Judge blocks Texas law requiring Ten Commandments in classrooms

[Desmond Milligan 0]

A US federal judge on Wednesday blocked a Texas law that would require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

District Judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction barring implementation of the law, which was to take effect on September 1 and was challenged by families of diverse faiths with children in public schools.

The Texas state law, known as Senate Bill 10, is unconstitutional and "impermissibly takes sides on theological questions and officially favors Christian denominations over others," Biery wrote in his 55-page ruling.

"The displays are likely to send an exclusionary and spiritually burdensome message to the child-Plaintiffs -- who do not subscribe to the approved version of the Ten Commandments --that they 'are outsiders who do not belong in their own school community,'" he said.

Rabbi Mara Nathan, one of the plaintiffs in the case, welcomed the ruling.

"Children's religious beliefs should be instilled by parents and faith communities, not politicians and public schools," Nathan said in a statement.

Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, also welcomed the decision, saying it sends a "strong and resounding message across the country that the government respects the religious freedom of every student in our public schools."

Another federal judge blocked a Louisiana law in November that would require the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom in the conservative southern state.

District Judge John deGravelles said the law is unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

The separation of church and state is a founding US principle and the First Amendment forbids the establishment of a national religion or the preference of one religion over another.

In a similar case in 1980, the US Supreme Court ruled that the display of the Ten Commandments in schools in Kentucky was unconstitutional.

In Oklahoma, the highest education official in the conservative state recently ordered public schools to teach the Bible, a move that is also facing legal challenges.

cl/dw

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