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Tag: Judge Fred Biery

  • Paxton Says Houston ISD Has to Display Ten Commandments Despite Federal Judge’s Ruling

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    A federal judge ruled last week that 11 Texas school districts, including Cypress-Fairbanks, Fort Bend, and Houston ISDs, don’t have to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom as required by a state law passed earlier this year. On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said only nine districts are covered by the temporary injunction, and those that aren’t, including Houston ISD, must hang the posters when the law takes effect on September 1.

    It’s not clear why the federal judge’s order named 11 districts — which were sued by a group of parents and civil rights advocates in Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District .— and Paxton’s press release mentions nine, exempting Austin ISD and Houston ISD from relief. Paxton’s press office did not respond to calls or emails on Monday.

    Repeated phone calls and emails to Houston ISD went unanswered for most of the day. A spokesman responded in the afternoon, saying by email, “The District will not be discussing matters with pending litigation.”

    In his latest public statement about the case, Paxton said: “From the beginning, the Ten Commandments have been irrevocably intertwined with America’s legal, moral, and historical heritage. Schools not enjoined by ongoing litigation must abide by SB 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.”

    Paxton is currently challenging longtime U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary and will soon be vacating his seat as attorney general. Cornyn seized the opportunity Monday to make a social media dig at Paxton, who has been accused of adultery and whose wife, Texas Sen. Angela Paxton, recently filed for divorce on “biblical grounds.”

    The school districts affected by the injunction according to Paxton are Alamo Heights, North East, Cypress-Fairbanks, Lackland, Lake Travis, Fort Bend, Dripping Springs, Plano, and Northside, Paxton said in his statement. “All other ISDs must abide by the law once it takes effect on September 1, 2025,” he said.

    In a 55-page ruling issued August 20, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery said the Texas law was unconstitutional and crossed the line from exposure to coercion.

    “[Most people] just want to be left alone, neither proselytized nor ostracized, including what occurs to their children in government-run schools,” Judge Biery wrote in his ruling. “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. That is what they do.”

    Paxton said he immediately appealed the “flawed ruling.” Biery isn’t the only judge who took issue with the Ten Commandments display. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals deemed it “plainly unconstitutional” just days before Senate Bill 10, authored by Republican Sen. Phil King of Weatherford, was signed into law.

    The Texas law requires that the scripture be displayed on a donated 16-by-20 poster. “While no school is compelled to purchase Ten Commandments displays, schools may choose to do so,” Paxton said in his statement. “However, schools must accept and display any privately donated posters or copies that meet the requirements of SB 10.”

    Kristi Gross, press strategist with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the attorney general’s demand that school districts implement Senate Bill 10 is “unwise and unlawful.”

    “A federal court has ruled that SB 10 is plainly unconstitutional, and school districts have an independent legal obligation to respect the constitutional rights of children and families,” she said. “Districts that flout the First Amendment will be opening themselves up to litigation.”

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    April Towery

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  • Judge Blocks Ruling That Ten Commandments Must Be Displayed in School Classrooms

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    Public school teachers in 11 Texas districts, including three in the Greater Houston area, are blocked from displaying the Ten Commandments in every classroom despite a state law passed in June, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

    U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday in the case of Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District. Districts named as defendants in the suit include Houston, Fort Bend, and Cypress-Fairbanks ISDs.

    In the 55-page ruling, Biery said that children can be cruel to their classmates perceived to be “the other” and that Senate Bill 10, approved by the Texas Legislature earlier this year, crosses the line from exposure to coercion.

    “Ultimately, in matters of conscience, faith, beliefs, and the soul, most people are Garbo-esque,” Biery wrote, referring to the 1930s film actress Greta Garbo. “They just want to be left alone, neither proselytized nor ostracized, including what occurs to their children in government-run schools. 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. That is what they do.”

    “Teenage boys, being the curious hormonally driven creatures they are, might ask: ‘Mrs. Walker, I know about lying and I love my parents, but how do I do adultery?’ Truly an awkward moment for overworked and underpaid educators, who already have to deal with sex education issues,” the judge added in his ruling.

    The controversial Senate Bill 10, introduced by Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, was signed into law in late June, after the 5th U.S. The Circuit Court of Appeals deemed it “plainly unconstitutional.” It requires that the scripture be displayed on a donated 16-by-20 poster. It was expected to prompt legal challenges, and plaintiffs in the case say they hope other Texas school districts will be blocked from implementing the law.

    SB 10 is scheduled to go into effect on September 1. Biery said the issue of religious coercion in schools could ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

    “As a rabbi and public school parent, I welcome this ruling,” said plaintiff Rabbi Mara Nathan in a public statement. “Children’s religious beliefs should be instilled by parents and faith communities, not politicians and public schools.”

    The decision affirms that Texas families, not politicians or public school officials, get to decide how and when their children engage with religion, said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

    Supporters of SB 10 have said that the Ten Commandments and Christian teachings are vital to understanding U.S. history.

    The plaintiffs — a group of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist, and nonreligious families, including clergy, with children in public schools — were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

    “It violates the Constitution’s promise of religious freedom and church-state separation,” the plaintiffs said of SB 10 in a statement. “Public schools are not Sunday schools.”

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    April Towery

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