Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments

Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, LA. (AP) — Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill says the state will ask a federal appeals court to quickly stay a lower court’s order declaring unconstitutional a law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1. U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles on Tuesday said the law had an unconstitutional “overtly religious” purpose. He ordered state education officials to notify all 72 local school boards of his finding. Murrill contends that his ruling only applies to five local school boards named as defendants in the case. However, she acknowledged that deGravelles’ order could have a “chilling effect” on any local board’s decision to enforce the law.