Free Republic

Louisiana's law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in all public school classrooms was ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court Friday, according to the ACLU, a plaintiff in the case. Why it matters: The decision brings clarity to state schools after a confusing year in which state leaders and the courts have issued conflicting guidance on whether educators must abide by the law while the lawsuit was being resolved. The latest: A panel of three judges in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, widely considered one of the nation's most conservative, called the law "plainly unconstitutional."...

A federal appeals court has set a mid-January deadline for the Louisiana state legislature to draw up a new congressional map, which comes in a long-running legal dispute that included a lower court ruling that found the current map likely unfairly diluted the power of black voters. A three-judge panel in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued its order on Nov. 10, requiring the state legislature to pass a new map by Jan. 15, 2024. The appeals court's order notes that, if the state legislature fails to adopt a new map by the deadline, then the lower court should...

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has rejected a request from a Louisiana pastor who’d sought emergency relief from criminal charges he faces for the apparent crime of holding large church services in contravention of the state’s coronavirus rules. ... As the months passed, Spell wound up accruing three additional charges, making for a total of nine. Now fast-forward to last week, when he filed a motion with Justice Alito requesting an injunction against the charges he faces. ... For reasons that remain unclear, Alito outright rejected the request — meaning it won’t receive a full hearing in the Supreme Court...

Next week—for the first time since Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh joined the bench—the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case involving abortion. On the docket is June Medical Services v. Russo, a constitutional challenge to a Louisiana law that requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where the abortion takes place. Life Legal submitted amicus briefs in support of the pro-life law, and we’ll be there on March 4 to watch the Supreme Court argument in this critical case. You can read the brief we filed on behalf of Abby...