The Ten Commandments are now required to be displayed in every Louisiana public K-12 and university after the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the injunction that previously blocked the mandate.  

The preliminary injunction, which was placed in June, banned the state from enforcing the law while the courts continue to debate the law’s constitutionality.  

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murril’s guidelines for the biblical displays mandate the postings much be at least 11 by 14 inches and can go up to 18 by 24 inches. School districts have the authority to decide what the displays look like.  

Murril also recommends that the displays not be posted behind teachers’ desks to prevent the impression that the individual teachers are promoting them.  

The law does not include potential punishments for non-compliance.  

“Today’s ruling is extremely disappointing and would unnecessarily force Louisiana’s public school families into a game of constitutional whack-a-mole in every school district,” said the ACLU, ACLU of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation in a joint statement. “But this fight isn’t over. We will continue fighting for the religious freedom of Louisiana’s families.” 

Louisiana State University will comply with the law and put up the 10 commandments in classrooms, according to a statement from the university’s President Wade Ross.  

“Personally, I think shining a light on God is never a negative thing, but that’s just a personal statement of mine,” Ross said. 

Several other conservative-leaning states have introduced or attempted to pass similar Ten Commandments laws. South Carolina and Tennessee are currently considering comparable measures, and Arkansas recently blocked a similar law. Proposed Ten Commandments bills failed to pass this year in Mississippi and Indiana.