A judge issued a temporary ruling Wednesday that the State of Texas cannot require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms located in certain districts, including those of Fort Bend and Dripping Springs.
Texas is the third state where laws concerning the placement of the Ten Commandments in classrooms has become the subject of a legal battle.
Originally set to go into effect on September 1, Texas’ law was challenged by a group of families alleging that the requirement violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of the separation of church and state, as well as its protection of free religious exercise.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery agreed with this interpretation in last week’s ruling, barring schools within the eleven districts involved in the lawsuit from displaying the Ten Commandments as required by the state’s new law.
[RELATED: Louisiana to Require Ten Commandments Be Displayed in All Public School Classrooms]
“Even though the Ten Commandments would not be affirmatively taught, the captive audience of students likely would have questions, which teachers would feel compelled to answer. That is what they do,” Biery, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, wrote in the ruling that begins by quoting the First Amendment and ends with “Amen.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has indicated that he plans to appeal the ruling, referring to the decision as “flawed.”
“The Ten Commandments are a cornerstone of our moral and legal heritage, and their presence in classrooms serves as a reminder of the values that guide responsible citizenship,” Attorney General Paxton said in a statement.
On Monday, Paxton directed all schools not enjoined by ongoing litigation to begin displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms as of September 1 in accordance with the state’s new law.
“From the beginning, the Ten Commandments have been irrevocably intertwined with America’s legal, moral, and historical heritage,” Paxton said. “Schools not enjoined by ongoing litigation must abide by S.B. 10 and display the Ten Commandments.”
“The woke radicals seeking to erase our nation’s history will be defeated,” he continued. “I will not back down from defending the virtues and values that built this country.”
According to Paxton, the only schools prevented from doing so are Alamo Heights, North East, Cypress Fairbanks, Lackland, Lake Travis, Fort Bend, Dripping Springs, Plano, and Northside.
In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in the case of Van Orden v. Perry that the Constitution’s establishment clause did not prohibit a Ten Commandments monument from being located on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol building.
According to the majority of Justices, the monument was determined to be in the tradition of recognizing the Ten Commandment’s historical meaning.
“Simply having religious content or promoting a message consistent with a religious doctrine does not run afoul of the Establishment Clause,” the Court said at the time.
The Justices further stated in their 2019 ruling in the case of American Legion v. American Humanists Association that the Ten Commandments “have historical significance as one of the foundations of our legal system.”
[RELATED: Louisiana Faces Lawsuit Over Requirement to Display Ten Commandments in Public School Classrooms]
In this case, the families who filed the lawsuit were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation.
“The court affirmed what we have long said: Public schools are for educating, not evangelizing,” Tommy Buser-Clancy, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement.
Louisiana was the first state to outright require schools to display the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, but a three-judge panel ruled in June that the law was unconstitutional.
A broader lawsuit challenging the Texas law is currently pending in federal court and involves a group of Dallas-area families and faith leaders, naming the Texas Education Agency, state education Commissioner Mike Morath, and three Dallas-area school districts as defendants.
