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Federal judge rules that Texas law violates the Establishment Clause
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ACLU director calls injunction a victory for religious freedom
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Texas AG sues school districts for not displaying the Ten Commandments
by Julia Harte
November 19 – A federal judge has ordered a dozen public school districts in Texas to remove displays of the Ten Commandments from their classrooms by December, saying that a state law requiring such displays violates the U.S. Constitution.
In a victory for parents of school-age children in 12 Texas districts named as defendants, U.S. District Court Judge Orlando L. Garcia wrote that the law violates a constitutional clause that prohibits the government from passing “any law respecting an establishment of religion.”
Garcia’s injunction on Tuesday was the latest salvo in a nationwide debate over whether U.S. states can require public schools to feature Christian texts prominently in their classrooms. The fight has pitted parents and students against conservative groups trying to make expression of faith more prominent in American society.
In June a federal appeals court blocked Louisiana from enforcing a law that required the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all classrooms at the state’s public schools and universities. The same appeals court will hear a challenge to the Texas law when it hears the Louisiana case in January.
In October, the Oklahoma Department of Education withdrew a 2024 directive that required teachers to have a Christian Bible in every classroom and include it in their lessons, after challenges that it was unconstitutional led the state Supreme Court to block the requirement.
Reuters sought comment from each school district that is currently a defendant in the Texas lawsuit. Spokespeople for Conroe and Flour Bluff Independent School District in Southeast Texas said they would follow applicable law, although only Conroe said it would follow Garcia’s order. No other school districts responded.
A director of the American Civil Liberties Union, a group representing plaintiffs opposing the Texas law, called Garcia’s injunction “a victory for religious liberty and a reminder that government officials should not pay favorites with faith.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday sued two other state school districts for refusing to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms, accusing them of “disregarding the will of Texas voters, who expect that our state’s legal and moral heritage will be displayed in accordance with the law.”
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
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