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Tag: Ten Commandments

  • Louisiana court allows Ten Commandments posters in public classrooms

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    BATON ROUGE, Louisiana: Public classrooms in the state can now display posters of the Ten Commandments after a U.S. appeals court cleared the way for a Louisiana law that a lower court had earlier blocked.

    The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 12-6 to lift a block that a lower court first placed on the law in 2024. The court said on February 20 that it was too early to make a judgment call on the law’s constitutionality.

    The majority of judges said it is not yet clear how schools will show the religious text. They do not know how visible it will be, whether teachers will discuss the Ten Commandments in class, or whether other historical documents, such as the Mayflower Compact or the Declaration of Independence, will also be displayed.

    Because these details are missing, the judges said they do not have enough facts to decide if the law breaks the First Amendment. In other words, they said there isn’t enough clear information for a proper legal decision, so they’re not just guessing.

    However, six judges disagreed and wrote separate opinions. Some said the court should review the case now. Others said the law forces children to see government-supported religion in a place they are required to attend, which they believe clearly goes against the Constitution.

    Judge James L. Dennis wrote that the law is precisely the kind of government support for religion that the Constitution’s framers sought to prevent.

    This ruling followed the full court’s January hearing. Earlier, a three-judge panel had ruled that Louisiana’s similar law was unconstitutional. Arkansas also has a similar law that is being challenged in federal court.

    Texas’ law began on September 1. It is the biggest effort in the country to put the Ten Commandments in public schools. In some cases, federal judges temporarily stopped school districts from posting them. But in many classrooms across Texas, the posters have already been put up, either paid for by the districts or through donations.

    These laws are part of efforts by Republicans, including President Donald Trump, to bring religion into public school classrooms. Critics say this breaks the rule separating church and state. Supporters argue that the Ten Commandments are an important historical document and a foundational part of U.S. law.

    Families from different religions — including Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism — as well as clergy members and nonreligious families, have challenged the laws.

    In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar law in Kentucky violated the Constitution’s Establishment Clause, which bars the government from establishing or supporting a religion. The court said the law had no nonreligious purpose and was clearly religious.

    In 2005, the Supreme Court again ruled that Ten Commandments displays in two Kentucky courthouses were unconstitutional. However, in the same year, the court allowed a Ten Commandments monument to remain on the grounds of the Texas state Capitol in Austin.

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  • Conroe ISD Named in Latest Fight Against Ten Commandments Display

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    When the Texas Legislature approved Senate Bill 10, requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom, government watchdogs predicted there would be legal action. They were right.

    A second lawsuit claiming that SB 10 is a “clear violation of students’ and families’ religious freedom and the separation of church and state” was filed in federal court on Monday by 15 multifaith and nonreligious Texas families.

    The plaintiffs plan to file a motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, asking the court to require 14 defendant school districts, including Conroe ISD, to remove any Ten Commandments displays currently posted and to refrain from hanging new displays pending the resolution of the litigation.

    This week’s legal action comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed in August, Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, in which U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction saying the 11 districts named as defendants in that suit didn’t have to follow Senate Bill 10.

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately appealed what he deemed a “flawed ruling” in the Rabbi Nathan suit and said Austin and Houston ISDs had to follow the state law even though they were named as defendants in the lawsuit. Cypress-Fairbanks and Fort Bend ISDs were also named in the original lawsuit.

    SB 10, authored by Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, 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 a statement after he challenged the first lawsuit. “However, schools must accept and display any privately donated posters or copies that meet the requirements of SB 10.”

    The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals deemed Ten Commandments displays in public schools “plainly unconstitutional” days before the Texas legislation was signed into law.

    In the latest legal action, Cribbs Ringer v. Comal Independent School District, the school districts named as defendants include Comal, Georgetown, Conroe, Flour Bluff, Fort Worth, Arlington, McKinney, Frisco, Northwest, Azle, Rockwall, Lovejoy, Mansfield, and McAllen ISDs.

    The plaintiffs in both cases are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel.

    Plaintiff Kristin Klade, a Lutheran pastor, said in a statement that she is a devout Christian and believes that the “spiritual formation of my children” is a privilege she takes more seriously than anything else.

    “The mandated Ten Commandments displayed in my children’s public school impedes my ability to ‘train up my child in the way he should go’ (Proverbs 22:6),” Klade wrote. “I address questions about God and faith with great care, and I emphatically reject the notion that the state would do this for me.”

    Other plaintiffs said the Texas law forces religion on children and is a calculated step to erode the separation of church and state. Following the Rabbi Nathan ruling, attorneys in the case sent a letter to all Texas school districts suggesting they not implement SB 10 because it would violate the First Amendment.

    “Even though your district is not a party to the ongoing lawsuit, all school districts have an independent obligation to respect students’ and families’ constitutional rights. Because the U.S. Constitution supersedes state law, public-school officials may not comply with SB 10,” the letter states.

    Supporters of the legislation say the Ten Commandments and Christian teachings are vital to understanding U.S. history.

    Some districts have gotten creative in how they follow the law. Hays Consolidated ISD near Austin accepted donated Ten Commandments posters from the nonprofit My Faith Votes/Million Voices and opted to also display the Bill of Rights, which states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

    “We know that posting the Ten Commandments will spark many campus and community discussions,” said Hays ISD Superintendent Eric Wright in a statement.”We think it’s entirely appropriate to also display the other document that will be frequently cited in those conversations and in the legal process. The district won’t defy state law, but we can approach this new mandate as a learning opportunity,”

    ACLU of Texas attorney Chloe Kempf said in a press release this week that Texas families from religious and nonreligious backgrounds are “once again coming together to challenge this blatantly unconstitutional law.”

    “This lawsuit is a continuation of our work to defend the First Amendment and ensure that government officials stay out of personal family decisions,” she said. “All students — regardless of their race or religious background — should feel accepted and free to be themselves in Texas public schools.”

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    April Towery

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  • 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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  • Pros And Cons Of Displaying The 10 Commandments In Every Classroom

    Pros And Cons Of Displaying The 10 Commandments In Every Classroom

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    The Republican Governor of Louisiana Jeff Landry recently signed a law requiring state’s classrooms to display a copy of the Ten Commandments. The Onion explores the pros and cons of requiring religious doctrine in public schools.

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    • PRO: A good way to cover up the bullet holes.
    • CON: Use of woke “Thou/Thy” pronouns.
    • PRO: Great example of counting to 10 in the real world.
    • CON: Just finished building golden calf.
    • PRO: Least out-of-date thing in classroom.
    • CON: True believers would display the entirety of the King James Bible.
    • PRO: Distracts from how weird the Pledge of Allegiance is.
    • CON: Not enough funding to print it out.

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  • Girl Faints As Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry Signs Ten Commandments Bill

    Girl Faints As Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry Signs Ten Commandments Bill

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    Video of Thursday’s ceremony shows what appears to be a middle school student fainting as the governor signs the bill into law.

    About 19 seconds into the video below, you can see her fall and get help from people near her.

    Meanwhile, the Republican governor appears unaware of what is happening behind him.

    HuffPost reached out to the governor’s office to find out the status of the girl and her connection with the event, but no one immediately responded.

    However, the clip went viral, and people had thoughts. Lots of thoughts, many of which assumed Landry ignored the girl (though it’s unclear he was aware of what was going on).

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  • Arizona Republicans respond to Hobbs veto by attacking trans people

    Arizona Republicans respond to Hobbs veto by attacking trans people

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    A slew of Republican bills, including those that allowed discrimination against transgender people and gave public school teachers a green light to post the Ten Commandments in their classrooms, were vetoed by Gov. Katie Hobbs on Tuesday. Hobbs, who has made it clear that she’ll use her veto power on any bills that don’t have bipartisan support — and especially ones that discriminate against tLGBTQ+ people — vetoed 13 bills, bringing her count for this year to 42…

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    Caitlin Sievers | Arizona Mirror

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