Split Fifth Circuit OKs Texas Ten Commandments in Classroom Law
Source: Bloomberg Law
Texas can enforce a law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in public classrooms, a divided Fifth Circuit ruled.
The full US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday sided with the state, after ruling in February that it was too early to weigh challenges to a similar Louisiana measure.
“We conclude the Texas law does not violate either the Establishment Clause or the Free Exercise Clause,” Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan wrote for a nine-judge majority, all consisting of Republican appointees. Eight judges dissented from the ruling.
A three-judge panel earlier found the Louisiana law was unconstitutional, as it violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. But the majority of the Fifth Circuit’s 17 active judges—which includes six Trump appointees—voted in favor of rehearing the case, and heard arguments in that case and over the Texas law in January.
An attorney for the law’s challengers, Jonathan Youngwood, told the court that Supreme Court precedent set in a challenge to a similar state law still applies and forecloses this case. But some of the conservative judges said the high court had set aside the Establishment Clause test used then, and questioned if the Supreme Court ruling was still good law.
Read more: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/split-fifth-circuit-oks-texas-ten-commandments-in-classroom-law
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Federal Appeals Court Upholds Texas Ten Commandments Law
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/us/appeals-court-upholds-texas-ten-commandments-law.html
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said the law does not violate the Constitution. The plaintiffs said they planned to ask the Supreme Court to reverse the decision.
A Ten Commandments poster in an English classroom at Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Worth. Desiree Rios for The New York Times
By Pooja Salhotra
April 21, 2026
A federal appeals court on Tuesday narrowly upheld a Texas law that requires public schools to display posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. ... By 9-to-8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the law does not violate the separation of church and state, reversing two lower court decisions. The court also ruled the measure does not restrict parents' right to direct their children's religious upbringing.
"Students are neither catechized on the Commandments nor taught to adopt them," the ruling said. "Nor are teachers commanded to proselytize students who ask about the displays or contradict students who disagree with them."
Since Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed a law in 2025 mandating the religious displays, families of various faith backgrounds have challenged it, arguing that the law amounted to state endorsement of religion. The law was passed amid a broader conservative push to infuse Christianity into public schools, and several other Republican-led states have passed similar laws.
The organizations representing the 15 Texas families who filed the lawsuit said in a statement that they were disappointed in the decision and planned to ask the Supreme Court to reverse it.
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Pooja Salhotra covers breaking news across the United States.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/pooja-salhotra