NEW ORLEANS — The full Fifth Circuit of Appeals ruled to vacate a preliminary injunction that prevented the state of Louisiana from enforcing a law requiring a copy of the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms.

The law, H.B. 71, was passed in 2024, mandates that a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in "large, easily readable font" be required in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. A group of parents of Louisiana public school students filed a lawsuit in June 2024.

A district court in July 2024 issued the preliminary injunction; a three-panel ruling from the Fifth Circuit in June 2025 upheld it, saying the law was "plainly unconstitutional."

According to the full panel's ruling, the preliminary injunction was vacated as judges felt the question was not "whether [the law] is constitutional, but whether that issue is fit for judicial resolution at this time." Additionally, the judges said the preliminary injunction was based on "unresolved factual and contextual questions," making relief premature.

In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court found a similar Kentucky law unconstitutional because it had no secular purpose. Louisiana officials tried to set their new state law apart by suggesting that secular documents be posted as well—but only the Ten Commandments were required.

"Today, the full U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the ACLU, allowing Louisiana public schools to immediately start posting displays of the Ten Commandments," Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement Friday.