TEXAS — A Texas law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms is having its day in court.
On Tuesday, all 17 judges from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments over the law’s legality.
The dispute goes beyond Texas, with the judges hearing both the Texas Ten Commandments law and Louisiana’s as well.
On the plaintiff side, groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and parents from nearly a dozen school districts say the law is violating parents’ rights to direct their children’s upbringing. They also say it undermines the separation of church and state.
The state argues that the Ten Commandments are an important part of our nation’s history and heritage. Associate professor at the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law Brian Owsley says that the question for the court to decide is whether or not these laws violate the First Amendment. He explains that within the First Amendment, there’s also two religious clauses.
“The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from establishing religion,” Owsley says. “Now, the other side is the Free Exercise Clause. That involves basically the government is not supposed to prevent people from engaging in religious beliefs.”
Owsley says that regardless of the ruling in this case, there’s a very good chance this gets appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
This hearing is a product of multiple lawsuits, both from people against the law and from the Texas Attorney General’s Office. The most recent ruling on this came from a federal judge in San Antonio back in November, who sided with parents from 11 school districts in calling the law unconstitutional.
This combined hearing differs from two other lawsuits that also stem from the Ten Commandments law. Those were brought on by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sued multiple school districts for not following the mandate.