BATON ROUGE - The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion allowing school districts not included in a lawsuit regarding a law requiring all public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms by Jan. 1.

According to the state attorney general, this ruling means all Louisiana school boards not involved in the original lawsuit can move forward with implementing the Ten Commandments posters ahead of the Jan. 1, 2025 deadline in accordance with the law. 

A federal judge, U.S. District Judge John deGravelles, previously ruled the law to be unconstitutional. The appeal from the state says deGravelles overstepped his authority when he ordered that all school boards must be notified of the law's unconstitutionality. They say in the interim, this order only affects the school systems involved in the suit.

The Fifth Circuit's order was an "administrative stay" as a response to what the state said was an emergency request, and it may be altered based on the progression of the case.

The five parishes involved with the suit are East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. Tammany, Orleans and Vernon parishes.