Name: U.S. judge orders Texas schools to defy Ten Commandments display law
Uploaded: 2025-11-20T16:52:11.953Z
Duration: 2 min 4 s
Description: A federal judge has ordered a dozen Texas public school districts 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.

A federal judge has ordered a dozen Texas public school districts 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.

Texas

A federal judge has ordered Texas public school districts to remove Ten Commandments posters from classrooms, ruling that a new state law requiring the displays violates the U.S. Constitution's establishment clause. Judge Orlando L. Garcia stated that the law amounts to government endorsement of religion, which is prohibited by the Constitution.

The ruling comes amid ongoing national debates about the presence of religious texts in public schools, with similar laws recently blocked in Louisiana and Oklahoma. Several Texas districts indicated they would comply with the order, while the Texas Attorney General has taken legal action against districts refusing to display the posters.

U.S. judge orders Texas schools to defy Ten Commandments display law

A federal judge has ordered several Texas public school districts to remove posters of the Ten Commandments from classrooms by December. The judge said a new Texas law that required such posters violates the U.S. Constitution. In his ruling on Tuesday, District Court Judge Orlando L. Garcia wrote that the measure violates a constitutional clause barring the government from passing any law respecting an establishment of religion. The verdict marks the latest round in a nationwide argument over whether public schools can be required to prominently feature Christian religious texts in classrooms. The fight has pitted parents and students against conservative groups trying to make expressions of faith more prominent in U.S. society. In June, a federal appeals court stopped Louisiana from enforcing a similar law. In October, Oklahoma's Education Department withdrew a 2024 directive that forced teachers to keep a Bible in every classroom and use it in lessons. The move followed constitutional challenges that led the state's Supreme Court to halt the requirement. Reuters asked each Texas school district named in a lawsuit for comment. Several said they would remove the posters. Chloe Kempf, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union in Texas, welcomed the ruling. It's so important that we protect the separation of church and state, especially in our schools, because our children are so vulnerable to messages from the government that might make them feel inadequate or different from all of their peers, and to pressure them to abandon the religious teachings their families are trying to instill at home. And so our message is to every school district, think twice before you post the Ten Commandments. Several judges have ruled it unconstitutional at this point, and you have an independent obligation to uphold your students' constitutional rights. On Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued two other school districts for refusing to put up the posters. He claimed they were disregarding, quote, the will of Texas voters who expect the legal and moral heritage of our state to be displayed in accordance with the law.

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