A federal judge behind a 2014 ruling that deemed Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional has ordered the removal of Ten Commandments posters in seven school districts.

Get prayer updates from IFA.

View Comments (0)

U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction mandating the removal of Ten Commandments posters from classrooms in Fort Worth, Arlington, McKinney, Frisco, Azle, Rockwall and Mansfield Independent School Districts, which were named in a lawsuit filed by multifaith and nonreligious families in September.

Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Freedom From Religion Foundation filed the suit on behalf of 15 families whose children attend schools in the affected districts.

Senate Bill 10 (SB 10), signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in June, required every public school classroom in Texas to prominently display a 16-by-20-inch poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments in a specific English translation. Proponents hailed the measure as a way to honor the state’s “legal and moral heritage,” but critics swiftly challenged it, arguing it promotes Christianity at the expense of other faiths and nonbelievers.

Garcia, who was appointed in 1994 by President Bill Clinton, ruled that the mandated displays “violate the Establishment Clause” of the First Amendment, which prohibits government endorsement of religion. Garcia cited the law’s broad reach, writing, “It is impractical, if not impossible, to prevent Plaintiffs from being subjected to unwelcome religious displays without enjoining Defendants from enforcing SB 10 across their districts.”

The districts must remove the posters by Dec. 1 and submit evidence of compliance by Dec. 9.

The judge’s order marks the second major federal injunction against SB 10. In August, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery deemed the law “plainly unconstitutional,” leading to an order blocking its enforcement in 11 other districts, including Plano ISD. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has appealed that ruling in Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights ISD and is expected to challenge Tuesday’s decision as well.

The lawsuit’s plaintiffs, including Jewish, Muslim and nonreligious families, contended that the posters would ostracize minority students and coerce them into religious observance.

One plaintiff, Lenee Bien-Willner, a Jewish mother whose children are among the few Jewish students at their schools, expressed profound relief. “I am relieved that as a result of today’s ruling, my children … will no longer be continually subjected to religious displays,” she said in a statement shared by ACLU. “The government has no business interfering with parental decisions about matters of faith.”

Advocacy groups behind the suit celebrated the ruling and urged all Texas districts — even those not named in the litigation — to voluntarily remove the displays, stressing that constitutional obligations outweigh state law.

“Our schools are for education, not evangelization,” said Chloe Kempf, staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas. “This ruling protects thousands of Texas students from ostracization, bullying, and state-mandated religious coercion. Every school district in Texas is now on notice that implementing SB 10 violates their students’ constitutional rights.”

Garcia made national headlines in 2014 after ruling Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. In his opinion, the judge wrote that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage “violates plaintiffs’ equal protection and due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

“The day for finality and legal certainty in the long and difficult journey for equality is closer than ever before,” he added.

Less than a year later, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision overturned state bans on same-sex marriage.

What do you think of this ruling? Share your thoughts and prayers below.

This article was originally published at The Christian Post. Photo Credit: photobyphotoboy via Canva Teams.