Judge blocks some Texas public schools from displaying Ten Commandments

A federal judge on Wednesday partially blocked Texas from requiring every public classroom to display the Ten Commandments, despite a law set to take effect next month. The ruling is a victory for critics who argue the statute unconstitutionally blurs the line between church and state.

The temporary injunction prohibits 11 school districts named as defendants in a lawsuit from displaying the Ten Commandments, religious and ethical tenets of the Abrahamic faiths. More than 600,000 students attend districts affected by the decision.

Texas lawmakers had passed a bill in June to require public schools to exhibit the commandments in classrooms, a win for members of the religious right who argued the directives are foundational to American heritage and law. Students and parents sued in response. The statute, which takes effect Sept. 1, still applies to all other public classrooms in the state.

“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,” wrote U.S. District Judge Fred Biery of the Western District of Texas. “There is also insufficient evidence of a broader tradition of using the Ten Commandments in public education, and there is no tradition of permanently displaying the Ten Commandments in public-school classrooms.”

Biery added: “There are ways in which students could be taught any relevant history of the Ten Commandments without the state selecting an official version of scripture, approving it in state law, and then displaying it in every classroom on a permanent basis.”

The office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.

Courts have blocked similar laws in other states. Arkansas passed a law this year requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public buildings, and Louisiana last year passed a law requiring the religious directives in all public classrooms. Courts temporarily blocked both efforts as the lawsuits proceed.

Texas’s statute is the most far-reaching measure of its kind, potentially affecting more than 5 million students, including in some of the country’s largest school districts.

Mostly Republican-led states in recent years have pushed to incorporate Christianity in public schools, with some framing the movement as an attempt to reclaim religious freedom. Oklahoma’s state superintendent last year mandated Bibles in every public classroom, and several states have tried to bring chaplains into public schools. In May, a deadlocked decision by the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the establishment of what would have been the nation’s first religious public charter school.

Civil liberties advocates on Wednesday celebrated the temporary injunction in Texas.

“Public schools are not Sunday schools,” Heather Weaver, senior counsel for the ACLU, said in a statement. “Today’s decision ensures that our clients’ schools will remain spaces where all students, regardless of their faith, feel welcomed and can learn without worrying that they do not live up to the state’s preferred religious beliefs.”

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Molly Hennessy-Fiske contributed to this report.