Judge rules Texas can’t put the Ten Commandments in certain school districts’ classrooms https://t.co/BlxAPKHYpD
Federal judge temporarily blocks Texas schools from enforcing Ten Commandments law https://t.co/tcL4uBUOkU
Breaking News: A federal judge in Texas temporarily halted a state law that would have required the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public classroom. https://t.co/PEPzCbzRM6
A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked Texas Senate Bill 10, a measure that would have required every public-school classroom in the state to display the Ten Commandments beginning 1 September. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery granted a preliminary injunction, finding the statute likely violates the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment and would burden students who do not share the state-favored religious views. The lawsuit, Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, was brought by 16 Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious families represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Biery’s order bars the 11 defendant districts—among them Houston, Austin and Plano—from posting the displays while litigation proceeds. Signed by Governor Greg Abbott in June, SB10 mandated that a conspicuous English-language version of the Ten Commandments, at least 16 by 20 inches, be visible from anywhere in each classroom. Districts would have been required to accept donated posters and permitted to use public funds to buy them. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the state will appeal, calling the commandments a cornerstone of “moral and legal heritage.” Biery’s ruling makes Texas the third state this year—after Louisiana and Arkansas—where courts have blocked similar classroom mandates, signalling an escalating legal clash over the role of religion in public schools that could draw U.S. Supreme Court review.
