"In the opinion released Friday, the court said it was too early to make a judgment call on the constitutionality of the law. That's partly because it's not yet clear how prominently schools may display the religious text, if teachers will refer to the Ten Commandments during classes or if other texts like the Mayflower Compact or the Declaration of Independence will also be displayed, the majority opinion said."
"Without those sorts of details, the panel decided it did not have enough information to weigh any First Amendment issues that might arise from the law. In other words, there aren't enough facts available to "permit judicial judgment rather than speculation," the majority wrote in the opinion."
"In a concurring opinion, Circuit Judge James Ho, an appointee of Republican President Donald Trump, wrote that the law "is not just constitutional it affirms our nation's highest and most noble traditions." The six judges who voted against the decision wrote a series of dissents, with some arguing that the law exposes children to government-endorsed religion in a place they are required to be, presenting a clear constitutional burden."
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 12-6 to lift a lower-court block and allow a Louisiana law requiring poster-sized displays of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms to take effect. The court concluded that a constitutional determination is premature because key factual details remain unresolved, including display prominence, whether teachers will reference the text, and whether other historical documents might also be displayed. A concurring judge praised the law as affirming national traditions, while dissenting judges argued it amounts to government endorsement of religion and burdens students. The case was reheard en banc after an earlier panel found the law unconstitutional.
Read at www.npr.org
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