The long battle over injecting Christianity into public schools is escalating in Texas, as state Attorney General Ken Paxton pursues lawsuits against schools that have refused to comply with a state law saying the Ten Commandments must be displayed in classrooms.
The law has put schools in a difficult position, forcing them to weigh whether to follow Texas law or the U.S. Constitution. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Ten Commandments displays in Kentucky public schools, because the Constitution prohibits the government from establishing a religion.
“Most of the time, states don’t pass laws that are contrary to Supreme Court precedent,” Seth Chandler, a constitutional law professor at the University of Houston, told HuffPost.
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For example, he noted, Texas, like many other states, passed abortion bans before 2022. But those laws couldn’t take effect until the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“But with the Ten Commandments, we didn’t see any delay,” Chandler said.
Federal judges issued preliminary injunctions against the law in response to lawsuits from parents across the state, creating a patchwork effect: Some Texas schools weren’t under the jurisdiction of these courts, meaning they still had to display the religious message. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which has a reputation for being friendly to conservative causes, will hear a case over the Texas law, along with a similar case out of Louisiana, in January.
This month, Paxton announced that his office is suing Galveston, Round Rock, and Leander Independent School Districts. None of them is covered by the preliminary injunctions. It is unclear which schools in the districts, if any, are displaying the Ten Commandments.
Round Rock school officials said in a statement that the district is waiting for guidance from the appellate court. Officials from the district, along with those from Galveston, have said they believe the law conflicts with the U.S. Constitution.
Leander ISD said it “has accepted donated posters and has actively implemented the law in accordance with state requirements.”
But instead of waiting for a decision from the higher court, Paxton is targeting school districts he says are breaking the law.
“These rogue ISD officials and board members blatantly disregarded the will of Texas voters who expect the legal and moral heritage of our state to be displayed in accordance with the law,” Paxton said in a press release about the latest suits. “Round Rock ISD and Leander ISD chose to defy a clear statutory mandate, and this lawsuit makes clear that no district may ignore Texas law without consequence.” He made a similar statement about the Galveston suit earlier this month.
It was an unusual move for a state attorney general’s office.
“I think the AG would have a stronger case if he would at least wait for the Fifth Circuit to render a decision,” Chandler said.
“What makes this abnormal is the speed in which the AG’s office jumped in to sue,” Steven Collis, a religion law professor at University of Texas at Austin, told HuffPost.
Texas’ Office of the Attorney General did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Texas has been at the forefront of the right-wing push to inject religion in public life — especially in schools. State lawmakers have also approved an optional Bible-based curriculum; if schools opt in, they’re eligible for extra funding. (Louisiana and Arkansas, which are also GOP-led states, have passed similar Ten Commandments laws that are making their way through the courts.)
Experts say the ongoing fight over religion in Texas could be another reason Paxton has filed these suits.
“The state AG is another political office and sometimes you do things for political reasons,” Collis said.
Experts say that Republicans are purposefully passing laws that will get their states sued in hopes that the issue will end up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, which has been friendly to religious groups in recent years.
But legal experts say not all states are following the same tactics. Although Louisiana passed a measure requiring the display of the Ten Commandments, it must also be accompanied by “context” statements explaining how the directives were once part of public schools. Texas’ law does no such thing.
“Texas is trying to see if they can push boundaries,” Collis said. “They really want to see how far they can go.”