TEXAS FAMILIES ASK SUPREME COURT TO BLOCK STATE LAW REQUIRING TEN COMMANDMENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASSROOMS. (PHOTO).

Texas families ask Supreme Court to block state law requiring Ten Commandments in public school classrooms

Civil rights advocates have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Texas law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments, setting up a case that could determine how far states can go in promoting religious messages in classrooms.

More than two dozen Texas families, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups, petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn an April ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court voted 9-8 to uphold the Texas law, which requires public school classrooms to display a state-approved version of the Ten Commandments based on the King James Bible.

The families argue that the requirement violates the First Amendment and constitutional protections separating government from religion. Their attorneys contend that forcing students to encounter biblical scripture throughout their school years amounts to government-sponsored religious expression.

The case reached the Supreme Court after the 5th Circuit overturned a lower federal court decision that had prevented roughly a dozen Texas school districts from displaying the posters. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the law, which took effect last September.

The Texas law requires districts to display the Ten Commandments only when the posters are privately donated. After the law took effect, conservative organizations and individuals began providing schools with boxes of posters for classrooms.

The 5th Circuit said the law does not require students to recite the Ten Commandments, believe in them, or acknowledge their religious origins.

The appeals court separately ruled in February that Louisiana could enforce its own law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms.

Several Republican-led Southern states have pursued similar measures. Louisiana enacted the first such requirement in 2024, followed by Arkansas and Texas. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a comparable law earlier this year.