Rev. Roake v. Brumley

In June 2024, the Louisiana governor Jeff Landry signed into law H.B. 71, mandating that a poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments be permanently hung in every public-school classroom in the state. The statute requires that an official, state-approved version of the Ten Commandments be used for the displays. In their Complaint, the plaintiffs, who are Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist, and nonreligious, assert that the displays are prohibited by longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent. More than 40 years ago, in Stone v. Graham, the Supreme Court overturned a similar state statute, holding that the separation of church and state bars public schools from posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms. The plaintiffs also assert that public schools’ display of an official, state-approved version of the Ten Commandments, which is associated with Protestant beliefs, impermissibly favors some faiths over others and will create an unwelcoming and religiously coercive school environment for children who do not subscribe to the state’s preferred version of scripture. The plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that H.B. 71 is unconstitutional and preliminary and permanent injunctions to prevent Louisiana officials from enforcing the Act.