Texas’ attorney general is ordering nearly all school districts in the state to ensure they have copies of the Ten Commandments in their classrooms by next week. This follows a judge’s court order preventing a law mandating the historical document’s placement in classrooms from going into effect in some school districts.
In a statement on Monday, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton ordered all school districts not covered by the federal judge’s order to display the Decalogue.
In his Aug. 20 ruling, Judge Fred Biery of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas San Antonio Division prevented the law from going into effect in 11 school districts in the state: Alamo Heights, Northeast, Austin, Cypress Fairbanks, Lackland, Lake Travis, Fort Bend, Houston, Dripping Springs, Plano and Northside. Paxton indicated Monday that his office has appealed the decision.
“From the beginning, the Ten Commandments have been irrevocably intertwined with America’s legal, moral, and historical heritage,” Paxton said. “Schools not enjoined by ongoing litigation must abide by S.B. 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.”
Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 10, which requires schools to post a 16-by-20-inch poster or framed copy of a specific English version of the Ten Commandments, into law earlier this year. The measure is slated to go into effect on Sept. 1.
As Paxton explained in his statement Monday, “While no school is compelled to purchase Ten Commandments displays, schools may choose to do so. However, schools must accept and display any privately donated posters or copies that meet the requirements of S.B. 10.”
Last month, the Austin-based advocacy group Texas Values, which played a role in securing the passage of Senate Bill 10, launched a new website called RestoreAmericanSchools.com that enables individuals and organizations to purchase posters of the Ten Commandments for just $1, including shipping.
Texas Values Policy Director Jonathan Covey told local news outlet WTHR that it “was important to us that we are able to take private donations and give those to the school districts and not burden them with having to come up with funding.”
Texas is not the only state that has passed a measure requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. Louisiana and Arkansas have passed similar legislation into law. Like Senate Bill 10, the Louisiana and Arkansas laws have found themselves subject to legal challenges.
In June, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit unanimously upheld a lower court ruling stating that the Louisiana law violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That same month, the progressive advocacy groups Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Arkansas law.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
