Overview

• Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 10 on June 21, mandating a conspicuous Ten Commandments display of at least 16-by-20 inches in every Texas public school classroom by this fall.
• Last Friday the Fifth Circuit unanimously struck down Louisiana’s nearly identical law as violating the Establishment Clause, placing Texas’s mandate under the same appellate jurisdiction.
• A coalition of organizations including the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation has pledged immediate court action against the Texas measure.
• Supporters argue the biblical text reflects America’s legal and moral foundations, while critics warn the law privileges Christianity and infringes on religious liberty.
• Legal analysts anticipate the U.S. Supreme Court will revisit the 1980 Stone v. Graham precedent to definitively rule on state displays of religious texts.