We are promised a ruling before September 1, the date the law would go into effect.
The debate surrounding a state law mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools intensified Friday as attorneys representing 16 Texas families argued to block it before a federal district judge in San Antonio.
The lawsuit against multiple school districts across the state comes as the law is set to take effect Sept. 1. It was passed in the main legislative session earlier this year as Senate Bill 10, sparking concern from students and parents about religious exclusion and, consequently, lawsuits.
The law instructs public schools to hang the commandments on a poster or framed copy in classrooms that are legible and without any content added on. The case made against the requirement in Friday’s nearly six-hour hearing claimed the bill violated the First Amendment’s religious clauses by putting forth “coercive” displays of religious text.
The law’s proponents have claimed the Ten Commandments include essential and basic moral teachings, like “thou shalt not steal.” Its adversaries see it as more complicated than that — worrying it’s making a statement that one sect of religion is more favorable over others.
“The displays usurp the parental authority of the parents who have stood up to file this case,” said one of the families’ attorneys Jonathan K. Youngwood. “These parents have the authority to dictate their children’s religious upbringing.”
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Friday’s hearing comes as another federal case in the Northern District of Texas against the law is ongoing. A hearing has not yet been set for the other case.
The parties will reconvene Monday morning for closing arguments. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, an appointee of former president Bill Clinton, said the court’s decision would come before Sept. 1.
See here for the background on this case, and here for the background on the North Texas case. If we are valuing parental choice, as we claim to be doing with various other laws, then of course you find for the plaintiffs. Unless what we’re really saying is that the choice of some parents is more valid than the choice of some others. Which many parents of LGBTQ kids, especially trans kids, would say is exactly what we’re doing. Be that as it may, I do think there will be a favorable ruling for the plaintiffs here. After that, as is always the case with the Fifth Circuit and SCOTUS, who knows.