Dive Brief:
- A federal judge on Tuesday ordered about a dozen Texas school districts to remove any displays of the Ten Commandments in classrooms by Dec. 1. The preliminary injunction temporarily prohibits these districts from carrying out a state law that requires the schools to display the religious text while related cases are pending in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court.
- Texas’ requirement in S.B. 10 that the Ten Commandments must be displayed in public school classrooms violates the establishment clause in the First Amendment, said U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia.
- Though the order only applies to the districts in the suit, the organizations that filed the lawsuit on behalf of Texas parents in Cribbs Ringer v. Comal Independent School District are urging all of the state’s school districts not to comply with S.B. 10.
Dive Insight:
The order issued in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas San Antonio Division follows previous warnings from civil rights organizations to districts in three states that have passed Ten Commandments laws to not display the religious edicts. Those states include Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.
A separate preliminary injunction was also issued to 11 other Texas school districts in August for implementing S.B. 10.
The plaintiffs in both cases are represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
“All school districts, even those that are not parties in either ongoing lawsuit, have an independent obligation to respect students’ and families’ rights under the U.S. Constitution, which supersedes state law,” said Americans United for Separation of Church and State in a Tuesday statement.
However, districts that don't comply with the state law are also feeling blowback.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also announced Tuesday that he is suing Round Rock Independent School District and Leander Independent School District for refusing to comply with S.B. 10 by not displaying privately donated copies of the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Paxton recently sued Galveston Independent School District over a similar situation.
“These rogue ISD officials and board members blatantly disregarded the will of Texas voters who expect the legal and moral heritage of our state to be displayed in accordance with the law,” said Paxton. “Round Rock ISD and Leander ISD chose to defy a clear statutory mandate, and this lawsuit makes clear that no district may ignore Texas law without consequence.”
