Texas appeals Ten Commandments ruling, pushes for in-school prayer

Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an appeal on Tuesday to overturn an injunction currently blocking enforcement of a law requiring a copy of the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom in the state. An August order from U.S. District Court Judge Fred Biery stopped the law from taking effect in 11 of the state’s school districts on Monday.

Instead of a three-judge panel, Paxton petitioned every active judge in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to review the case, according to a Thursday statement. Paxton described the Ten Commandments as a cornerstone of American law and the nation’s moral heritage. There’s no legal reason Texas can be stopped from honoring the core of American ethics, especially not the bogus idea of church and state separation, he said.

Paxton’s appeal came days after another state law took effect that allows students to engage in times of prayer and Scripture reading during school. Paxton released a Tuesday statement recommending the Lord's Prayer as the best utilization of students’ prayer time. The Word of God needs to be opened in Texas classrooms and prayers lifted up, he said. Radical liberals are trying to erase the Biblical truth America was founded on, he added.

What have critics of the law had to say? The ACLU of Texas maintains that the law violates the constitutional rights of families from diverse and nonreligious backgrounds. Last month, the organization sent a letter to Texas school districts urging them not to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms and to remove any displays they have already installed.

What’s the status of other states’ Ten Commandments laws? Several other states continue to push to enact similar laws requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

• Arkansas: A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in early August barring officials from enforcing the law on several school districts that sued over the statute. Weeks later, Attorney General Tim Griffin filed a notice that he planned to appeal the ruling.

• Louisiana: A three-judge panel for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in late June to overturn the state’s Ten Commandments law. About a week later, Attorney General Liz Murrill requested that the circuit conduct a full review of the order. The court’s order ignored its legal precedents, along with those set by other federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, she argued.

• Oklahoma: State representatives are considering a bill submitted in February that would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins' report for more detail around arguments both for and against displaying the Ten Commandments.