The 10 Commandments: From the classroom to courtroom
A law recently passed in Texas to allow the display of the 10 Commandments in classrooms has come under fire in 11 school districts, as schools prepare to implement the displays ahead of Sept. 1, when the law takes effect.
On Aug. 20, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction against a law that allows the display of the 10 Commandments in Texas classrooms.
The law requires the poster or framed copy of the 10 Commandments to be visible and legible from anywhere within the classroom, and it must use language defined explicitly in the law if displayed.
Familiar legislators are proponents of the law, including Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, and District 23 Rep. Terri Leo Wilson, who was a cosponsor of the original bill.
"As a Senator, I fought to pass the law to put the Ten Commandments in every classroom," Middleton said. "Now an activist Democrat appointed judge is trying to legislate from the bench."
The injunction only applies to 11 school districts, including Alamo Heights, North East, Lackland, Northside, Austin, Lake Travis, Dripping Springs, Houston, Fort Bend, Cypress Fairbanks and Plano Independent School Districts.
In a press release from Aug. 25, Attorney General Ken Paxton said all schools that are not in litigation must abide by the law.
"From the beginning, the Ten Commandments have been irrevocably intertwined with America's legal, moral, and historical heritage," Paxton said in the release. "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. I will not back down from defending the virtues and values that built this country."
As for Anahuac Independent School District, Superintendent Cody Abshier, Ed.D., said the district has not received any donations of posters.
Texas is the third state to have the 10 Commandments blocked by a court, with the others including Louisiana and Arkansas.
In late June, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles, deeming the display of the 10 Commandments in Louisiana schools as unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued a preliminary injunction against the law in early August, but the ruling only applies to four of the 237 school districts in Arkansas.
Biery said the recent Fifth Circuit Court ruling in Louisiana is binding in his court, and the law crossed the line from "exposure to coercion," according to court documents.
"For those who disagree with the Court's decision and who would do so with threats, vulgarities and violence, Grace and Peace unto you," Biery said in the court documents.
Plaintiffs in the Texas case represent various faiths, including Jewish, Presbyterian, Baptist, Hindu, agnostic, and atheist, and they argued that the law violates the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause.
Some Jewish plaintiffs argue the law misinterprets the text found in the Torah, as the law lays out specific language for the posters. One Christian plaintiff asserts that the Commandments would expose her young children to themes of adultery, which she believes they are not ready for, according to court documents.
An agnostic plaintiff and an atheist plaintiff argued that the law would "forcibly subject" their children to specific religious scripture, according to court documents.
Baptist plaintiffs argued that their children should be taught scripture "within the context of a family's church and particular faith tradition," according to documents.
A Presbyterian plaintiff argued the law prioritizes one Christian value system over the others, and a Hindu plaintiff argued the first four Commandments contradict Hindu teachings, according to documents.
State Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, wrote SB 10 during the 89th Legislative Session.
In a statement announcing the bill from February, King said displaying the 10 Commandments in each classroom would help students understand the role of the 10 Commandments in the state and nation's heritage, system of law and its "impact throughout Western Civilization."
"The Ten Commandments are part of our Texas and American story. They are ingrained into who we are as a people and as a nation," King said in the statement. "Today, our students cry out for the moral clarity, for the statement of right and wrong that they represent. If our students don't know the Ten Commandments, they will never understand the foundation for much of American history and law."