11 Texas school districts temporarily blocked from displaying Ten Commandments, federal judge rules

From Houston Public Media:

A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked 11 public school districts in Texas’ largest metropolitan areas from displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms as required by a new state law set to take effect Sept. 1.

Two days after the conclusion of a court hearing in San Antonio, U.S. Judge Fred Biery ruled that Senate Bill 10 “likely violates both the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution. He added that “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.”

Biery ruled in favor of 16 Texas families of various religious and non-religious backgrounds, who sued school districts in the Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio areas. The plaintiffs are represented by a coalition of civil rights organizations: the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

In a statement, Tommy Buser-Clancy of the ACLU of Texas said, “Today’s ruling is a major win that protects the constitutional right to religious freedom for Texas families of all backgrounds.”

The ruling is effective only for the 11 school districts named in the suit, including Houston ISD, Cy-Fair ISD and Fort Bend ISD, which are among the largest districts in the Houston area.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office is representing the school districts, said in a statement he planned to appeal Biery’s ruling, calling it “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,” Paxton said.

Dale Carpenter, a Southern Methodist University law professor and First Amendment expert, said an appeal could be difficult for the state. Similar laws requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools, passed in Arkansas and Louisiana, also have been at least partially blocked by courts.

“I think the problem the state is going to face is that the 5th Circuit [Court of Appeals] struck down a very similar law from Louisiana just last year on grounds very similar to the grounds that this judge found,” Carpenter said. “So that may be an uphill battle for the state until they go to the Supreme Court.”

Posters displaying the Ten Commandments are being donated to school districts in the Houston area and across Texas as part of an effort involving Christian and conservative groups. Courtesy of Rebecca Smith

There is another lawsuit filed by a Dallas activist group, the Next Generation Action Network Legal Advocacy Fund, seeking to block the Ten Commandments posters from several North Texas school districts. That suit is pending in federal court and names three Dallas-area districts, along with the Texas Education Agency and Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, as defendants.

Houston Public Media reported Tuesday that a number of Christian and conservative groups have been actively working to deliver Ten Commandments posters to districts in the northern suburbs of the Houston area and elsewhere in the state. Senate Bill 10 stipulates that while schools are not required to provide or pay for the posters, they can’t reject a donated poster.

Love Heals Youth CEO Rebecca Smith, whose Houston-area organization is participating in the effort, said the injunction would not deter her from delivering posters to districts not impacted and that they are reaching out to “smaller districts” to see if they need posters.

Conroe ISD, located north of Houston, is not involved in the lawsuit but confirmed to Houston Public Media that it is “pausing the placement” of the posters “until further guidance is provided by the courts.”

Carpenter said pausing may be the most careful approach for now.

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