No posters of the Ten Commandments will go up in any public school classrooms until November at the earliest, the parties in a lawsuit over a new state requirement have agreed.
During the last legislative session, Louisiana lawmakers passed a law that required several quotes from the Christian Bible and a version of the Ten Commandments involved in a previous lawsuit in every public school classroom, from preschool to college. More than a dozen parents - four of them clergymen - and several civil rights organizations sued to halt implementation of the law.
Following a Wednesday status conference during which the Court requested that the parties decide on a date to delay implementation of the law, the parties jointly filed a notice in the case today. If you want to read the notice for yourself, scroll down.
After that status conference, the court ordered the parties in the case to file an update on how long the delay will be; the judge requested that the parties select the date of November 15, which they did. The court said that a hearing will be held on September 30 - and that will give the court enough time to issue a ruling on the case prior to the planned implementation date.
The notice filed Friday states that all parties agree that no one will post the Ten Commandments in any public school classroom before November 15, and that state education officials won't issue advice, rules or regulations about implementing the law before that time.
The suit, filed in June by more than a dozen Louisiana parents - four of them clerymen - and several civil liberties organizations alleges that the law, which requires several phrases from the Christian Bible and a version of the Ten Commandments from a previous lawsuit be posted in all public school classrooms, "simply cannot be reconciled with the fundamental religious-freedom principles that animated the founding of our nation."
The plaintiffs also have filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction, which asks the court to stop state and local officials from implementing the law.
Named as defendants are the state superintendent of education and the members of the BESE board, as well as the public school systems of East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Vernon, St. Tammany and Orleans parishes.
To date, court records indicate, no defendants have filed an answer to the suit.
Here's the notice:
