A copy of the Ten Commandments is displayed in a classroom at Bagdad Elementary School in Leander on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Texas can enforce a law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in public schools, overturning a decision made last year by a San Antonio federal judge.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
After a federal appeals court ruling Tuesday, San Antonio public school districts said they will follow a law requiring them to post copies of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
In a split decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the new Texas law did not violate the Establishment or Free Exercise clauses of the U.S. Constitution, reversing a previous San Antonio-based federal judge’s decision. Senate Bill 10, passed by lawmakers in 2025, requires Texas public schools to display a donated poster of the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
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Last August, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ruled the law was unconstitutional after a group of multifaith and nonreligious parents sued their children’s school districts to stop them from displaying the Ten Commandments. San Antonio-area school districts named in the lawsuit included Alamo Heights, North East, Lackland and Northside ISDs. The parents are expected to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The ‘coercion’ characteristic of religious establishments was government pressure to engage in religious worship. That’s why establishments prescribed liturgies and punished those who skipped them. S.B. 10 is far from that,” judges wrote in the Tuesday appeals court ruling. “It puts a poster on a classroom wall. Yes, Plaintiffs have sincere religious disagreements with its content. But that does not transform the poster into a summons to prayer.”
When asked how they would move forward after Tuesday’s ruling, representatives from the four area districts named in the lawsuit said they will comply with state law and regulations.
Lackland ISD Superintendent Burnie Roper said the district got pulled into the legal battle due to the parents filing the suit and will adhere to SB 10.
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“The bottom line is we’re going to follow the law. We don’t have a dog in this fight,” he said. “If they (the Commandments posters) are donated, then we will put them up.”
After Biery’s ruling, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the case to the Fifth Circuit. All 17 justices on the Fifth Circuit considered the appeal. Nine ruled to overturn the lower court, and one justice agreed with most aspects of that ruling. Seven justices dissented.
The Ten Commandments Monument at the Capitol in Austin, Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Dissenting circuit judge Stephen A. Higginson said the majority’s ruling defied the First Amendment, ignored harms to students and usurped parents’ rights to determine the religious beliefs they wish for their children.
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Meanwhile, Judge Andrew S. Oldham, who agreed with the majority, said plaintiffs do not have the basis to invoke federal judicial power, because they are offended by “a holy text that is a cornerstone of Western civilization.”
On Wednesday, Paxton said the reversal was a major victory for Texas and moral values.
“My office was proud to defend SB 10 and successfully ensure that the Ten Commandments will be displayed in classrooms across Texas,” he said. “The Ten Commandments have had a profound impact on our nation, and it’s important that students learn from them every single day.”
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Heather Weaver, a senior staff attorney for ACLU, which who represented the parents and faith leaders, shared a statement announcing the organization expects to ask the Supreme Court to reverse this decision.
“The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when and if to provide their children with religious instruction. This decision tramples those rights,” the ACLU said in the Tuesday statement.