Attorney General Ken Paxton is continuing to lead the effort to ensure that the Ten Commandments are displayed in Texas schools in accordance with state law. Following a flawed ruling by a federal judge, Attorney General Paxton has appealed and filed a motion asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to hear the case en banc, meaning before all active judges of the court, rather than just a three-judge panel.
“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,” said Attorney General Paxton. “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.”
This effort follows the federal district court’s decision to block enforcement of Senate Bill 10, which requires the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms across Texas. The district court relied heavily on Roake v. Brumley, a Fifth Circuit panel decision involving Louisiana’s similar law. Because Louisiana has asked Roake to be heard by the full Fifth Circuit, Texas argues that judicial efficiency and consistency demand that both cases be heard together. Attorney General Paxton further argues that the district court wrongly revived the long-abandoned Lemon v. Kurtzman test, instead of evaluating the law under the nation’s history and tradition standard, which was reaffirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (2022).
Attorney General Paxton is committed to upholding the legal, moral, and historical heritage of the United States, and has ordered that all school districts not affected by ongoing litigation display the Ten Commandments in accordance with Texas law.
To read the motion, click here.