Texas

Now, Texas has joined the club. The Associated Press reported:

Texas cannot require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, a judge said Wednesday in a temporary ruling against the state’s new requirement, making it the third such state law to be blocked by a court. A group of Dallas-area families and faith leaders sought a preliminary injunction against the law, which goes into effect on Sept. 1.

The ruling was issued by U.S. District Court Judge Fred Biery, who wrote: “Even though the Ten Commandments would not be affirmatively taught, the captive audience of students likely would have questions, which teachers would feel compelled to answer. That is what they do.”

His 55-page ruling began with quoting the First Amendment and ended with “Amen.”....

The Decalogue, the justices ruled in Stone v. Graham, is “undeniably a sacred text in the Jewish and Christian faiths” and displaying them “serves no ... educational function.”

So why would Republicans in several states take a step that the Supreme Court has already rejected? It’s probably because they’re confident that the newly politicized high court and its dominant far-right majority will simply overturn the Stone precedent, doing fresh harm to the wall that’s supposed to separate church and state in this country.

These GOP officials are almost certainly aware of the First Amendment, just as they’re almost certainly aware of the Supreme Court precedent that says they cannot legally do what they’re trying to do.