The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Tuesday about the constitutionality of a Texas law requiring public schools to display posters of the Ten Commandments in all classrooms.
All 17 active judges on the court will hear the case Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights School District, which was originally filed in San Antonio federal court, according to the Texas Tribune. At issue is whether Senate Bill 10, passed by the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature, violates the First Amendment by endorsing or promoting one religion over others.
During deliberations, the 5th Circuit Court’s also will rule on the constitutionality of a similar Louisiana law. Officials with the GOP-led states are likely to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
After Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 10 into law, civil rights groups including the ACLU of Texas sued 11 school districts on behalf of a group of families who argued that it violated their constitutional rights to raise their children in their own faiths without government interference.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery agreed, ruling last August that the Texas law favors Christianity over other faiths, makes non-Christian students feel like outsiders and creates barriers for parents raising children in other religious traditions.
“By design and on its face, the statute mandates the display of expressly religious scripture in every public school classroom,” Biery wrote. “The Act also requires that a Judeo-Christian version of that scripture be used, that is exclusionary to all other faiths.”
The judge’s ruling blocked the law from taking effect in the Alamo Heights, North East, Lackland, Northside, Austin, Lake Travis, Dripping Springs, Houston, Fort Bend, Cypress-Fairbanks and Plano school districts.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is considered the nation’s most conservative. Twelve of its 17 active judges are GOP appointees. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly swatted down some of its most extreme rulings.
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