Clinton-Appointed Judge Blocks Texas Law Requiring Schools Display The Ten Commandments

A federal judge appointed by former President Bill Clinton has issued a temporary injunction against Texas’ new law mandating that public schools display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

The legislation, known as Senate Bill 10, was signed into law in June by Republican Governor Greg Abbott. The bill mandates that all public elementary and secondary schools prominently display a durable copy or framed poster of the Ten Commandments. The law was set to go into effect on September 1.

Under S.B. 10, the biblical commandments are to be presented in the following form:

• I AM the LORD thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

• Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.

• Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.

• Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

• Honor thy father and thy mother.

• Thou shalt not kill.

• Thou shalt not commit adultery.

• Thou shalt not steal.

• Thou shalt not bear false witness.

• Thou shalt not covet.

Texas would become the largest state to mandate such displays in public schools. Louisiana passed a similar law in 2024, but its implementation was stalled by a federal appeals court.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery blocked the law from taking effect in 11 school districts named in a lawsuit. Other Texas districts remain subject to the law unless they are added to the suit. In his opinion, Biery argued that the display of religious scripture in classrooms would create unavoidable entanglements between church and state.

“Even though the Ten Commandments would not be affirmatively taught, the captive audience of students likely would have questions,” Biery wrote. “There is no established tradition of displaying the Ten Commandments permanently in public-school classrooms.”

Biery contended that schools could reference the Ten Commandments in historical context, but not promote a state-sanctioned version of a religious text. The judge’s decision invoked longstanding precedent, including the 1980 Supreme Court case Stone v. Graham, which found such displays unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause.

Justice William Rehnquist’s dissent in that case was also noted. Rehnquist argued that the Court had wrongly dismissed the secular significance of the Ten Commandments, calling them foundational to Western legal codes. He insisted the Establishment Clause did not require the public sector to be purged of all things religious.

Justice Robert Jackson’s 1948 opinion in McCollum v. Board of Education was also referenced. Jackson had warned that attempts to remove every religious influence from education would leave students ignorant of history and culture. He noted that sacred music, cathedral architecture, and scriptural themes in art were integral to Western civilization.

Judge Biery’s ruling temporarily halts the implementation of S.B. 10 in the 11 districts, but the broader legal battle over the role of religion in public schools is far from over. The state of Texas is expected to appeal the decision.