Introduction to the Lawsuit
A group of Texas families filed a federal lawsuit to bar 14 school districts from implementing a new state law requiring classroom displays of the Ten Commandments. The suit comes a month after a federal judge found the law interferes with children’s religious education and sends a harmful message. That ruling, issued in response to a similar lawsuit from families in July, temporarily prohibited 11 school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments.
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The 15 multifaith and nonreligious families who are part of the new lawsuit allege the displays will pressure students “into religious observance, veneration and adoption of the state’s favored religious scripture.”
The Concerns of the Families
The families are concerned that the displays will send a harmful and religiously divisive message to students who do not subscribe to the Ten Commandments, making them feel like they do not belong in their own school community. Many of the 14 school districts named in this suit are in North Texas, including Fort Worth ISD, Arlington ISD, McKinney ISD, Frisco ISD, Northwest ISD, Azle ISD, Rockwall ISD, Lovejoy ISD, and Mansfield ISD.
“The displays will also send the harmful and religiously divisive message that students who do not subscribe to the Ten Commandments … do not belong in their own school community,” they argue in court documents.
“A federal court has already made clear that school districts violate the First Amendment when they post the Ten Commandments in classrooms under S.B. 10,” Heather L. Weaver, a lawyer with the ACLU representing the families, said in a statement, referring to the Senate bill. “School districts must respect students’ and parents’ constitutional rights, and we will continue to hold school districts accountable when they flout this obligation.”
The Previous Lawsuit
In the same vein as the previous lawsuit, the families want the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to find the law a violation of the First Amendment’s establishment and free exercise clauses — which protect the separation of church and state and religious freedom, respectively — and block the implementation of the law in the named districts.
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Lawyers for the families point to the August ruling, in which a federal judge found the law “officially favors Christian denominations over others” and “crosses the line from exposure to coercion.” Classroom displays of the Ten Commandments “are likely to send an exclusionary and spiritually burdensome message” to the plaintiff families’ children that they are “the other,” he wrote in his ruling.
The State’s Response
State Attorney General Ken Paxton has appealed that decision, calling it “flawed,” and directed school districts not named in that suit to comply with the state law. The families also want the court to require the schools to remove any Ten Commandments displays that have gone up. Frisco ISD has installed nearly 5,000 posters across 77 campuses, per the lawsuit. The district purchased the displays for approximately $1,800. Other campuses, including those in McKinney ISD and Conroe ISD, hung up donated posters.
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The law, which went into effect Sept. 1, requires schools to conspicuously display a copy of the Ten Commandments.
The Families’ Representation
The families are represented by civil liberties organizations Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the national American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. The groups represented the Texas families in the similar suit filed in July. The state attorney general’s office has pushed back on descriptions of the law as “coercion,” saying posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms is a “passive display,” according to court filings in the previous suit.
“S.B. 10 does not require that any future displays be read, discussed or otherwise incorporated into any specific activity within the classroom,” William Farrell, assistant attorney general, wrote in a July motion to dismiss that suit.
Farrell also pointed out that posters must go up if they are donated, but school districts do not have to purchase them. The law does not require any state agency to ensure schools are putting them up, meaning the mandate does not pose harm to families, he wrote.
The Supporters of the Law
Republican state lawmakers have said young people need God and suggested only good could come from exposure to a document that encourages students to respect their parents and not kill, steal or cheat. Supporters of the law have said Christianity is an important part of the nation’s founding and history, noting references to God are on U.S. currency as well as in the national and Texas pledges.
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Conclusion
The lawsuit filed by the Texas families is a significant challenge to the new state law requiring classroom displays of the Ten Commandments. The families argue that the displays will pressure students into religious observance and send a harmful and religiously divisive message to students who do not subscribe to the Ten Commandments. The state attorney general’s office has pushed back on these claims, saying that posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms is a “passive display” that does not require any state agency to ensure schools are putting them up. The outcome of this lawsuit will have significant implications for the separation of church and state in Texas public schools.
FAQs
Q: What is the lawsuit about?
A: The lawsuit is about a group of Texas families challenging a new state law that requires classroom displays of the Ten Commandments. They argue that the displays will pressure students into religious observance and send a harmful and religiously divisive message to students who do not subscribe to the Ten Commandments.
Q: Which school districts are named in the lawsuit?
A: Many of the 14 school districts named in this suit are in North Texas, including Fort Worth ISD, Arlington ISD, McKinney ISD, Frisco ISD, Northwest ISD, Azle ISD, Rockwall ISD, Love
