A federal judge has ordered a dozen Texas public school districts to remove displays of the Ten Commandments from their classrooms by December, saying that a state law requiring such displays violates the US Constitution.
In a win for parents of children who attend school in the Texas districts named as defendants, US District Court Judge Orlando L. Garcia wrote that the law violates a constitutional clause barring the government from passing any "law respecting an establishment of religion."
Garcia's injunction on Tuesday was the latest salvo in a nationwide debate over whether US states can require public schools to prominently feature Christian texts in their classrooms. The fight has pitted parents and students against conservative groups trying to make expressions of faith more prominent in U.S. society.
A federal appeals court in June blocked Louisiana from enforcing a law that similarly required the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all classrooms of the state's public schools and universities. The same appeals court will hear a challenge to the Texas law when it re-hears the Louisiana case in January.
In October, Oklahoma's Education Department withdrew a 2024 directive that required teachers to have the Christian Bible in every classroom and incorporate it into their lessons, after challenges that it was unconstitutional prompted the state supreme court to halt the requirement.
Reuters sought comment from each school district that is a defendant in the Texas lawsuit. Spokespeople for Conroe and Flour Bluff Independent School Districts in southeast Texas said they would adhere to applicable law, as did Northwest Independent School District and the Fort Worth Independent School District. Conroe, Northwest and Fort Worth said they would take down posters to comply with Garcia's order.
Chloe Kempf, a staff attorney for the Texas office of the American Civil Liberties Union, hailed the decision as upholding the constitutional rights of Texas families to practice whatever religion they please without government interference.
She said the ruling should send a clear message to all schools in the state to "think twice before you post the Ten Commandments. Several judges have ruled it unconstitutional at this point, and you have an independent obligation to uphold your students’ constitutional rights."
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued two other state school districts on Tuesday for refusing to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms, accusing them of disregarding "the will of Texas voters who expect the legal and moral heritage of our state to be displayed in accordance with the law."