By Julia Harte
(Reuters) -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.
In a win for parents of children who attend school in the 12 Texas districts named as defendants, U.S. District Court Judge Orlando L. Garcia wrote that the law violates a constitutional clause barring the government from passing any "law respecting an establishment
of religion."
Garcia's injunction on Tuesday was the latest salvo in a nationwide debate over whether U.S. states can require public schools to prominently feature Christian texts in their classrooms. The fight has pitted parents and students against conservative groups trying to make expressions of faith more prominent in U.S. society.
A federal appeals court in June blocked Louisiana from enforcing a law that similarly required the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all classrooms of the state's public schools and universities. The same appeals court will hear a challenge to the Texas law when it rehears the Louisiana case in January.
In October, Oklahoma's Education Department withdrew a 2024 directive that required teachers to have the Christian Bible in every classroom and incorporate it into their lessons, after challenges that it was unconstitutional prompted the state supreme court to halt the requirement.
Reuters sought comment from each school district that is currently a defendant in the Texas lawsuit. Spokespeople for Conroe and Flour Bluff Independent School Districts in southeast Texas said they would adhere to applicable law, though only Conroe said it would follow Garcia's order. No other school districts responded.
A director at the American Civil Liberties Union, one group representing the plaintiffs who oppose the Texas law, hailed Garcia's injunction as "a victory for religious liberty and a reminder that government officials shouldn’t pay favorites with faith.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued two other state school districts on Tuesday for refusing to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms, accusing them of disregarding "the will of Texas voters who expect the legal and moral heritage of our state to be displayed in accordance with the law."
(Reporting by Julia Harte in New York City and Evan Garcia in Houston; Editing by Nia Williams)
