Appeals Court Halts Louisiana Ten Commandments Law; Texas Enacts Similar Measure, Faces Suit

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on 20 June ruled that Louisiana’s statute requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public-school and university classroom is “plainly unconstitutional,” saying the mandate violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. The decision bars the state from enforcing the law while litigation continues. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrell said she will seek further review, including a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The next day, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 10, making Texas the largest state to order that the Ten Commandments be placed in public-school classrooms. The measure requires each campus to post a specific English text on a poster at least 16 by 20 inches, readable from anywhere in the room, starting 1 September. Abbott, who successfully defended a Ten Commandments monument at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005, said the new display law reflects the nation’s historical foundations.

Texas’ mandate quickly drew the kind of legal opposition that felled the Louisiana rule. On 25 June a coalition of Dallas-area families and Christian, Muslim and other faith leaders filed suit in federal court against the Texas Education Agency, Commissioner Mike Morath and several school districts. Represented by the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the plaintiffs argue that compulsory scripture in classrooms pressures students to adopt state-sponsored religious doctrine and infringes on parental rights.

The lawsuit cites the 5th Circuit’s Louisiana ruling and a 1980 Supreme Court precedent striking down a similar Kentucky statute, contending that Texas’ measure will likewise fail constitutional scrutiny. With nearly six million students across roughly 9,100 public schools, compliance with the law would reach far beyond the parishes affected in Louisiana. State officials have vowed to defend the statute, setting up another Establishment Clause test that could advance to the Supreme Court.