Judge blocks Texas Ten Commandments law

U.S. District Court Judge Fred Biery temporarily paused a Texas law from taking effect that requires all public school classrooms to display a copy of the Ten Commandments. Biery issued the preliminary injunction on Wednesday before the law was slated to take effect on Sept. 1. Federal courts stopped similar laws from taking effect in Louisiana and Arkansas.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 10 into law in June, requiring all publicly funded K-12 classrooms in the state to hang a copy of the Ten Commandments. The copy must be at least 16-by-20 inches in a durable frame, according to the law. Legislators supporting the law argue that the Ten Commandments hold great significance in American history. Opposing legislators argued that the posting would infringe on a parent’s right to direct their child’s spiritual development. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the state on behalf of a group of multireligious parents, alleging that the law violated the First Amendment’s establishment and free exercise clauses. Biery’s Wednesday ruling came as part of that lawsuit.

How did Biery justify the ruling? Displaying the commandments will likely pressure children into religious observance, meditation, and/or veneration of a state-favored religious scripture, according to the ruling. Biery cited a number of writings from the founding fathers on the dangers of establishing a state-mandated religion. He also cited the Supreme Court’s ruling blocking a similar Ten Commandments law in the 1980 case Stone v. Graham.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told CBS on Wednesday that he planned to appeal the ruling, which he described as flawed. The Ten Commandments are a cornerstone of the nation’s moral and legal heritage, he said. Texas will always defend the right to uphold the founding values that guide responsible citizenship, he added.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report on a federal judge blocking a similar law from taking effect in Arkansas.