In his decision, U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia found that “displaying the Ten Commandments on the wall of a public-school classroom as set forth in S.B. 10 violates the Establishment Clause [of the Constitution].”
A federal judge has ordered public schools districts in Texas to remove all displays of the Ten Commandments by December 1, 2025.
The order comes in response to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of multifaith organizations and nonreligious families with children attending public schools in districts that had approved Ten Commandments displays.
In his decision, U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia found that “displaying the Ten Commandments on the wall of a public-school classroom as set forth in S.B. 10 violates the Establishment Clause [of the Constitution].”
“It is impractical, if not impossible, to prevent Plaintiffs from being subjected to unwelcome religious displays without enjoining Defendants from enforcing S.B. 10 across their districts,” Garcia wrote.
In a press release, the American Civil Liberties Union notes that the scope of Garcia’s preliminary injunction is fairly limited.
“While today’s preliminary injunction directly applies to the defendant school districts named in the Cribbs Ringer lawsuit, the organizations behind the lawsuit are urging all Texas school districts not to implement S.B. 10,” the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement. “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.”
The case is being litigated by groups including the ACLU, the ACLU of Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and the private law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.
Lenee Bien-Willner, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said she is grateful that her children—and other families—will no longer be forced to look at Christian imagery in school.
“I am relieved that as a result of today’s ruling, my children, who are among a small number of Jewish students at their schools, will no longer be continually subjected to religious displays,” she said. “The government has no business interfering with parental decisions about matters of faith.”
Chloe Kempf, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said that the ruling shouldn’t come as a great surprise.
“Today’s ruling is yet another affirmation of what Texans already know: The First Amendment guarantees families and faith communities – not the government – the right to instill religious beliefs in our children,” Kempf said in a press release. “Our schools are for education, not evangelization. This ruling protects thousands of Texas students from ostracization, bullying, and state-mandated religious coercion. Every school district in Texas is now on notice that implementing S.B. 10 violates their students’ constitutional rights.”
Sources
Texas judge temporarily blocks law requiring Ten Commandments in schools
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