Can Texas parents use state religious-freedom law to remove Ten Commandments posters after federal courts allowed them in classrooms?

Question

Accepted Answer

Yes, they can try, but success is uncertain. The new Harris County lawsuit does not ask a state judge to revisit the federal constitutional ruling. Instead, it uses the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, arguing that mandatory Ten Commandments posters substantially burden parents’ ability to raise their children free from government-sponsored religion and interfere with students’ religious development. That is a different legal theory from the failed federal challenge under the U.S. Constitution. That matters because the Fifth Circuit’s April decision upheld Texas Senate Bill 10 only against a federal First Amendment attack. It did not decide whether the law violates Texas’s own religious-freedom statute. In that sense, the parents have a legally available state-law path. But the path is difficult. The state will argue that the posters are passive displays, not coercive religious exercise, echoing the Fifth Circuit’s view that students are not required to recite or affirm the Ten Commandments. Texas will also point to the law’s framing as historical and to active statewide enforcement by Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is pressing districts to comply. The parents’ strongest point is that Texas RFRA can protect against more subtle burdens on religious exercise than older establishment-clause doctrine sometimes recognized, especially in compulsory school settings where children cannot easily avoid the message. Their case also taps into concerns raised by dissenting judg…

3 Texas Parents Sue to Remove Ten Commandments Posters From Schools Before August Classes

Sources

Sources

3 Texas Parents Sue to Remove Ten Commandments Posters From Schools Before August Classes

Summary

Sources

Insights

Related Stories

Sources

Related Stories