The request by three Houston mothers to temporarily stop Texas public school classrooms from displaying the Ten Commandments was denied late last week, reports The Texas Tribune. While the temporary restraining order was defeated, the court will hold a hearing on August 17 for a temporary injunction.
The Texas Ten Commandments Bill, otherwise known as Senate Bill (SB) 10, was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2025, requiring every public school classroom to display the Ten Commandments.
The lawsuit argued that it violates the state's religious freedom law and a voter-approved parental rights amendment. It was also the latest challenge to SB 10 after other attempts to prohibit it have been unsuccessful.
Jonathan Covey, director of policy at Texas Values, is encouraged by the state court's decision.
"This particular lawsuit was one where the plaintiffs were trying to advance different theories other than the federal constitutional principles. They're essentially using Texas' Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to say that the presence of the Ten Commandments on a classroom wall substantially burdens — that's the standard for RFRA,” Covey explains.
Religious freedom is a shield against government coercion, Covey told AFN, but the plaintiffs were using religious freedom like a sword.
In July, one of the three mothers in the suit said that the Ten Commandments poster purposefully ignores religious differences in the classroom and would make students feel like they do not belong.
"Public schools, they educate students from many different backgrounds every day. Recognizing the historical significance of a document, which is what is happening here, is not the same thing as asking students to believe it or practice a religion,” Covey argues.
He does understand the argument that Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or atheists could feel excluded.
“But we, as an American society, we come in contact with things all the time. That doesn't mean that you have to believe those things," Covey states.
