The new lawsuit argues Senate Bill 10 violates the First Amendment’s protections for the separation of church and state and the right to free religious exercise.
AUSTIN, Texas — Civil liberty groups and several families filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday to challenge a new state law in Texas that requires the Ten Commandments to be prominently displayed in every public school classroom.
Sixteen families from both religious and non-religious backgrounds are suing local school districts to stop them from implementing the new law.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Freedom From Religion Foundation filed the lawsuit. Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 10 into law on June 20, and it’s set to take effect on Sept. 1.
The lawsuit names 11 school districts, including Austin ISD, Lake Travis ISD and the Dripping Springs ISD.
ACLU of Texas Staff Attorney Chloe Kempf called the new law “blatantly unconstitutional in several ways.”
“One of the ways is that it infringes on students’ and parents’ ability to practice their own religion without government coercion freely,” Kempf said. “The second is that it is the government weighing in on theological debates and choosing which religious texts and which translation of those texts are going to be officially preferred by the government.”
Senate Bill 10, authored by State Sen. Phil King (R-Weatherford), would require the Ten Commandments to be posted in all elementary and secondary classrooms. Under the bill, it must be a “durable poster” or a framed copy of the Ten Commandments.
The display must be at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall and in a “conspicuous place,” and the text must be clear enough to read for a person with “average vision” from anywhere in the classroom.
The poster can’t include any text other than the language of the Protestant version of the Ten Commandments.
“There’s many, many different religions use the Ten Commandments and many of these religions use different translations that can vary significantly,” Kempf said. “The state here has chosen one specific Protestant translation to elevate above all others, and so that’s the state essentially, giving preference to one religion, and that’s a violation of the Establishment Clause.”
If a classroom doesn’t display the Ten Commandments, it would have to accept any privately donated poster or framed copy as long as it meets the standards defined in the bill. The requirement is set to take effect for the 2025-26 school year, which begins in the fall.
If a district is sued over the law, the Texas Attorney General’s Office will defend them, and the state is responsible for any legal fees.
Supporters of SB 10 argue that the text of the Ten Commandments is foundational to American Democracy, U.S. history and law.
“Faith and freedom are the foundation of our nation,” Gov. Abbott tweeted last week. “If anyone sues, we’ll win that battle. Just like when I defended the Ten Commandments Monument on Texas Capitol grounds at SCOTUS.”
Twenty years ago, when Abbott was the Texas Attorney General, he argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 to keep the Ten Commandments Monument on display on the Texas State Capitol grounds.
The lawsuit argues that the state’s requirement to display a religious text in all classrooms violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, commonly known as the separation of church and state.
The lawsuit argues that displaying the Ten Commandments in the classroom constitutes an unconstitutional endorsement of religion, in direct violation of the Establishment Clause.
“S.B. 10 imposes a specific, rules-based set of norms that is at odds with my Hindu faith,” plaintiff Arvind Chandrakantan said. “Displaying the Ten Commandments in my children’s classrooms sends the message that certain aspects of Hinduism — like believing in multiple paths to God or venerating murthis as the living, breathing, physical representations of God are wrong. Public schools and the state of Texas have no place pushing their preferred religious beliefs on my children, let alone denigrating my faith, which is about as un-American and un-Texan as one can be.”
Rebekah and Theodore Lowe of Spicewood have two kids in elementary and middle schools in Lake Travis ISD. In the lawsuit, they said they are raising their kids with Christian beliefs and Jewish cultural traditions.
The Lowes said the displays will promote and forcibly subject their kids “to overtly religious classroom content in a manner that violates the Lowes’ religious, spiritual, and moral beliefs and practices” and “interfere with the Lowes’ plan for the children’s religious and spiritual upbringing.”
They want the religious conversations with their children to be age and developmentally appropriate, so they have decided against having their children read the Ten Commandments as part of their religious education. Instead, they planned to paraphrase the language of religious texts.
“By declaring that ‘I AM the LORD thy God’ and ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me,’ SB 10’s classroom displays will elevate one image of God above all others, sending the message – in direct contradiction to what she teaches [the children] at home – that those who do not believe in this God or believe in multiple gods are inferior or less worthy,” the lawsuit reads.
In the lawsuit, the Lowes expressed concern their children will feel pressure to “read and believe in a government-mandated version of scripture that is not a part of their spiritual upbringing.”
They also expressed concern that the display would lead their children to believe Christians are superior to non-Christians and that their Christian identity is more important than their Jewish identity, leading them to suppress the expression of their Jewish identities at school to avoid potential disfavor from school officials or peers.
“Posting the Ten Commandments in public schools is un-American and un-Baptist,” Austin Pastor Griff Martin, who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said. “SB 10 undermines the separation of church and state as a bedrock principle of my family’s Baptist heritage. Baptists have long held that the government has no role in religion — so that our faith may remain free and authentic. My children’s faith should be shaped by family and our religious community, not by a Christian nationalist movement that confuses God with power.”
Martin, who is the senior pastor at an Austin Baptist church, is raising his children, who attend school in Austin ISD, in the Baptist tradition. In the lawsuit, the Martin family argues the displays will “promote and will forcibly subject their children to religious doctrine in a manner that violates the family’s religious beliefs and practices”
“The text in the state-approved version of the Ten Commandments is antiquated, treats some people as property, and includes patriarchal and gendered language – all of which conflict with the Martins’ Baptist beliefs, which value equality and respect for all people,” the Martins said in the lawsuit.
The Martins argue the Ten Commandments should be taught “within the context of a family’s church and particular faith tradition.” In their case, within “the Martins’ Baptist teachings, religious beliefs, and values.”
In the lawsuit, they say the Baptist teachings oppose elevating one religious belief over another belief or non-belief system. Other people’s religions must be respected, and Baptist religious beliefs and practices should not be imposed on non-adherents. Leading to concern the school displays will “undermine the religious beliefs, values, and practices the Martins seek to instill in their children as part of their Baptist faith.”
“When children across Texas of all ages, day in and day out in every classroom, see this state-sponsored religious message, they will feel coerced by the state to believe something or practice a faith that might be different than what their parents are trying to instill in them at home,” Kempf said. “This can lead to a lot of harm like the kids feeling bullied or shamed, or othered because they don’t use this version of the Ten Commandments in their own religious life.”
Marissa and Wiley Norden of Austin have two kids in middle school in Dripping Springs ISD. They are raising their kids Jewish and said the specific version of the Ten Commandments that will be displayed is contrary to the children’s Jewish teachings.
“The displays required under SB 10 reference adultery and coveting the wife of one’s neighbor. The Nordens do not want their young children’s teachers to explain these topics to them,” the Nordens said in the lawsuit. “The Nordens believe that SB 10’s classroom displays will result in religious coercion of their children, who represent a minority faith in their classrooms. Displaying the Christian-centric Ten Commandments prominently in every school will present belief in this version of the Ten Commandments as a widely accepted fact.
The Nordens are also concerned that the displays will pressure their children to suppress the expression of their Jewish identities in school. Since fewer people are part of the Jewish faith, it may lead them to hide their Judaism to fit in with their classmates.
“As a rabbi and public school parent, I am deeply concerned that S.B. 10 will impose another faith’s scripture on students for nearly every hour of the school day,” Rabbi Mara Nathan said. “While our Jewish faith treats the Ten Commandments as sacred, the version mandated under this law does not match the text followed by our family, and the school displays will conflict with the religious beliefs and values we seek to instill in our child.”
State Rep. Candy Noble (R-Lucas) said they contain moral principles that extend beyond a particular religion.
“Nothing is more deeply rooted in the fabric of our American tradition of education than the Ten Commandments,” Noble said. “The very way we treat others as a society comes from the principles of the Ten Commandments. In these days of courtroom mayhem, it’s time to return to the truth, to the fabric of our educational system. Respect authority, respect others and don’t steal. Tell the truth. Don’t kill. Keep your word.”
The lawsuit also cites the Supreme Court decision in Stone v. Graham, which, in 1980, deemed a similar Kentucky law violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
It is the second lawsuit filed over Senate Bill 10. Last month, a coalition of faith leaders from Christian and Nation of Islam congregations sued Texas Education Agency (TEA) Commissioner Mike Morath, the Texas Education Agency, and the school boards of Dallas, DeSoto, and Lancaster ISD to block the new state law from taking effect.
The legislation is the latest attempt in a larger effort by Republican lawmakers to incorporate religion into classrooms.
The law is similar to one in Louisiana, which Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law in May 2024 and has since been challenged in court. Last month, a panel of three federal judges at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans struck down the Louisiana state law, ruling unanimously that the law is “plainly unconstitutional.”
The court ruled that under the state’s requirements that the Ten Commandment posters be indiscriminately displayed in every public school classroom in Louisiana, regardless of class subject matter, would isolate students, particularly those who are not Christian. The court found those displays caused an irreparable deprivation of the plaintiff’s First Amendment rights. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has stated that she disagrees with the ruling and has vowed to appeal it all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Several Arkansas families have also sued over a similar law in that state.
The lawsuit is asking a federal judge to declare SB 10 violates the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They also want the judge to issue and injunction to block the law from going into effect.