18 hours ago
Texas can't require Ten Commandments in some districts, judge rules
A district judge ruled Wednesday that Texas can't require posters of the Ten Commandments to go up in certain school districts where parents have challenged the move.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery sided with a group of families fighting against a new law set to take effect Sept. 1 that would have put posters of the Ten Commandments in easily readable letters in every public school classroom in Texas.
'They just want to be left alone, neither proselytized nor ostracized, including what occurs to their children in government run schools,' the judge wrote in his decision.
While this lawsuit only affects 11 districts, another legal challenge to the law is working its way through the courts.
'Today's ruling is a major win that protects the constitutional right to religious freedom for Texas families of all backgrounds,' said Tommy Buser-Clancy, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas. 'The court affirmed what we have long said: Public schools are for educating, not evangelizing.'
The Hill has reached out to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) office for comment.
Texas is the third state to suffer a court loss over laws for the Ten Commandments to be hung in public school classrooms, following Louisiana and Arkansas. Critics say Republicans are hoping to take these cases to the Supreme Court.
'I don't think anybody is surprised that these policies, these laws in the states that seek to put the Ten Commandments back in schools, have been challenged in court. They're making their way through the proper channels, and we still are very confident that at the end of the day, when these cases get to the Supreme Court, that they're going to uphold them based on the new history-and-tradition test,' Matt Krause, of counsel with the First Liberty Institute, previously told The Hill.
