Texas can require public schools to display Ten Commandments in
classrooms, court rules
[April 22, 2026]
By JAMIE STENGLE
DALLAS (AP) — Texas can require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in
public schools, a U.S. appeals court ruled Tuesday in a victory for
conservatives who have long sought to incorporate more religion into
classrooms.
The 9-8 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a
boost to backers of similar laws in Arkansas and Louisiana. Opponents
have argued that hanging the Ten Commandments in classrooms proselytizes
to students and amounts to religious indoctrination by the government.
In a lengthy majority opinion, the conservative-leaning appeals court in
New Orleans rejected those arguments in Texas, saying the requirement
does not step on the rights of parents or students.
“No child is made to recite the Commandments, believe them, or affirm
their divine origin,” the ruling says.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups that challenged the
Texas law on behalf of parents said in a statement that they anticipate
appealing the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and
the freedom of families to choose how, when and if to provide their
children with religious instruction. This decision tramples those
rights,” they said in the statement.
The mandate is one of several fronts in Texas that opponents have fought
over religion in classrooms. In 2024, the state approved optional
Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools, and a proposal set for
a vote in June would add Bible stories to required reading lists in
Texas classrooms.
The decision over the Ten Commandments law reverses a lower federal
court ruling that had blocked about a dozen Texas school districts —
including some of the state's largest — from putting up the posters. The
Texas law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott took effect in
September, marking the largest attempt in the nation to hang the Ten
Commandments in public schools.
From the start, the law was met almost immediately by a mix of embrace
and hesitation in Texas classrooms that educate the state's 5.5 million
public school students.
The mandate animated school board meetings, spun up guidance about what
to say when students ask questions, and led to boxes of donated posters
being dropped on the doorsteps of campuses statewide. Although the law
only requires schools to hang the posters if donated, one suburban
Dallas school district spent nearly $1,800 to print roughly 5,000
posters.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, called the ruling “a
major victory for Texas and our moral values.”
[to top of second column]
|
Students work under Ten Commandments and Bill of Rights posters on
display in a classroom at Lehman High School in Kyle, Texas,
Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay,File)
“The Ten Commandments have had a profound impact on our nation, and
it’s important that students learn from them every single day,” he
said.
Tuesday's ruling comes after the appeals court heard arguments in
January in the Texas case and a similar case in Louisiana. In
February, the court cleared the way for Louisiana to enforce its law
requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
Republican Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the Texas
ruling “adopted our entire legal defense” of the law in her state.
In Alabama, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey also signed a similar law
earlier this month.
“Our law clearly was always constitutional, and I am grateful that
the Fifth Circuit has now definitively agreed with us," Murrill said
in a statement posted to social media.
Judge Stephen A. Higginson, in a dissenting opinion joined by four
others on the court, wrote that the framers of the Constitution
“intended disestablishment of religion, above all to prevent large
religious sects from using political power to impose their religion
on others.”
“Yet Texas, like Louisiana, seeks to do just that, legislating that
specific, politically chosen scripture be installed in every
public-school classroom,” Higginson wrote.
The law says schools must put donated posters “in a conspicuous
place” and requires the writing to be a size and typeface that is
visible from anywhere in a classroom to a person with “average
vision.” The displays must also be 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall
(40 centimeters wide and 50 centimeters tall).
Texas’ law easily passed the GOP-controlled Legislature and
Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have backed posting
the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
___
Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report
from Honolulu, Hawaii.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
