AUSTIN, Texas (CN) - Over the weekend, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill requiring a poster of the Ten Commandments to be in every public school classroom, a day after a similar law was found to violate the U.S. Constitution. 

After failing to pass a measure demanding the religious texts in classrooms during the 2023 legislative session, Texas lawmakers made Senate Bill 10 a top priority during the most recent session, which ended earlier this month. 

The bill requires a poster of the Ten Commandments to be in every public school classroom in the state. Under the bill, a 16-by-20-inch poster of the commandments must be conspicuously displayed and written in legible text. The exact version of the religious text must also match that of a monument found on the grounds of the Texas Capitol.

Abbott, in a press release, announced the signing of the bill along with his approval of a total of 300 bills that he said "protect the safety of Texans and safeguard the individual freedoms that our great state was founded on." 

Displaying the Ten Commandments in schools was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1980 with the case of Stone v. Graham. The court held that a Kentucky law, similar to SB 10, failed the Lemon test, which is used to determine whether a statute violates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. However, in 2022, the court abandoned the use of the Lemon test in its ruling in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, finding a football coach's First Amendment rights were violated after he was suspended for praying with students after games.

State Senator Phil King, a Republican from Weatherford and SB 10's author, pointed to the high court's shift in Kennedy as the basis for filing the bill. He argued that the Ten Commandments is an influential document that is deeply rooted in the United States' history and should be recognized in Texas schools.  

Critics of SB 10 argued throughout the debate on the bill that it amounts to the state favoring one religious tradition at the cost of alienating others. 

Rocio Fierro-Perez, political director at Texas Freedom Network, a progressive policy advocacy organization, said in a statement that Abbott's approval of SB 10 marked a shameful day for the state and an attack on church-state separation.

"Texas is home to millions of people of all religions, and of none," said Fierro-Perez. "Our classrooms should reflect that diversity, not deny it. Religion is a sacred practice that should be directed by families and faith leaders, not the Texas government."

Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and Americans United for Separation of Church and State intend to sue the state to block the law. They argue that, despite what lawmakers believe, requiring the Ten Commandments in schools remains unconstitutional per the precedent set in Stone v. Graham.

But just as the legal fight over SB 10 is set to begin, federal courts have already weighed in on a nearly identical Louisiana law.

On Friday, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found the Pelican State's law violated the Establishment Clause, upholding a lower court ruling that determined it was facially unconstitutional.

This ruling puts wind at the backs of those who will be looking to challenge SB 10, but as Louisiana appeals to the Supreme Court, it remains unclear whether the justices will be open to overturning Stone.

That is the goal of King, SB 10's author, who, during consideration of the bill in committee, said, "Hopefully, it will work its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, and that bad law of Stone v. Graham will be overturned."

In addition to SB 10, Abbott also signed Senate Bill 11 into law on Saturday, allowing school districts to require schools to provide daily prayer and/or reading from scripture during the school day.

Backers of SB 11 argued that it serves to protect students' and school employees' right to exercise their religion in schools. However, critics argued that such rights are already protected under the First Amendment and that the bill would lead to the alienation of non-Christian students. Despite these criticisms, no one has come forward to challenge SB 11 as others have against SB 10.

Both SB 10 and SB 11 are slated to take effect months from now on Sept. 1.

Source: Courthouse News Service