Attorney General Ken Paxton instructed schools across Texas to follow the requirements of the state’s Ten Commandments display law, despite a federal court ruling that temporarily blocked the law for nearly a dozen schools last week.
Paxton’s guidance comes days after U.S. District Judge Fred Biery sided with 16 families who sued their school districts to stop the law from going into effect Sept. 1. The attorney general filed an appeal Thursday.
“From the beginning, the Ten Commandments have been irrevocably intertwined with America’s legal, moral, and historical heritage,” Paxton said in a statement. “Schools not enjoined by ongoing litigation must abide by (Senate Bill 10) and display the Ten Commandments.”
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When the district court’s decision was made, Heather Weaver, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, said the ruling set a precedent.
“As a technical matter, the injunction covers the school district defendants. But all school districts have an independent obligation to respect students’ and families’ constitutional rights,” Weaver wrote in a statement. “This ruling makes clear that SB 10 is unconstitutional. Every school district should heed it, even if they are not a defendant in the case.”
See here for the background. That first paragraph should say “for nearly a dozen school districts”, not schools; that list of districts includes HISD. I suppose Paxton is technically correct here, as the case was limited to those defendants. There is that other lawsuit, for which I still don’t when there will be a hearing. The defendants in that case include Mike Morath and the TEA, in addition to a handful of districts, so I think that would cover the rest of the state? If it ever gets to a courtroom and a ruling is issued. Stay tuned.
Paxton looks to “command” school districts to follow the law on the 10 Commandments while he violates the 10 Commandments.
By my count, Paxton has decided that at least 3 of the commandments are really just suggestions. As far as he is concerned, proscriptions against committing adultery, coveting his neighbor’s wife, bearing false witness are optional.
I’d be fine with posting a version of the 10 Commandments that were annotated with how many times the likes of Trump, Vance, Paxton, Abbott, Patrick, etc. have violated them.
“Thou shalt not bear false witness” needs an updating electronic counter.