District Court Issues Universal Injunction In Louisiana Ten Commandments Case

Louisiana law requires the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. A group of Plaintiffs challenged the ordinance. These Plaintiffs are faith leaders, parents, and others who object to the display of the Ten Commandments on Establishment Clause grounds.

The District Court ruled that the posting of the Ten Commandments was unconstitutional. I may address the First Amendment analysis elsewhere. Here, I’d like to focus on the scope of the court’s remedy:

The Court has ruled that the Act is facially unconstitutional. That is, H.B. 71 is unconstitutional in all applications. As a result, the Act cannot be enforced throughout the state. While AG Defendants do not have to serve each school with a copy of this ruling, they certainly will be ordered to provide notice to all schools that the Act has been found unconstitutional, particularly since the burden on AG Defendants to accomplish this task is minimal.

Though this ruling only applies statewide, it is a universal injunction. It provides relief beyond the named plaintiffs, and their children. It applies to all schools in the state, even schools at which there were no objecting parents/plaintiffs. There is no certified class, so Rule 23 is out. Under Labrador v. Poe (see here and here), this universal injunction seems too broad. Relief should be targeted to those who are injured. This standard ought to apply in the state context, especially when it is a federal court granting relief.

This issue will be appealed to the Fifth Circuit shortly. Putting aside the merits question, the court may see fit to narrow the scope of relief.

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