(Just The News)—A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a lower court’s ruling that the Louisiana law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms is unconstitutional.
Louisiana last year became the first state to pass a law that would require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” in every classroom.
The ruling comes after a group of nine Louisiana families sued the state’s education department and their local school boards over the state law. Supporters of the controversial law have pointed to the text’s influence on United States history as a reason to allow it, but opponents claim it infringes on the First Amendment and parents’ control over the religious upbringing of their children.
The judges unanimously ruled in favor of the families, agreeing that it was “facially unconstitutional.”
“Parents and students challenge a statute requiring public schools to permanently display the Ten Commandments in every classroom in Louisiana,” the court said in its ruling. “The district court found the statute facially unconstitutional and preliminarily enjoined its enforcement. We affirm.”
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