“It teaches students, and their teachers, that exclusion is acceptable, maybe even preferred,” one plaintiff said. “That is not a lesson I want my children learning from the state of Texas.”
A group of Houston-area mothers are suing Texas over a controversial and potentially unconstitutional state law that requires public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments.
According to The Texas Tribune, the lawsuit represents the latest legal challenge to Senate Bill 10, as well as the first alleging violations of state law. Other attempts to prohibit the display of the Ten Commandments have primarily cited federal law as well as the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. These claims have so far been unsuccessful.
The latest lawsuit, filed earlier this week in a Harris County court, demands that the displays be taken down by mid-August, before the school year begins.
Vanessa D. Gilmore, a former district court judge serving as a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said that classrooms are broadly off-limits for religious expression that privileges select faiths over others.
“It cannot be something that is only done when it advances a Christian agenda, to the exclusion of every other religious background of the citizens and students of Texas,” she said.
Emily Roth, a named plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a press release that the compulsory display of the Ten Commandments purposefully ignores religious differences in the classroom. Roth also said that it could make many students feel like they don’t belong.
“It teaches students, and their teachers, that exclusion is acceptable, maybe even preferred,” she said. “That is not a lesson I want my children learning from the state of Texas.”
The lawsuit, notes the Tribune, was filed under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1999, which declares that “a government agency may not substantially burden a person’s free exercise of religion.” Attorneys also cite Texas Proposition 15, the recently-passed “Parental Rights Amendment,” which guarantees parents the right to “exercise care, custody, and control” of their children, “including the right to make decisions concerning the child’s upbringing.”
Megan Hassan, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said that, while her clients come from diverse backgrounds and hold different faiths, they all want the same thing—for “their children to attend school without being compelled to display a message that conflicts with their faith.”
“They did not want a legal battle with the state of Texas,” Hassan said. “They wanted a poster removed from a classroom wall. That should never have required a lawsuit.”
Sources
Houston mothers challenge Ten Commandments posters under Texas’ new parental rights amendment
Three Houston-area moms sue over Ten Commandments in schools. They say it violates Texas’ own laws
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