Expect there to be a lot of litigation over bills passed this session(s).
Six parents and religious leaders have filed a lawsuit seeking to block a newly signed law set to require the Ten Commandments in Texas public school classrooms.
Leaders from both Christian and Nation of Islam faiths filed the suit Monday against defendants including the Texas Education Agency, its commissioner, Mike Morath, and three North Texas school districts. The lawsuit came two days after Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill and three days after a court blocked a similar law in Louisiana.
Sen. Phil King, a Republican from Weatherford, filed Senate Bill 10 in February with the intent to encourage students to understand and appreciate the “role of the Ten Commandments in our heritage,” according to a release. Classrooms in every public, charter and post-secondary school in Texas must hang the Ten Commandments as written in the bill “in a conspicuous place” on a poster that is at least 16 by 20 inches with a legible font, according to Senate Bill 10.
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Plaintiffs argued that the law violates the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution, which guarantees that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Because SB10 requires schools to display one of the hundreds of versions of the Ten Commandments, the lawsuit also alleges that it places preference for one religion and denomination over others.
“The government should govern; the Church should minister,” plaintiff Bishop Gerald Weatherall said. “Anything else is a threat to the soul of both our democracy and our faith.”
The lawsuit argued that the law does not “serve a compelling governmental interest.” In 1980, the United States Supreme Court struck down an similar Kentucky law requiring the Ten Commandments in public schools.
“The children who attend these schools and their families follow various faiths and religions, or do not practice any religion at all. However, under S.B. 10, every one of these students will be forcibly subjected to religious mandates, every single school day,” the lawsuit reads. “This is wholly inconsistent with the fundamental religious-freedom principles that upon which our nation was founded.”
Abbott cleared the bill less than 24 hours after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked Louisiana from enforcing a similar law, labeling the mandate as “facially unconstitutional.” Texas falls under the court’s jurisdiction.
See here and here for more on the Louisiana lawsuit. There’s a motion for the entire Fifth Circuit to hear the appeal, and since two of the three Justices that ruled were appointed by Democrats, there’s a decent chance the whole court could overrule them. That said, the one Republican-appointed Justice is pretty conservative, so who knows. You can be sure this one will go to SCOTUS as well.