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Federal court upholds Texas law requiring Ten Commandments in public classrooms
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A federal appeals court has upheld a Texas law requiring public schools across the state to display the Ten Commandments—a major victory for religious freedom advocates who have long argued the biblical text is intertwined with America’s legal, moral, and historical heritage.
In a 9–8 ruling, the 17-member Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Senate Bill 10, the law passed by Texas’ Republican-led legislature, does not violate either the Constitution’s Establishment Clause or the Free Exercise Clause.
«Because Plaintiffs fail to show that S.B. 10 substantially burdens their right to religious exercise, their Free Exercise claims must be dismissed,» the court’s majority opinion stated.
Tuesday’s ruling reverses a preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge in 2025, who had previously argued the law failed to demonstrate a historical tradition of public schools posting the Ten Commandments—a standard he claimed was necessary for the bill to withstand judicial precedent.
A federal appeals court ruling on Feb. 20 allows Louisiana’s Ten Commandments classroom mandate to proceed for now. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
«This is one of the most important religious liberty victories for Texas in our glorious history,» said Jonathan Saenz, president and attorney for Texas Values, which defended the law. «Texas continues to lead the nation in defending both religious liberty and constitutional truth.»
«Today’s ruling confirms that our state can honor the moral heritage that undergirds our legal system without violating the First Amendment,» Saenz added. «This decision makes clear that acknowledging the historical foundations of our laws is not only permissible—it is fully consistent with the Constitution.»
Texas Sen. Phil King, the Senate author of the Texas Ten Commandments Law, said the court’s decision means the state isn’t required to erase its history.
«The Ten Commandments have been referenced throughout our nation’s civic life because they are part of the historical tradition that influenced American law,» he said. «The Fifth Circuit properly applied the Constitution as written and understood, rather than rewriting it to scrub away our heritage.»
Under state law, S.B. 10 requires that a «conspicuous» copy of the Ten Commandments be displayed in every classroom in every public school and open-enrollment charter school in Texas. The court ruled that it was not bound by Stone v. Graham, a 1980 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the justices struck down a Kentucky law requiring public schools to post religious texts in classrooms.
That case centered on a bill passed by Kentucky lawmakers that required hanging posters of the Ten Commandments. At the time, the High Court found the law violated the First Amendment because it lacked a secular purpose.
However, defense lawyers argued that Stone relied entirely on the «Lemon test,» specifically the provision requiring a law to have a «secular purpose.» Because the Supreme Court explicitly abandoned the Lemon test in its 2022 decision, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the Fifth Circuit majority concluded that the precedents derived from Lemon—including Stone—have been effectively abrogated.
FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ARKANSAS TEN COMMANDMENTS LAW IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS
The Ten Commandments displayed on a wall inside a building. (John Bazemore/AP)
«[W]ith Lemon extracted, there is nothing left of Stone,» the majority wrote.
In a dissenting opinion, the minority argued that the Supreme Court has never explicitly overturned the Stone v. Graham ruling.
Several judges on the court issued their own statements supporting the law’s constitutionality. Judge James C. Ho, a Trump appointee, concurred with the majority, emphasizing that the court can «uphold Ten Commandments displays in public schools under the Constitution» because the law does not come «close to imposing either an establishment of religion or a prohibition on the free exercise thereof.» Judge Andrew S. Oldham also affirmed his support, stating: «I agree with the majority that the district court’s injunction must be reversed. I further agree that, if the case is justiciable, Texas’s Ten Commandments law does not violate the Constitution.»
The dissenting opinions centered on the religious freedoms of parents with theologies other than Christianity.
«The displays required by S.B. 10 threaten to ‘undermin[e] the religious beliefs that parents wish to instill in their children’ and ‘pressure’ students ‘to conform,’ and Defendants have not satisfied strict scrutiny,» the order states.
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Judge Leslie H. Southwick, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote that: «Religion, though, is a matter of the mind and the heart. Faith cannot flourish when it is forced.»
The lawsuit was originally brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation on behalf of a multifaith group of families. These plaintiffs argued that the Texas law imposes a religious preference on their children in violation of the First Amendment.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, State Attorney General Ken Paxton, and the ACLU for further comment.
In a joint statement, the ACLU and other plaintiffs condemned Tuesday’s ruling and announced plans to appeal.
FILE – The State Capitol is seen in Austin, Texas, on June 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
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«We are extremely disappointed in today’s decision. The Court’s ruling goes against fundamental First Amendment principles and binding U.S. Supreme Court authority,» the statement read. «The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when, and if to provide their children with religious instruction. This decision tramples those rights. We anticipate asking the Supreme Court to reverse this decision.»
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman also praised the ruling, noting that the Ten Commandments are «foundational to our legal system and can be displayed in classrooms. We led a 19-state coalition to support Texas’ law and American history!»
texas, federal courts, christianity religion, us, education
El día 1 de septiembre inició el curso escolar en Cuba. Dos videos sobre hechos ocurridos en dos escuelas primarias a casi mil kilómetros de distancia una de otra, ponen de manifiesto la profunda crisis de valores en la Mayor de las Antillas.
En la Escuela Primaria Amistad Cuba-México, de la barriada “El Fanguito”, municipio Plaza de la Revolución, inauguraron el curso con una violenta demostración de combate de artes marciales, protagonizada por las mismas tropas especiales que envían a reprimir a las madres que salen con sus niños a protestar contra los apagones. Fueron a abonar el miedo.
En Santiago de Cuba, en la Escuela Primaria Santiago Callejas, una maestra da la bienvenida a los niños de 5 a 11 años con un discurso que parecía destinado a los miembros de un Núcleo del Partido Comunista.
Desde El Cobre, en la misma provincia oriental, la familia Reyes Isaac afirmó que en la primera semana de clases apenas enviaron a sus niños a la escuela porque no tenían cómo alimentarlos. Lo mismo me explican desde varios municipios de la provincia Granma. La crisis es material, moral y espiritual y afecta a toda la nación.
El 22 de enero de 1998, durante su histórica visita a Cuba, San Juan Pablo II, hablando en Santa Clara sobre la familia y la educación, afirmó que los padres “deben poder escoger para sus hijos el estilo pedagógico, los contenidos éticos y cívicos y la inspiración religiosa” en que desean formarlos.
El Pontífice fue todavía más lejos: recordó que los padres son los primeros y principales educadores de sus hijos, que esa responsabilidad constituye un derecho insustituible e inalienable y que las atribuciones educativas del poder público no autorizan al Estado a sustituir a la familia.
Veintiocho años después, esas palabras conservan una extraordinaria actualidad ante la dramática situación en que comenzó en Cuba el curso escolar 2026-2027.
Cerca de 1,4 millones de estudiantes regresaron el 1 de septiembre a más de 10.000 escuelas en un país golpeado simultáneamente por apagones, escasez de combustible, problemas de abastecimiento de agua, deterioro del transporte, falta de alimentos y una profunda crisis económica.
La educación no existe aislada de la realidad en que vive el niño.
¿Cómo puede estudiar adecuadamente un menor que pasó buena parte de la noche sin electricidad, soportando calor, mosquitos y dificultades para dormir? ¿Cómo puede concentrarse quien llega al aula sin desayunar o insuficientemente alimentado? ¿Cómo puede mantener un rendimiento adecuado el estudiante cuya familia dedica casi todas sus energías a encontrar comida, agua, medicamentos o transporte?
Según fuentes oficiales, el curso comenzó con una cobertura docente de apenas del 73%. Se calcula un déficit de aproximadamente 21.000 maestros, y La Habana ha tenido que recibir unos 3.000 docentes procedentes de provincias orientales. También se está recurriendo a jubilados, estudiantes universitarios y profesionales de otros sectores para cubrir aulas.
A ello se suma la crisis del transporte. Hay lugares donde trasladarse a una escuela se ha convertido en una verdadera odisea. Associated Press documentó incluso familias utilizando carretas tiradas por caballos debido a la ausencia de transporte disponible. La falta de combustible y el deterioro del transporte público ya afectaron gravemente la asistencia durante el curso anterior.
Tampoco existen uniformes suficientes. Al comenzar el curso solo se había logrado cubrir alrededor del 12 % de la demanda de uniformes para la enseñanza primaria. Los apagones, la falta de combustible, las dificultades industriales y la carencia de materias primas han impedido producirlos en las cantidades necesarias. El propio Ministerio de Educación tuvo que flexibilizar su utilización.
Faltan asimismo materiales escolares, existen graves dificultades con la alimentación y las familias tienen que asumir gastos que sus ingresos muchas veces no permiten cubrir. La crisis ha llegado al extremo de que en determinados centros los estudiantes necesitan llevar lámparas recargables para hacer frente a los apagones.
Pero la tragedia de la educación cubana no es solamente material. También existe un problema de libertad, derechos, pluralismo y formación ética.
Cuba ratificó la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño. Este instrumento reconoce a los menores derechos a la libertad de expresión, pensamiento, conciencia y asociación. Sin embargo, el Comité de los Derechos del Niño de Naciones Unidas ha reclamado al Estado cubano que garantice efectivamente la libertad de expresión de los menores y evite restricciones desproporcionadas.
En sus observaciones de 2022, ese mismo Comité formuló preocupaciones y recomendaciones respecto al ejercicio efectivo de derechos fundamentales de los niños cubanos.
Una verdadera educación no puede consistir únicamente en enseñar matemáticas, historia o gramática. Educar significa formar personas capaces de pensar por sí mismas, preguntar, discrepar, comparar ideas, buscar información y desarrollar libremente sus convicciones.
Una escuela que pretende imponer una única interpretación política del país, de la historia y de la sociedad deja de cumplir plenamente esa misión.
El niño cubano necesita educación, no adoctrinamiento. Necesita maestros bien preparados y dignamente remunerados; aulas con electricidad y agua; alimentación suficiente; transporte; libros, uniformes y otros materiales. Necesita llegar a clases descansado, bien alimentado y saludable.
Pero también necesita algo igualmente importante: libertad para pensar. Y sus padres necesitan recuperar el derecho a participar decisivamente en la formación moral, ética, religiosa y cívica de sus hijos.
San Juan Pablo II lo dijo en Santa Clara hace casi tres décadas: el Estado tiene responsabilidades en materia educativa, pero no puede sustituir a los padres.
Hoy la crisis educativa cubana reúne dos tragedias en una sola: la pobreza material de las escuelas y la falta de libertades que impone el régimen.
A un niño que tiene hambre, que no duerme por los apagones, sin adecuados maestros, sin alimentos, transporte, materiales o medicamentos, le resulta difícil aprender y vive en condiciones adversas para desarrollarse.
Pero también se perjudica al niño cuando se le enseña qué debe pensar en lugar de enseñarle a pensar.
Cuba necesita un sistema de educación capaz de desarrollar la inteligencia, fortalecer los valores, liberar el espíritu y sostener una sociedad libre y próspera. Una educación donde la familia, la escuela y la sociedad acompañen al niño, pero donde ninguna autoridad pretenda adueñarse de su conciencia.
economy,essential,horizontal,school,cuba,clases cuba
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Bioweapon threat exposed as Anthropic sounds alarm on foreign actors plotting virus experiments
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Researchers outside the United States used frontier AI models to plan experiments involving highly pathogenic bird flu, chikungunya and other biological agents with potential weapons applications, according to a new threat report from Anthropic.
The researchers used AI to study viruses’ transmissibility and immune evasion, investigate orthopoxvirus immune-response genes and help design novel toxins at times while taking steps to evade safeguards meant to restrict access to dangerous biological capabilities.
Anthropic detailed five cases in the report published Thursday but withheld the countries, institutions and specific biological agents involved. The company stressed that it is not claiming the researchers intended to develop biological weapons.
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Staff prepare samples for DNA sequencing at the new offices and laboratories of Othram, a DNA forensics lab, in The Woodlands, Texas, on Nov. 6, 2023. (Michael Wyke/Houston Chronicle)
The findings offer a concrete glimpse at a threat that has largely been discussed in hypothetical terms. Scientists who already possess biological expertise, materials and laboratory access are using increasingly powerful AI systems to accelerate sensitive dual-use research.
They also land amid a renewed debate over catastrophic AI risks. Jacob Coxon, a former Anthropic and OpenAI researcher, recently resigned while accusing the companies of «racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.» His warning drew more than 100 million views on X.
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Evan Hubinger, Anthropic’s alignment science lead, separately said he personally believed there was a greater than 10% chance AI could kill all humans within the next decade.
But Anthropic’s report points to a threat that is already taking shape: researchers using frontier AI for potentially dangerous biological work, circumventing geographic restrictions and adapting when the models’ safeguards get in their way.
Pages from the Anthropic website and the company’s logos are displayed on a computer screen in New York Feb. 26, 2026. (Patrick Sison/AP Photo)
In one case, Anthropic blocked a grant application for chikungunya gain-of-function research at a military research institute. The proposed work focused on identifying mutations that could increase the virus’s transmissibility and ability to evade the immune system.
The researchers planned to engineer those mutations into infectious clones and repeatedly pass the virus through live animals, selecting for variants that caused the most severe disease.
That work could help scientists develop better vaccines and treatments for chikungunya. It could also produce a more dangerous pathogen that would be difficult to distinguish from a naturally occurring outbreak, Anthropic said.
The researchers accessed Claude through a life sciences platform that tunneled traffic through U.S. infrastructure to evade Anthropic’s regional restrictions. When Claude refused to answer sensitive prompts, the platform routed those requests to another model with more permissive safeguards.
Anthropic said the research continued after the company banned accounts connected to the activity. The platform operator reestablished access within days using new identities, while Claude continued to provide editorial assistance on research materials.
In another case, a researcher spent weeks using Claude to plan experiments involving mammalian adaptation and airborne transmission in highly pathogenic avian influenza.
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The researcher was studying viral traits that could allow bird flu to spread more effectively among mammals and cause severe disease outside the respiratory system. A version capable of efficient human-to-human transmission would pose a significant pandemic threat, according to the report.
Anthropic said the researcher appeared to have access to virus isolates and animal-model facilities. The company confined the work to weaker models, limiting the assistance primarily to study design, data analysis and editorial support.
The company said the case provided evidence of an active research program developing the knowledge and biological materials needed to create pathogens with enhanced pandemic potential. The researcher also took steps to hide his identity while accessing the models from an unsupported region.
A separate user connected to a state-associated infectious-disease laboratory used Claude to draft an orthopoxvirus research grant from start to finish in about an hour.
Orthopoxviruses include variola, the virus that causes smallpox, as well as mpox. The grant application proposed studying viral genes that disable the human immune response and included the central hypothesis, experimental design, dosing, statistical plans and contingency strategies.
Because the work was framed around weakening the virus, Claude’s safeguards did not block the assistance. But Anthropic said the same knowledge could also help a researcher preserve or enhance the virus’ immune-evasion capabilities.
The final two cases involved venom peptides and toxins.
One researcher used Claude to build an atlas of toxin peptides from multiple venomous animal lineages and then created a generative pipeline to optimize their characteristics.
A researcher in a lab drops a blood sample into a Petri dish. (iStock)
The stated goal was to develop new painkillers, antidepressants and other treatments. But the atlas also included structures associated with paralytic toxins that could potentially be used as incapacitating agents. Anthropic said the work was part of a state-supported research program.
In the other case, a researcher used Claude to computationally redesign several toxins, including a bacterial toxin and a protein from a hemorrhagic fever virus identified by the World Health Organization as a priority disease threat.
The researcher used Claude to help prepare progress reports but instructed the model to keep the identities of the toxins deliberately vague.
The cases illustrate why biological misuse can be difficult to prevent through automated filters alone. Anthropic’s safeguards blocked the clearest attempts involving enhanced pandemic pathogens, but they were less effective when users framed their work as medical, defensive or therapeutic research.
«Biological capabilities are dual use,» Anthropic said in the report. «The same information that can be used to develop a biological weapon could also be used to develop, for example, a vaccine or a cure for a disease.»
Dario Amodei, co-founder and chief executive officer of Anthropic, during the company’s Builder Summit in Bengaluru, India, Feb. 16, 2026. (Samyukta Lakshmi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The company said it recently reviewed 30 days of activity associated with adversarial state institutions and found roughly 35 distinct biological research efforts. Most involved ordinary civilian science, but some had «notable dual-use potential.»
Anthropic said the findings do not show that Claude has enabled an imminent biological attack.
They do show, the company said, that researchers tied to state-associated programs are attempting to evade access controls and use frontier AI models in biological research that could have weapons applications.
The company said future safeguards will likely require more than content filters, including identity verification, institutional vetting and closer monitoring of users seeking access to advanced biological capabilities.
politics, artificial intelligence, military tech, trending news
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WATCH: Socialist protester blames ‘provocateurs’ after assaults at ‘closest entry point’ to Trump convention
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A socialist «Never Trumpers» protester blamed «conservative provocateurs» for a tense confrontation with police that resulted in multiple arrests just outside the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas.
Videos posted on social media Thursday afternoon showed what appeared to be hundreds of Never Trumpers confronting Dallas police just blocks from where the president was set to deliver his convention-closing speech. Authorities responded with a strong show of force that included officers in apparent riot gear.
The Dallas Police Department confirmed with Fox News Digital that two protesters were arrested on charges related to their actions during the protest. The department said that officers assigned to the area arrested the two protesters after it said they «assaulted a counter-protester» and «obstructed a road.»
The department said the suspects’ names and specific charges will be released after they are booked into jail.
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Law enforcement officers detain a demonstrator during a protest ahead of the second day of the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (Leah Millis/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital spoke with a protester named Rick Majumdar, who was wearing a shirt with the initials for the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), which, according to its website, is a «national organization of revolutionaries fighting for socialism in the United States.»
Majumdar said that the protest was organized by the Dallas Against the Trump Agenda Coalition, which, he said, consists of 16 «faith-based organizations, pro-immigrants’ rights groups and labor organizations.»
«We’re here to protest the Republican agenda, the Trump agenda and all its policies that it has enacted over the last few years,» he explained. «The march is an important event, we feel, against this convention that’s happening for the last two days.»
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Demonstrators march during a protest ahead of the second day of the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (Leah Millis/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He said that, during the group’s march, «we encountered some street closures by the police» and that officers arrested a couple of protesters who «were at the front of the group.»
Pressed on why the protesters were arrested, Majumdar said, «Those people were trying to draw people away from rioting provocateurs, and I think the police heard something. And they immediately tackled two of them and arrested them, and some of them even pulled out their guns as well.»
The protest came amid heightened concerns over political violence and the targeting of public figures. It also coincided with the first anniversary of the assassination of conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.
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Law enforcement officers monitor protest activity outside the Republican National Committee midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Sept. 10, 2026. (Blake Fagan/AFP via Getty Images)
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Majumdar did not answer whether the protesters blocked any roads but said the confrontation occurred at the «closest entry point» to the convention.
Asked whether he had any message directly for President Donald Trump, Majumdar paused, smiled and said, «Thank you.»
After publication, Freedom Road Socialist Organization shared an additional statement from Majumdar in response to Fox News Digital’s question on his direct message to Trump.
The statement said that «today the people of Dallas marched on a near empty RNC, in fact, the people made their decision to stand against the billionaires class— the same class that supports the Republican Agenda, and we are empowering people to find their home in our organization.»
republican convention, donald trump, rise of socialism, charlie kirk, us protests, socialism, texas
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