Just because the biblical text is important "doesn't mean it has to be put in every classroom," a judge said during a hearing in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The state is attempting to reverse a federal judge's November court order granting a preliminary injunction blocking the Jan. 1 implementation of the law, which requires that the Ten Commandments be on display in all Louisiana public school classrooms.

The law, which applies to all public K-12 school and state-funded university classrooms, took effect Jan. 1. Days after the mandate went into effect, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill — the state’s top lawyer — made clear that she expects school districts to comply.

Last fall, a federal judge called the law requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments unconstitutional. On Thursday, an appeals court will take up the case.

A law requiring the religious text to be displayed in all public classrooms was struck down by a lower court judge in November.

Louisiana’s Ten Commandment law is back in court as the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals considered arguments on if the law should be allowed to move forward.

Opponents of Louisiana’s law requiring that all public school classrooms display the Ten Commandments “jumped the gun here and filed an unripe case” an attorney for the state told the Fifth Circuit during oral arguments Thursday.