A federal judge in Texas has blocked a state law requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms, marking the third recent court ruling against similar measures in red states.
A federal judge has halted Texas’ attempt to mandate the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, the latest legal setback for states pushing such measures.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction against S.B. 10, which was set to take effect next month. He ruled the law “impermissibly takes sides on theological questions and officially favors Christian denominations over others” and could burden children while interfering with parents’ rights to raise them according to their faith.
“One need only look at the states of Israel and Iran to see the conflicts which arise when government and religion become closely intertwined,” Judge Biery wrote.
The American Civil Liberties Union, representing parents of mixed or no faith backgrounds, challenged the law.
Similar rulings in Arkansas and Louisiana have also blocked nearly identical measures, echoing the Supreme Court’s 1980 decision in Stone v. Graham, which found such mandates unconstitutional.
READ MORE AT THE WASHINGTON TIMES