A federal appeals court upheld a Texas law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, setting the stage for a potential Supreme Court showdown over the separation of church and state.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that Senate Bill 10 does not violate the First Amendment. The law mandates that all Texas public schools display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

The Court’s Decision

The ruling came in the case of Rav Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District. David Hacker, vice president of legal services at First Liberty Institute, defended the decision, saying “the Ten Commandments are a foundational moral, literary, and historical text whose influence on Western legal traditions is widely acknowledged and needs to be part of any complete education.”

The vote was narrow, decided 9-8 among the judges on the panel. Hacker argued that displaying the text serves an educational purpose distinct from promoting religion.

The Opposition

Civil liberties groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation challenged the law on First Amendment grounds. Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, criticized the decision, stating “it is shocking that an appeals court would presume to do what only the Supreme Court itself can do and overturn long-standing precedent.”

The ACLU of Texas said in a statement it anticipates appealing to the Supreme Court. “This decision tramples” the religious freedom rights of families and children, the organization said.

What’s Next

The case now heads toward the Supreme Court, where the justices will decide whether the law aligns with the 1980 precedent Stone v. Graham, which restricted religious displays in public schools. Texas has also proposed changes to curriculum guidelines that would incorporate biblical texts into social studies lessons.