Texas cannot require public schools to present the Ten Commandments in classrooms, Judge Rules | Texas

Texas In an interim ruling on the state’s new requirements, the judge said Wednesday that public schools cannot be required to display the Ten Commandments in each classroom, making it the third state law blocked by the court.

A group Dallas– Regional families and faith leaders seek a preliminary injunction against the law, which goes into effect on September 1. The claim, they said, violates the First Amendment’s right to protect the separation of the church and the state and to free religious activities.

Texas is the largest country to try this claim, with U.S. District Court Judge Fred Biery’s ruling from San Antonio is the latest in a growing legal battle that is expected to end up appearing in the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Even if the Ten Commandments are not taught with certainty, the student’s captive audience may have questions and the teacher will be forced to answer. That’s what they do.” Write In the 55-page ruling, the First Amendment is first cited and ends with “Amen”.

“[T]His performance is likely to force children to impose attitudes, meditate, worship and adopt popular religious scriptures in the state and suppress expressions of their own religious or non-religious backgrounds and beliefs while in school. ”

Biery continued: “There is also not enough evidence to show the tradition of using the Ten Commandments in public education, nor does it permanently display the Ten Commandments in classrooms in public schools. In the absence of a state without choosing an official law, this typical official can be approved in state laws, and then this typical version can be approved in each classroom, and any relevant history of the students can be taught.

The lawsuit calls Texas Department of Education, state education commissioner Mike Morath and three Dallas-area school districts the defendants.

praise The preliminary injunction of plaintiff Rabbi Mara Nathan said: “As rabbi and parents of public schools, I welcome this ruling. Parents and faith communities, not politicians and public schools, should instill children’s religious beliefs.”

Heather Weaver, senior adviser to the American Civil Liberties Union on the freedom program religion and belief, responds to similar emotions.

“Public schools are not Sunday schools. Today’s decision ensures that our clients’ schools will remain space, regardless of their beliefs, are welcome and can be learned without worrying that they do not meet the state’s preferred religious belief.”

Meanwhile, Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-chair of the Religious Foundation, said: “Religious instructions must be left to parents, not countries without business, and there is nothing in the state that tells anyone how many gods have, what gods are there, or whether there is any god.”

The federal court of appeals already has Blocked similar laws In Louisiana, an Arkansas judge told four districts that they were unable to post posters, although other districts in the state said they did not ask for a newspaper.

Although Friday’s ruling marked a major victory for civil liberties organizations, they say the law violates the separation of the church and the state, the legal struggle may not have ended.

Religious groups and conservatives say the Ten Commandments are part of the foundation of the American judicial and educational system and should be demonstrated. Texas has the Ten Commandments monument on the ground of the Capitol and won the 2005 Supreme Court case that maintained the monument.

In Louisiana – the first state that stipulates the Ten Commandments in the classroom – a panel of three appeal judges ruled that the law was unconstitutional.