Judge orders Texas schools to remove Ten Commandments displays

A federal judge has ordered Texas schools to remove displays of the Ten Commandments by December. This ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by families who argued that these displays violated their constitutional right to freedom of religion. Judge Orlando L. Garcia stated that the displays, mandated by a bill signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, infringe upon the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. This is not the first challenge to religious displays in schools, as a previous ruling in August also blocked the bill, though it only applied to 11 districts. The judge emphasized the impracticality of preventing students from being exposed to unwelcome religious displays without halting the enforcement of the law. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been a proponent of displaying the Ten Commandments, asserting that the U.S. is founded on Christian principles. Paxton criticized schools that initially resisted the mandate and argued that there is no legal basis to prevent such displays, claiming the phrase 'separation of church and state' is not in the Constitution.