A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Texas can require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom in the state, and that includes El Paso.
What the Law Says
Texas Senate Bill 10 was signed by Governor Greg Abbott in June 2025. It requires every public school classroom to display a poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments that is at least 16 by 20 inches, posted somewhere visible, in a readable typeface. The law specifies the exact version of the text to be used. Schools do not have to buy the displays themselves, but they are required to accept privately donated ones that meet the specs. The state has also agreed to cover any legal costs that come from a district complying with the law.
What the Court Decided
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit voted 9-8 to uphold the law, reversing a lower court that had blocked it. The majority ruled that the law does not violate the First Amendment because it does not require students to recite, believe, or do anything related to the Ten Commandments. It just puts a poster on a wall.
A key part of the ruling is that the court said it was no longer bound by Stone v. Graham, a 1980 Supreme Court decision that struck down a nearly identical law in Kentucky. That older ruling was based on a legal framework called the Lemon test, which the Supreme Court effectively dropped in 2022. The Fifth Circuit said that without that framework, the old ruling no longer applies.
Eight judges dissented, arguing the decision undermines the constitutional separation of church and state and gives students no way to opt out of seeing a religious text in every classroom, every day.
What It Means Locally
Canutillo ISD spokesperson Gustavo Reveles said the district received a donation of Ten Commandments posters after the law passed last year but had been holding off while the courts sorted it out. Now they are figuring out the next steps.
The ACLU and the families who brought the original lawsuit have announced they plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, so this may not be the final word.
For now, all El Paso public school districts are required to comply.
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