Federal Appeals Court Upholds Texas Law Requiring Ten Commandments Posters In Classrooms
A federal appeals court has upheld a Texas law requiring Ten Commandments posters in public school classrooms. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 9-8 en banc decision upholding Senate Bill 10. The court said the law does not violate the First Amendment because students are not required to recite, affirm, or practice the Commandments.
S.B. 10, enacted in June 2025, requires each public elementary and secondary classroom to display a durable Ten Commandments poster or framed copy. Statutory rules set a minimum size of 16 inches by 20 inches, require an easily readable typeface, and call for conspicuous placement. The law says posters are required only if donated, but at least one Dallas suburban district spent about $1,800 to print roughly 5,000 posters. Plaintiffs argued children were forced to "observe and venerate" a state-mandated version of the Commandments, a claim the court rejected in extended opinion language. Civil liberties groups including the ACLU called the ruling a violation of First Amendment principles and said they plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and bill author Sen. Phil King hailed the decision as a moral victory and said the Commandments influenced American legal codes. The ruling also reversed lower-court blocks that had barred about a dozen Texas districts from posting the displays. Separately, the 5th Circuit earlier voted 12-6 en banc to lift a block on a similar Louisiana law, tying the two cases and raising the prospect of a Supreme Court showdown.
Early coverage framed the decision as a clear conservative win and focused on legality and state support. Later pieces shifted tone, criticizing the 5th Circuit's makeup and reasoning and calling its approach a break with Supreme Court precedent. MS NOW drove much of the sharper criticism, labeling the appeals court "the nation's most far-right" and questioning its historical framing of the Establishment Clause. PBS and other outlets emphasized the broader legal trend, noting related laws in Louisiana and Alabama and saying the split among courts makes a Supreme Court review likely.
📌 Key Facts
- On April 22, 2026, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sitting en banc upheld Texas Senate Bill 10 in a 9-8 decision, ruling the classroom Ten Commandments display law does not violate the First Amendment.
- S.B. 10, enacted in June 2025 and effective Sept. 1, requires each public elementary and secondary classroom to display a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments; the statute specifies minimum dimensions (at least 16 inches by 20 inches), an easily readable typeface, and conspicuous placement.
- The court's majority held the law does not compel religious exercise or observance — students are not required to recite, believe, or affirm the Ten Commandments — and rejected plaintiffs' claims that children are forced to “observe and venerate” a state‑mandated religious text.
- The law’s donation provision (posters required when donated) has not prevented districts from acquiring displays with local funds: roughly two dozen districts were previously blocked by injunctions while other districts posted the displays after Sept. 1, and at least one suburban Dallas district spent about $1,800 to print roughly 5,000 posters.
- The decision generated sharp disagreement: a dissent by Judge Stephen A. Higginson (joined by four judges) and civil liberties groups such as the ACLU say the ruling conflicts with Supreme Court precedent (including Stone v. Graham) and announced plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- The 5th Circuit’s ruling sits alongside related decisions over similar laws in other states — the court earlier voted en banc to lift a lower‑court block on a Louisiana classroom Ten Commandments law (12-6) — and state officials (e.g., Louisiana AG Liz Murrill) and other states (including recent Alabama action) say they are advancing comparable measures, setting up a likely clash at the Supreme Court.
- Public reactions split along partisan and advocacy lines: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and bill author Sen. Phil King praised the ruling as a victory for Texas and its values, while critics and outlets (e.g., MS NOW) labeled the 5th Circuit as ideologically extreme and faulted its historical reasoning on the Establishment Clause.
📰 Source Timeline (6)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- MS NOW piece characterizes the Fifth Circuit as 'the nation's most far-right appeals court' and criticizes its historical reasoning on the Establishment Clause, but adds no new factual details beyond previously reported vote count and holding.
- Article reiterates that the majority framed the First Amendment as mainly preventing an official Church of England, contrasting that with prior Supreme Court precedent in Stone v. Graham.
- It underscores that Louisiana and Arkansas pursued similar Ten Commandments classroom laws that have faced legal setbacks, reinforcing the trend context but not altering known facts about the Texas case.
- Confirms the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Texas Ten Commandments classroom law in a 9-8 en banc decision.
- Majority opinion emphasizes that students are not required to recite, believe, or affirm the Ten Commandments and therefore are not coerced.
- The ruling explicitly reverses a lower-court decision that had blocked about a dozen Texas school districts, including some of the state's largest, from posting the displays.
- Article notes Texas' 2024 approval of optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools and an upcoming June vote on adding Bible stories to required reading lists, situating the ruling within a broader religious-in-schools push.
- American Civil Liberties Union and allied groups say they expect to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, framing the decision as trampling First Amendment church-state separation.
- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hails the ruling as 'a major victory for Texas and our moral values' and says 'it’s important that students learn from [the Ten Commandments] every single day.'
- Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill says the Texas decision 'adopted our entire legal defense' of Louisiana's similar law, and Alabama Governor Kay Ivey recently signed a related measure in that state.
- Details that the Texas law only requires posters if donated, but at least one suburban Dallas district spent nearly $1,800 to print roughly 5,000 posters anyway, showing non-donor funding.
- Describes how the mandate has already stirred school board debates, teacher guidance on how to answer student questions, and deliveries of donated posters around the state.
- A dissent by Judge Stephen A. Higginson, joined by four other judges, argues the framers intended 'disestablishm...' (dissent quoted in part, signaling sharp internal division).
- Confirms the case involves Texas Senate Bill 10, enacted in June 2025, requiring each public elementary and secondary classroom to display a durable Ten Commandments poster or framed copy.
- Details statutory requirements for the display, including minimum dimensions of at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall, easily readable typeface, and conspicuous placement.
- Quotes extended passages from the 5th Circuit opinion explaining why S.B. 10 does not, in the court's view, constitute an establishment of religion or coercive indoctrination.
- Clarifies that the court found S.B. 10 requires no religious exercise or observance and that students are not taught, required to recite, or pressured to affirm the Commandments.
- Provides the plaintiffs' argument that children are forced to 'observe and venerate' a state-mandated version of the Ten Commandments and the court's specific rejection of that claim.
- Reports the ACLU's post-ruling statement calling the decision a violation of fundamental First Amendment principles and contrary to binding Supreme Court precedent.
- Includes public comments from bill author Sen. Phil King, who frames the decision as a 'great day' for Texas and emphasizes the Ten Commandments' influence on Western and American legal codes.
- Clarifies that the 5th Circuit explicitly held the Texas Ten Commandments classroom display law does not violate the First Amendment.
- Reports a 12-6 en banc vote earlier this year by the same appeals court to lift a lower-court block on a similar Louisiana classroom Ten Commandments law.
- Notes that roughly two dozen Texas school districts had been barred by injunctions but others already posted the Ten Commandments after the law took effect on Sept. 1.
- Includes fresh reaction quotes from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrating a 'major victory' and from ACLU-allied groups calling the ruling contrary to Supreme Court precedent.
- Frames the combined Texas and Louisiana cases as setting up a likely future clash at the U.S. Supreme Court over classroom Ten Commandments displays.