A federal appeals court upheld a Texas law that says public school classrooms must have displays of the Ten Commandments. This could lead to a case in the U.S. Supreme Court about the role of religion in public education.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld Senate Bill 10 this week. This bill says that all public schools in the state “shall” put up the Ten Commandments in classrooms. People who are against the law said they will take the case to the highest court in the country. Rav Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District is the name of the case.
The Center Square talked to David Hacker, vice president of legal services and senior counsel at First Liberty Institute. He said that the decision means schools must follow the law’s requirement. Hacker said that the Ten Commandments can teach us things.
They are “a foundational moral, literary, and historical text. Their influence on Western legal traditions is widely acknowledged and needs to be part of any complete education,” Hacker told The Center Square.
Hacker said the 5th Circuit ruling makes clear that the establishments of religion “historically involved coercion: mandatory church attendance, enforced religious taxes, and legal penalties for noncompliance.
“By contrast, simply displaying a religious text on a classroom wall bears no resemblance to these practices,” he added.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation are all being charged.
The defendants said in a joint statement that they were “extremely disappointed” with the decision. They said it went against the First Amendment and long-standing Supreme Court precedent. They said the decision hurts the separation of church and state and limits families’ freedom to choose how to teach their children about religion.
Even though The Center Square asked all of these groups for their thoughts, only the Freedom From Religion Foundation got back to them. Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the foundation, spoke out against the decision, pointing out the court’s narrow margin of error and saying it was not in line with past decisions.
“We take a little solace in the fact that, despite its being the most conservative appeals court, the vote was so close, 9-8. It is nevertheless shocking that an appeals court would presume to do what only the Supreme Court itself can do and overturn long-standing precedent,” Gaylor told The Center Square.
The groups said they would take the U.S. Supreme Court to “overturn this decision and uphold the religious-freedom rights of children and parents.”
They were also sure that the court would uphold its decision in Stone v. Graham, a 1980 case about religious displays in public schools.
There have also been talks in Texas about possible changes to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for K–12 social studies curriculum. These changes could include using biblical texts in social studies lessons.
At the federal level, the Trump administration has said it supports letting more religious speech happen in schools. Earlier this year, they also put out guidelines for prayer in public schools.
In a statement issued after the Fifth Circuit ruling, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said it anticipated appealing the decision to the Supreme Court.
“We are extremely disappointed in today’s decision. The court’s ruling goes against fundamental First Amendment principles and binding U.S. Supreme Court authority. The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when and if to provide their children with religious instruction. This decision tramples those rights. We anticipate asking the Supreme Court to reverse this decision and uphold the religious freedom rights of children and parents.”
