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U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia has instructed seven Dallas-area school districts to remove classroom posters of the Ten Commandments that were mandated by the passage of Senate Bill 10 this summer.
SB 10 requires every public school classroom in Texas to hang a poster of the Ten Commandments in a conspicuous place, and it had already been challenged by one court before this week. Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued earlier this month that the display of Ten Commandments posters in classrooms would lead to the ostracization or evangelization of non-Christian students, and that a state-mandated religious text in schools amounts to a state-sponsored religion.
On Tuesday, Garcia issued a preliminary injunction on the postings, stating that the displays as mandated by the bill would “violate the Establishment Clause” of the Constitution, which calls for a separation between church and state.
Garcia’s ruling requires the 14 school districts named in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU to remove the posters from their classrooms by Dec. 1 and provide evidence of the removals by Dec. 9. The Fort Worth, Arlington, McKinney, Frisco, Azle, Rockwall and Mansfield Independent School Districts are included in the lawsuit.
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“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 the injunction opinion.
A statement released Tuesday afternoon by the organizations behind the lawsuit urged districts not named in the filing to also remove their posters. That could have consequences, though. Shortly before Tuesday’s opinion, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced lawsuits against two school districts that have refused to display the posters.
Paxton called Round Rock and Leander ISDs “rogue” school districts that are “blatantly disregarding the will of Texas voters who expect the legal and moral heritage of our state to be displayed.” Paxton has also filed suit against Galveston ISD for refusing to display the posters.
Plano ISD was one of 11 districts named in a prior lawsuit that received an injunction in August. Paxton has appealed that ruling, and will likely appeal Tuesday’s as well.
“Our schools are for education, not evangelization,” said Chloe Kempf, staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas, in a statement. “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 SB 10 violates their students’ constitutional rights.”
