In a decision disappointing religious liberty advocates, a federal appeals court is barring the Bayou State from requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public schools. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that a Louisiana law ordering that the Ten Commandments be posted “in each classroom in each school” across the state is unconstitutional. A district court had previously blocked the Louisiana law, prompting the state to appeal.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (R) signed H.B. 71 into law last year, mandating the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms throughout the state. The display was to be accompanied by a “context statement,” explaining the historical importance of the Ten Commandments in America’s settling, founding, and development, and could also be accompanied by examples of significant documents influenced by the Ten Commandments, such as the Mayflower Compact.

In the initial legal battle over the law, attorney Steve Green with Americans United for Separation of Church and State claimed in his “expert testimony” that there was no historical evidence either supporting the public display of the Ten Commandments or demonstrating the integral role the Ten Commandments played in the nation’s founding and development. Subsequently, Judge John deGravelles of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, an Obama appointee, blocked the law from going into effect.

The appellate court upheld that decision in its opinion Friday. Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez, a Biden appointee, wrote in the court’s opinion, “Parts of the Ten Commandments include basic principles regarding criminal conduct that are part of a civilized society, such as the prohibition against murder.” She continued, “However, they come from religious texts and include commandments that have clear religious import, such as requiring worship of one God and keeping the Sabbath holy.” Thus, the court determined, “We affirm the district court’s entry of a preliminary injunction and denial of Louisiana’s consolidated motion to dismiss as to Plaintiffs’ Establishment Clause claims.”

Ramirez was joined in her opinion by Judge Catharina Haynes, appointed by George W. Bush. Judge James Dennis, a Clinton appointee, wrote a separate concurring opinion, agreeing “in full” with Ramirez and Haynes, but offering two further technical arguments against Louisiana’s law.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) pledged to appeal the decision and take the legal fight to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. “We strongly disagree with the Fifth Circuit’s affirmance of an injunction preventing five Louisiana parishes from implementing H.B. 71. We will immediately seek relief from the full Fifth Circuit and, if necessary, the United States Supreme Court,” she said in a statement.

Arkansas and Texas have advanced similar legislation requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, while Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah are in the process of doing so. Notably, Texas falls within the jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit Court.

Thomas Jipping, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told The Washington Stand, “Supreme Court decisions regarding religion have often been confusing, and even contradictory, but lower courts must still apply them. The Fifth Circuit decision was not surprising in light of those Supreme Court precedents.”

Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mathew Staver told TWS, “The Court of Appeals issued an opinion that I am sure will be reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.” He explained, “There is no question that the High Court overturned the 1971 case known as Lemon v. Kurtzman. This was made clear in Shurtleff v. City of Boston, our case involving the Christian flag, and the Coach Kennedy case.”

“Yet, this Court of Appeals somehow still clings to Lemon, even though that case has been buried and cannot be resurrected,” Staver added.