Eighteen families filed a class-action lawsuit Dec. 2 to stop the display of a prescribed version of the Ten Commandments in all classrooms of every Texas school district not already involved in related litigation or subject to an injunction.
Ashby v. Shertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District is the third lawsuit — and first class-action suit — challenging S.B.10.
Subscribe to The Alabama Baptist today!
SIGN UP for our weekly Highlights emails.
As approved by the Texas Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, S.B. 10 requires a donated poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments at least 16 by 20 inches to be displayed in every Texas elementary and secondary school classroom.
The Ten Commandments are “ingrained into who we are as a people and as a nation,” said Sen. Phil King of Weatherford, who introduced S.B. 10.
“Today, our students cry out for the moral clarity, for the statement of right and wrong that they represent. If our students don’t know the Ten Commandments, they will never understand the foundation for much of American history and law.”
First Amendment violations asserted
The plaintiffs assert the state-mandated displays in classrooms violate the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
The families represent a range of faith traditions, as well as some interfaith families and families that identify as nonreligious.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Ken Camp and originally published by Baptist Standard.
