Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Thursday that he will appeal a federal court’s ruling that blocked a state law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools.
Paxton filed the motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Tuesday, requesting that the appeal be heard by all of the court’s judges instead of a three-judge panel.
The Republican attorney general argued that the ruling is “flawed” because it relies on an outdated legal test instead of evaluating the law under the nation’s history and tradition standard, which the Supreme Court upheld in 2022.
“The Ten Commandments are a cornerstone of American law, and that fact simply cannot be erased by radical, anti-American groups trying to ignore our moral heritage,” Paxton said in a statement. “There is no legal reason to stop Texas from honoring a core ethical foundation of our law, especially not a bogus claim about the ‘separation of church and state,’ which is a phrase found nowhere in the Constitution.”
The Ten Commandments law was set to go into effect on Sept. 1, but it was delayed by a district court’s injunction that only applied to 11 school districts named in litigation filed by civil rights groups. Paxton proceeded in demanding that the rest of the state’s school districts post the religious text in classrooms.
The plaintiffs contended that the Texas law is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment’s establishment clause by pressuring students to practice religion and interfering with parental rights. Paxton denied that he’s forcing a state-endorsed religion on students.
“The record in this case provides vital testimony regarding the history and use of the Ten Commandments in American education and public life,” Paxton’s motion says, “which demonstrates that displaying the Ten Commandments in the classroom is consistent with this nation’s history and tradition and does not ‘resemble one of the hallmarks of religious establishments’ that the Founders forbade.”
“The district court likewise failed to consider the possibility that displays might provide context for the Ten Commandments by highlighting their role in the foundation of the American legal system or emphasizing religious pluralism,” the document adds.
PAXTON URGES SCHOOLS TEACH LORD’S PRAYER IN LATEST PUSH TO PROMOTE RELIGION IN TEXAS CLASSROOMS
This is but one example of Paxton’s efforts to increase religious expression in Texas schools. Earlier this week, he urged school boards to adopt policies that allow students to recite the Lord’s Prayer and read the Bible or other religious texts in class after the law permitting the practice took effect.
Meanwhile, Louisiana and Arkansas are also pushing the mandatory display of the Ten Commandments in public schools through bills. Despite such legislative efforts, the two southern states have also been blocked from enacting their respective laws because judges deemed them unconstitutional.
