A new ACLU class-action lawsuit expands the fight over Texas’ Ten Commandments school law to every district not already part of the earlier cases.
HOUSTON — A new class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU is aiming to remove Ten Commandments posters from classrooms across Texas, expanding the legal fight over Senate Bill 10, a state law that requires every public school classroom to display a specific version of the Ten Commandments.
SB 10, which took effect Sept. 1, mandates that schools post a “durable poster or framed copy” at least 16×20 inches in a “conspicuous place” where the text can be read from anywhere in the classroom. The complaint argues the law forces schools to display a state-approved Protestant version of the Ten Commandments.
Previous lawsuits only covered about two dozen districts
Two earlier lawsuits — which KHOU 11 has been following — applied to only about two dozen districts statewide. Those districts include Houston ISD, Cy-Fair ISD, Fort Bend ISD and Conroe ISD.
In both cases, federal judges ruled that S.B. 10 is unconstitutional.
New class-action targets remaining school districts
This new lawsuit significantly broadens the challenge.
Instead of focusing on a limited set of districts, the complaint names a series of defendant school districts and seeks to include all Texas independent school districts that are required to comply with S.B. 10 and are not already involved in litigation.
Districts listed in the complaint include:
- Katy ISD
- Deer Park ISD
- Clear Creek ISD
- Pearland ISD
- Magnolia ISD
- Richardson ISD
- Prosper ISD
- Wylie ISD
- Birdville ISD
- Carroll ISD
- Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD
- Medina Valley ISD
- Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD
- Fort Sam Houston ISD
The filing notes these districts are named as representatives of a defendant class encompassing all Texas school districts “similarly situated” under the law.
What’s next
The lawsuit asks the court to declare SB 10 unconstitutional and to block its enforcement statewide.
More updates are expected as the case proceeds and as Texas’ expanding legal battle over classroom displays continues to evolve.
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