Texas Judge Orders Ten Commandments Removed From Public School Classrooms

Third State Law Blocked This Year

A federal judge just told Texas public schools to take down the Ten Commandments.

On November 18, Judge Orlando L. Garcia ruled that a new state law requiring religious displays in every classroom violates the First Amendment.

The ruling is the latest blow to a coordinated push by Republican-led states to put scripture back on schoolhouse walls, and it sets up a legal fight that could reach the Supreme Court within a year.

SB 10 Mandated Posters in Every Classroom

Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Republican Senator Phil King of Weatherford, required every public school classroom in Texas to display a copy of the Ten Commandments.

The posters had to be at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall, displayed in a place where anyone in the room could see them.

The law specified the exact wording from the King James Bible, the same version carved into a monument outside the Texas State Capitol.

Schools were not required to pay for the posters. They had to accept any privately donated displays that met the requirements.

Families From Six Faiths Filed Suit

The families who sued came from a range of religious backgrounds including agnostic, atheist, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, and Baha’i.

Despite their different beliefs, they shared one thing.

They did not want their children pressured to observe, venerate, or adopt the religious teachings in the Ten Commandments.

The plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU of Texas and several religious freedom organizations, argued that students are legally required to attend school and have no way to avoid seeing the state-mandated scripture.

Abbott Signed the Law Anyway

Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 10 into law on a Saturday in late June 2025.

He did so the day after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Louisiana’s nearly identical law was “plainly unconstitutional.”

Abbott had made his position clear before the vote. “Let’s get this bill to my desk,” he said. “I’ll make it law.”

The House had passed the bill 82 to 46, with the final Senate vote at 21 to 10.

Ken Paxton Sues Defiant Districts

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office is defending the law, announced he would appeal the ruling. He also went on offense.

Paxton filed suit against two school districts and their board members for refusing to comply with the law.

The districts “blatantly disregarded the will of Texas voters,” he said in a statement. “No district may ignore Texas law without consequence.

His office had already issued guidance telling every school district not covered by the injunction to display the Ten Commandments starting September 1, 2025.

Louisiana Lit the Fuse in 2024

Louisiana was the first state to require public schools to post the Ten Commandments in more than 40 years.

Governor Jeff Landry, a Republican, signed the law in June 2024, requiring displays in all K-12 classrooms and state-funded universities by January 1, 2025.

A coalition of nine families from Jewish, Christian, Unitarian, and nonreligious backgrounds sued within days.

A federal judge blocked the law in November 2024, calling it “facially unconstitutional.

Arkansas Made It Three States

Arkansas followed in April 2025 when Act 573 became law, requiring Ten Commandments displays in every public school classroom, library, and state building.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Alyssa Brown, said it was meant to educate students on how the country was founded.

A federal judge blocked the law on August 4, 2025, just one day before it was set to take effect, calling it “plainly unconstitutional.”

Several Arkansas school districts hung the posters anyway, leading to additional restraining orders.

Three States, Three Injunctions

All three laws have now been blocked by federal judges.

In Louisiana, a three-judge appeals court panel ruled in June 2025 that requiring the displays would cause “unwanted exposure to government-sponsored religious displays” and violate students’ First Amendment rights.

In Arkansas, the judge wrote that the state appeared to be “part of a coordinated strategy among several states to inject Christian religious doctrine into public-school classrooms.”

The ACLU called the Texas ruling “a victory” and said the Constitution bars public schools from forcing religious scripture on students.

A 1980 Ruling Still Controls

The Supreme Court ruled on this exact issue 45 years ago in Stone v. Graham.

In 1980, the justices struck down a Kentucky law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom, ruling 5 to 4 that it violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause.

The court found that merely posting the commandments served no educational function and could give students the impression that the state was promoting religious beliefs.

Every federal judge reviewing the new state laws has said Stone remains binding until the Supreme Court itself overturns it.

Supporters Bet on a New Court

In 2022, the Supreme Court officially cast aside the old test courts used to evaluate religious displays in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District.

That case involved a Washington state football coach who was fired for praying on the field after games.

The 6 to 3 ruling rejected the previous standard and told judges to consider history and “the understanding of the Founding Fathers” instead.

Since Stone relied on the old test, supporters of the Ten Commandments laws believe the current conservative court will overturn it.

Backers argue the commandments are foundational to American law and that church-state separation is a “myth.”

January Hearing Could Decide It All

The full 17-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear both the Texas and Louisiana cases together on January 20, 2026.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton requested the cases be combined, and the court agreed in late October.

Legal experts expect the dispute will ultimately reach the Supreme Court, where Ten Commandments supporters hope the conservative majority will be receptive.

For now, the posters stay down in every district covered by the injunctions. But the families who sued know this fight is far from over.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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