A federal appeals court has determined that public schools across Texas may display the Ten Commandments, overturning earlier lower court decisions that had blocked the law.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its ruling as part of an ongoing legal debate over whether a Texas statute mandating the posting of the Decalogue complies with constitutional standards.
The majority opinion was written by Circuit Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, and was supported by eight other judges, including Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod.
In his opinion, Duncan argued that the law “requires no religious exercise or observance” from students, concluding that it does not violate the First Amendment.
“S.B. 10 looks nothing like a historical religious establishment. It does not tell churches or synagogues or mosques what to believe or how to worship or whom to employ as priests, rabbis, or imams. It punishes no one who rejects the Ten Commandments, no matter the reason,” Duncan ruled.
“Students are neither catechized on the Commandments nor taught to adopt them. Nor are teachers commanded to proselytize students who ask about the displays or contradict students who disagree with them.”
Duncan further rejected claims that exposure to religious content alone constitutes coercion, stating that “merely exposing children to religious language is enough to make the displays engines of coercive indoctrination” was not a persuasive argument.
“S.B. 10 authorizes no religious instruction and gives teachers no license to contradict children’s religious beliefs,” he added. “No child is made to recite the Commandments, believe them, or affirm their divine origin.”
A dissenting opinion was authored by Circuit Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, and joined by six other judges. She contended that requiring religious text displays in classrooms runs contrary to foundational constitutional protections.
Ramirez argued that “legislation requiring the permanent fixture of religious rules in public-school classrooms” violates the “most basic First Amendment principles.”
She referenced the Stone v. Graham decision, in which the Supreme Court struck down a similar Kentucky law as unconstitutional.
“S.B. 10 provides no practicable means for students to opt out,” wrote Ramirez. “The Ten Commandments are required to be posted in every classroom of every public school during every hour of every day of the school year.”
The legal dispute stems from legislation signed into law in June 2025 by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, which requires schools to display a 16-by-20-inch poster or framed version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
Although the measure was scheduled to take effect in September, it quickly faced legal challenges from a coalition of plaintiffs that included Jewish, Muslim and nonreligious families.
Last August, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued a temporary injunction preventing 11 school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments. Later, in November, U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia ordered a preliminary injunction that required the removal of such displays from several Texas classrooms.
