Texas to defend law requiring Ten Commandments in classrooms

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

Jan. 20, 2026, 3:09 PM EST


Arguments in the latest battle over the separation of church and state will be heard Tuesday in a Louisiana federal courtroom where a law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed at public schools is being challenged on constitutional grounds. And in a highly unusual development, all 17 active judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans will be present to hear the Texas case, as well as a similar lawsuit filed by parents and civil liberties groups in Louisiana against that state's Ten Commandments law.

"These issues concern core questions involving the interaction of public education with this nation’s religious history and traditions," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued in a petition in October requesting an en banc review, which is a legal proceeding where all the judges of an appellate court preside over a case. "They warrant en banc review."

Not mentioned in Paxton's petition is the fact that the 5th Circuit, which serves Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, is dominated by conservatives. The 12 judges nominated by Republican presidents outnumber the five Democratic appointees.

“The Fifth Circuit doesn’t take up very many cases en banc at all, and the issues presented in this case seem very straightforward to me,” Dane Ciolino, a professor at the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, told New Orleans radio station WWL. “There is a 1980 U.S. Supreme Court opinion that made very clear that states cannot mandate the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms and buildings."

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-defend-law-requiring-ten-commandments-classrooms-rcna254977

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The "definition of insanity".

REFERENCES

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143465734
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143483234
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143515898
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143567899
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143572164

[Initech]

1. It's illegal AF. Period. End of debate.

Fuck your MAGA Taliban bullshit, Abbott.

[NotHardly]

16. No one's pretend sky god means sh*t to me, no one's

Sheep herders who didn't know sh*t 2000 years ago get no inch from me. Stupid and uneducated from 2000 years ago and today with their little purported sky god is just the dumbest d*mn thing I've ever heard in my life.

[hamsterjill]

2. Gonna force that religion on them brats!!!

This said as a Texan, and as a Christian who completely supports separation of church and state AS the Founding Fathers intended.

[Traildogbob]

3. How about a law

That GQP and MAGA follow at least one of them. Once!

[IcyPeas]

4. Thank goodness we have a president who follows those teachings....

Oh wait.....

[jls4561]

5. Force Paxton to testify under oath about how many commandments he's broken.

Definitely 7, 8 and 9.

[NotHardly]

17. LOL...Perfect

[tfury653]

6. Christian?

The ten commandments are from the old testament. The old testament is the history of the Jewish people and their religious beliefs. Also called the torah ,the book also states , as an example ,that if your brother dies, you as the brother can have his widow. It includes some theory about not eating shellfish. There are many rules that no one could live up to. It is a jewish history of who begot who and was the core of mankind"s theories until jesus came along and declared no one had to follow the old book. From my interpretation that means no ten commandments. Jesus went on to tell the new "christian" religion that there were only two rules to follow, love god and love your fellow man as you would love yourself. Jesus's main speech was his Sermon on the Mount, declaring mankind to, feed the hungry, take care of the widows, be decent to immigrants, help the poor and other kind messages that by today's maga movement standards seems almost ridiculous. So upholding the ten commandments is against being a christian. Hypocrites

[ChicagoTeamster]

7. Christian Nationalists don't believe in separation of Church and State. The 10 commandments haven't stopped Republicans.

They're the biggest fraudsters, rapists, robbers, bullies, liars etc. etc. etc.

[twodogsbarking]

8. There is only one commandment. Thou shalt not make commandments.

Just be kind.

[ChicagoTeamster]

9. The first rule of fight club, Don't talk about fight club.

[twodogsbarking]

10. You had better stop talking about the fight club. It's a rule.

[BigmanPigman]

11. If they told me to do that in my 1st grade classroom

I would hide the list behind backpacks in the cloakroom, just in case the school board came for an unexpected visit and wanted to see their BS referendum in full display. I've did this a lot when I was teaching and my district said teachers need to do blah, blah, blah.

I am a rebel and like to stir the pot it seems. If I were told to post the 10 commandments I would show my class the film scene from History of the World Part 1 when Mel Brooks as Moses had 15 commandments but dropped a tablet and that's why there are 10 and not 15.

I taught during the Bush years and I put his picture behind the classroom microwave and on "Presidents' Day his name was NEVER mentioned by me. My students didn't have a clue.

[PikaBlue]

12. Or..

Post the 10 commandments with examples of how the current occupant of the WH has broken every one of them. I love a good civics lesson!

[BigmanPigman]

13. I taught 6th grade for 2 years and 1st grade for over 15.

Since my 6 year olds were just learning how to read they would never, ever attempt or have the desire to read a list like that...they like children's books with illustrations and large print.

That shows how ridiculous these mandates are. I could have made the 10 Commandments into a giant poster on the white board, smack in the middle of the classroom and they still would not read it.....boring and difficult to read, let alone comprehend.

[Vthestate]

14. Does Ken Paxton know the 10

Fight it if you want ...or take a nap. These GOP's are not even a little conservative...they need to be laughed out of town. Taking them to court is just a waste of money

[stillspkg]

15. Besides being Wrong

When the symbol becomes the god, it is no longer symbolic, it is diabolic.

To those who insist on using the 10 commandments as.a political weapon, think about how grossly foolish it is when you don't even follow the 10 Commandments.

It is the plaque you worship, not the God of all people. Get a life!

[ColoringFool]

18. I Especially Like Telling 1st-Graders Not To Murder, Commit Adultery, Or....

Covet.

[chouchou]

19. I've never figured out the first commandment.

"Thou shall have no Gods before me"

Sooo...You think there's a bunch of other Gods?

[SalamanderSleeps]

21. Stop helping. We can joke later.

[SalamanderSleeps]

20. Why does not anyone actually, actually, believe anyone nice lives at the Yellowstone Club at BigSky, Montana?

Since 1997 "Big Sky" was built by "highly qualified Mexicans."

Martel, Swank, benefited happily.

So, did every subcontractor involved.

[SalamanderSleeps]

22. I digress.

Point being, rich people love Montana, because it is the last best place for them to roll in their own excess.

[Grins]

23. Tell the court you will drop the case if...

…Texas can only allowed to post the last 7 of the 10 commandments, dropping the early non-secular ones.

Then watch’em howl!!! And that howling will be proof as to the real intent of their law.

[SamKnause]

24. Christian Nationalists shove your evil book and commandments where the sun don't shine.

Stop trying to force your evil fairy tales on to those who are not interested !!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of us think you are insane to believe such evil nonsense.