Federal appeals court upholds Texas law requiring Ten Commandments in classrooms
A Texas law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom has been upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, according to an opinion released Tuesday.
In June 2025, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 10, which requires public elementary and secondary schools to display a “durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments” in every classroom. The poster or copy must be “at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches high,” use an easily readable font, and be “for display.”[ed] in a conspicuous place. »
A lawsuit filed in early December 2025 claimed the law violated the First Amendment. The American Civil Liberties Union and religious freedom organizations filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Antonio on behalf of 18 families with children attending public schools across the state. Sixteen school districts have been named as defendants, including seven in North Texas.
Court Rules Ten Commandment Expositions Are Not “Engines of Coercive Indoctrination”
The court ruled that the law was legally consistent with the First Amendment, meaning it does not unduly establish or endorse a religion or prevent individuals from practicing their faith.
In its opinion, the court stated in particular:
“SB 10…does not tell churches, synagogues, or mosques what to believe or how to worship or who to employ as priests, rabbis, or imams. It does not punish anyone who rejects the Ten Commandments, for any reason. this.”
The plaintiff’s lawsuit argued that they did not “want their children to be forced to observe and worship a state-enforced version of the Ten Commandments every school day, in violation of their religious freedom,” according to an ACLU press release.
The court disagreed, saying SB 10 does not require any religious exercise or observance.
“Students are neither catechized on the commandments nor taught to adopt them,” the court document states. “Nor are teachers ordered to proselytize students who ask questions about the exhibits or to contradict students who disagree with them. More importantly, the characteristic “coercion” of religious institutions was government pressure to engage in religious worship. This is why institutions prescribed liturgies and punished those who skipped them. SB 10 is far from that. It places a poster on the wall of a class. Yes, the complainants have sincere religious disagreements with its content. But that does not turn the poster into a call to prayer.
The court also said that exposing children to religious language is not enough to make these displays “engines of coercive indoctrination.”
“SB 10 authorizes no religious instruction and gives teachers no authority to contradict children’s religious beliefs (or those of their parents). No child is required to recite the commandments, believe them, or assert their divine origin.”
The ACLU released a statement Tuesday saying it was disappointed by the court’s decision.
“We are extremely disappointed with today’s decision,” the statement said. “The Court’s decision runs counter to the fundamental principles of the First Amendment and the binding authority of the United States Supreme Court. The First Amendment guarantees the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when and if they wish to provide religious instruction to their children. This decision violates these rights.”
The bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, called the court’s decision a great day for the state.
“As I have always said, few documents in the history of Western civilization and American history have had a greater impact on our moral and legal code, and on our culture, than the Ten Commandments,” King said in a statement. “Bringing this historic document back into public school classrooms will provide moral clarity and allow students to better understand the foundations of much American history and law. This is a great day for Texas!”
The case could ultimately end up before the Supreme Court.
