Duhé, said, “Schools should follow the law.”
Murrill was asked in late February what enforcement of the Ten Commandments law might look like and said the matter would be up to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Regine Williams, BESE’s communications manager, said in a statement that the board will “proceed in accordance with applicable law and established rulemaking procedures” but didn’t provide a timeline for when rules might be finalized.
Elsewhere in Louisiana, Bossier Parish Schools intend to follow the law and hang the posters this spring, while Caddo Parish will wait until next school year, KEEL-AM 710 reported.
Meanwhile, teachers await guidance amid the possibility that plaintiffs in the case could appeal the 5th Circuit ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Lauren Jewett, a teacher at the Leah Chase School in New Orleans, said she has not received instructions regarding the displays.
“I’ve been following all the litigation. We haven’t been given instructions,” said Jewett, who is a Democratic candidate for Congress running against U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson.
How we got here
In 2024, Louisiana became the first state to approve a law requiring Ten Commandments displays in classrooms. Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill, saying he couldn’t wait for it to be challenged in court. Schools were directed to display posters by January 2025.
The ACLU of Louisiana and other groups sued the state in federal court on behalf of nine families with children in public schools soon after Landry enacted the law. They argued the required displays violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment that prohibits a government-endorsed religion.
U.S. District Judge John deGravelles, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, agreed with the plaintiffs and issued an injunction in November 2024 to block the law from going into effect.
Murrill appealed and took her argument before a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit, which upheld deGravelles’ order in June 2025. The attorney general then asked the full 5th Circuit to hear the case, which it did in January.
In a 13-5 ruling last month, appellate judges vacated the injunction but did not reach a consensus on whether the law violates the Establishment Clause. Only Judge James Ho, an appointee of President Donald Trump, declared his support for the state statute.
“In sum, the Louisiana Ten Commandments law is not just constitutional — it affirms our Nation’s highest and most noble traditions,” Ho wrote.
The other prevailing judges said they could not rule on a hypothetical situation as the lawsuit was filed before the law’s directive to hang posters took effect.
What’s next
The ACLU called the 5th Circuit ruling “extremely disappointing,” saying “would unnecessarily force Louisiana’s public school families into a game of constitutional whack-a-mole in every school district.”
The organization has not said what its next move would be, indicating only that it would “continue fighting for the religious freedom of Louisiana’s families.”
