Ten Commandments in Public School Classrooms Ruled Constitutional

On April 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issued a close ruling that will now require Austin-area Lake Travis and Dripping Springs ISDs, along with seven other Texas school districts, to hang a 16-by-20-inch poster of the Ten Commandments in their classrooms, as required by Senate Bill 10. 

Last July, 15 multifaith families with children in Texas public schools filed a lawsuit against their school districts, including AISD, in an attempt to block SB 10 from being implemented. Having obtained a previous dismissal from that lawsuit, Austin ISD appears off the hook from the requirement for now.

The dismissing court order prohibits AISD from hanging the posters in its classrooms while litigation is pending “in any form” up to the Supreme Court, where the case could end up next. It also requires AISD to abide by the final result of the case.

The plaintiff families claimed SB 10 violates the First Amendment and Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits the establishment of a national religion. They also claimed the display of the Ten Commandments would alienate non-Christian children and impose religious teachings contrary to their own beliefs.

On Aug. 20, U.S. District Court Judge Fred Biery agreed with the families, granting a preliminary injunction that has blocked the law from taking effect in those school districts, until now.

Dismissing the families’ argument, the 5th Circuit decided that the law doesn’t require religious exercise or observance, nor establish a national religion. “SB 10 is far from that,” the ruling reads. “It puts a poster on a classroom wall. Yes, Plaintiffs have sincere religious disagreements with its content. But that does not transform the poster into a summons to prayer.”

The families were “extremely disappointed” with the court’s decision, they wrote in a joint statement April 21. “The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when, and if to provide their children with religious instruction. This decision tramples those rights.”

Marco Alvarado, a spokesperson for Lake Travis ISD, wrote to the Chronicle that the school district “will comply with the requirements of the law.” He added that the district has not yet received any donated posters of the Ten Commandments, which school districts under SB 10 are obligated to accept. 

Dripping Springs ISD and Austin ISD could not be reached for comment before publication.

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