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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.
FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RULES LOUISIANA TEN COMMANDMENTS SCHOOL LAW IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
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
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EXCLUSIVE: SPLC’s ‘far-left’ ‘anti-racism’ curriculum found in classrooms as early as kindergarten: watchdog
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EXCLUSIVE: As the liberal activist organization Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) faces federal fraud charges, an education watchdog warns that the group continues to integrate its «far-left content and materials» into classrooms as early as kindergarten in more than 40 states across the U.S.
Nicole Neily, president of Defending Education, which was once labeled an «extremist» group by SPLC, told Fox News Digital that «unbeknownst to parents, the Southern Poverty Law Center has been poisoning pupils’ minds around the country for years with its toxic curriculum.»
Defending Education published a new exposé detailing how an SPLC education program called «Learning for Justice» (formerly «Teaching Tolerance») has been integrated into K-12 lesson plans and materials in 169 school districts in 42 states, plus Washington, D.C. According to the watchdog, the program reinforces «far-left cultural and political ideologies,» including «anti-racism, Black Lives Matter, gender ideology and queer theory, white privilege, white supremacy, whiteness, and transgenderism.»
Neily said that due to SPLC’s integration in schools, «issues such as queer theory, white privilege, and anti-racism have supplanted traditional coursework in history, social studies, and other core classes,» which she said is «teaching children to view themselves and others through the lens of identity politics, and that America is forever stained by its original sin.»
CRITICS SAY K-12 ETHNIC STUDIES PUSH TEACH STUDENTS ABOUT CISHETERONORMATIVITY, BLACK PANTHER PARTY
Angry parents and community members protest after a Loudoun County School Board over critical race theory. (Evelyn Hockstein via Reuters)
According to Neily, the materials «intentionally sow division and mistrust between students at a formative stage of their development,» adding that «it is deeply disappointing that administrators and educators believe this is an appropriate use of finite classroom time and resources.»
The SPLC did not respond to requests for comment on Defending Education’s report.
The report reveals that SPLC’s website and documents can be found on school district webpages, in teacher professional development and trainings, classroom lessons, district-wide curricula, Social Emotional Learning, social justice standards, and district antiracism and equity policies and resources.
SPLC’s Learning for Justice program, which the report says is focused on «education for liberation,» encourages the implementation of a set of anchor standards and «age-appropriate learning outcomes» divided into the domains of identity, diversity, justice and action.
Under the action category, students are encouraged to commit to join with «diverse people to plan and carry out collective action against exclusion, prejudice and discrimination» and to be «thoughtful and creative in our actions in order to achieve our goals.»
Defending Education said the New York State Education Department added «equity revisions» to its NY Social Emotional Learning Benchmarks that aligned the benchmarks with SPLC’s social justice standards.
The report also notes that the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian lists Learning for Justice as a recommended resource in certain lesson materials. It further points to guidance and curriculum resources from the California Department of Education and Illinois State Board of Education, as well as Chicago Public Schools, that include or reference the standards.
CHICAGO SCHOOLS BLASTED BY PARENTS’ RIGHTS WATCHDOG OVER ‘APPALLING’ LGBT AGENDA REVEALED IN UNEARTHED DOCS
Opponents of Critical Race Theory attend a packed Loudoun County School board meeting in Ashburn, Virginia, on June 22, 2021, which erupted into chaos and led to two detentions. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
According to the report, Learning for Justice materials are also incorporated into curriculum and lesson plans for younger students in several districts. The report cites examples, including Cambridge Public Schools in Massachusetts, integrating the Social Justice Standards into junior kindergarten through fifth-grade physical education, and Yonkers Public Schools in New York, using the standards in pre-kindergarten project-based learning units. It also points to Princeton Public Schools in New Jersey updating its early childhood curriculum using the framework.
Rhyen Staley, director of research at Defending Education, posited that the «amount of influence the SPLC’s programming and content has had on district policies, learning standards, curriculums, and lessons is a real concern for families who value a bias-free learning environment.»
«No organization that labels concerned parents as ‘extremists’ and members of ‘hate groups’ should have its biased content used in K-12 schools,» said Staley, adding that «district leaders should end the use of this organization’s materials and ideas.»
SPLC, an Alabama-based organization that describes itself as a «beacon of hope» for «fighting White supremacy,» was indicted late last month on federal fraud charges from a years-long alleged covert paid informant program that Justice Department officials said allocated millions of dollars in donations to a network of informants affiliated with or closely tied to White supremacist and neo-Nazi groups.
The 11-count indictment accuses the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank and conspiracy to commit concealed money laundering. According to the Justice Department, the SPLC sent some $3 million to its paid informants between 2014 and 2023, including people affiliated with the United Klans of America, the National Socialist Party of America and the Aryan Nations-linked Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, among others.
NEO-NAZIS, ‘SADISTIC’ BIKERS AND CHARLOTTESVILLE ORGANIZER: 5 OF THE MOST SHOCKING SPLC INFORMANTS
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, left, and SPLC interim President and CEO Bryan Fair are shown in a split image as the Justice Department pursues charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images; USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images)
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SPLC has denied all allegations of wrongdoing, with a spokesperson defending its work monitoring White supremacist groups and other violent extremist organizations — including via the paid informant program — telling Fox News Digital that their use has «saved lives.»
Fox News Digital reached out to the New York State Education Department, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, California Department of Education, Illinois State Board of Education, Chicago Public Schools, Cambridge Public Schools, Yonkers Public Schools and Princeton Public Schools for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and Preston Mizell contributed to this report.
woke, curriculum, education, controversies education, dei
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La crisis terminal de Cuba, la isla que se apaga: cortes de luz, falta de comida y basura en cada esquina
Llegamos a Cuba con el pretexto de hacer un viaje turístico. El tiempo para esta cobertura será de una semana exacta, buscando contar y documentar la crisis energética, social y económica que vive el país que vuelve a estar en los titulares de los medios del mundo. Nos recibe la desolación: una población para la cual vivir hoy es subsistir. Caminar kilómetros para buscar lo que queda en las bodegas, donde acceden a lo que les corresponde según la libreta, y luego comprar lo que puedan en algún negocio de la capital para completar, en muchos casos, apenas una comida al día.
La Habana nos recibe casi sin turismo, opacada por la suciedad y el abandono. La vieja gloria de la ciudad hoy se desmorona lentamente. Las fachadas de los solares se descascaran. De a ratos, parece la postal de un país en guerra: edificios derruidos y otros directamente reducidos a escombros. Familias que viven con el temor de ser víctimas de otro derrumbe. Otras que padecen la escasez de medicamentos, y otras que simplemente buscan planear la salida.
“¿Cómo está la situación en Cuba?”, le preguntamos a un hombre que nos invita a pasar a su casa. “De difícil a imposible en ese tramo”, indica con las manos. Nos cuenta que vive de alquilar un pequeño cuarto y que en su misma casa también vive con sus padres: su papá, de 88 años y su mamá de 76. “Ahora mismo es imposible vivir en Cuba. Imposible. Mira las calles cómo están. Todo se está cayendo, todo se está derrumbando. Todas esas epidemias, producto de todas esas cochinadas que hay en las calles. No hay medicamentos en los hospitales. Mi padre peleó por esto”.
“¿Y sigue siendo revolucionario?“, le repreguntamos. Nos dice que no con su gesto.
Documental completo: Cuba, la isla que se apaga
La incertidumbre es total. Cuando llegamos a la isla, a fines de marzo, no ingresaba petróleo desde hacía tres meses. Mientras Donald Trump repite la frase “Cuba is next” y empieza a especularse sobre cuál puede ser el destino del castrismo, los cubanos sobreviven con hambre de todo tipo. En especial, con hambre de cambio y libertad. Así lo resume una mujer de 66 años que convive hace cinco con un dolor en la rodilla producto de una caída. “Que cambie todo esto y que podamos estar como las personas”, dice ante nuestra cámara, antes de quebrarse.
Hoy, en Cuba, se habla de alumbrones, más que de apagones, dada la extensión en el tiempo que suelen tener los cortes de energía. Eso hizo que volviera ese término acuñado en el llamado Período Especial, una de las mayores crisis en la historia de la isla. “¿Hace cuánto no tienen luz?”, le preguntamos a una mujer que estaba sentada en una vereda, en medio de un apagón. “Desde las seis de la tarde”, dice. “¿Y cuántos días estuvieron así con cortes?”, repreguntamos. “¿Cuántos días? Es todos los días, mami”, contesta la señora.
La crisis energética afecta el funcionamiento de lo más básico, desde el sistema de salud, hasta la conservación de alimentos. “Vea cuántas horas nos metemos sin luz. Estamos a expensas de que nos la quiten a las seis de la tarde y no la ponen más hasta las seis de la mañana… La comida ya hay que comprarla hoy en día en Cuba a diario, para que no se eche a perder. Un paquete de picadillo (carne picada). Porque si tú compras un paquete de pollo, que está carísimo -casi es un salario hoy en día-, se echa a perder”, cuenta un hombre que se define como “un comunista más, pero diciendo la verdad”.
Los cortes de luz diarios alteraron por completo la rutina en Cuba: familias enteras pasan horas a oscuras en medio del calor y la escasez. (Foto: Juan Pablo Cháves).
Además de los recurrentes cortes de luz, muchas casas tampoco tienen agua. Circulan, a diario, camiones cisterna a los que la gente se acerca para cargar baldes y bidones. El transporte público es casi inexistente y las motos eléctricas, que funcionan con baterías recargables, y las bicicletas que empujan carros metálicos que trasladan hasta dos personas se convirtieron en los protagonistas de la calle.
Si bien todo el país está en estado crítico, lo que pasa en el sistema de salud y con el acceso a los medicamentos, es especialmente grave. Entramos a una farmacia en La Habana y lo comprobamos a simple vista. Los estantes vacíos ya indican que el panorama es desolador. Nos atiende una mujer afónica que nos confirma lo que la imagen del lugar revela por sí sola. Prácticamente, no hay nada. “Mira cómo estoy yo”, dice con una sonrisa.
A todas las adversidades, se suma el desplome del motor central de la economía cubana: el turismo. Hoteles cerrados y restaurantes vacíos son ahora el paisaje habitual de La Habana y los principales polos turísticos.
Recorrer los barrios de la capital por las noches es circular de a ratos por una ciudad fantasma, abandonada. Solo ofrece alivio la postal de alguna casa o comercio con generador o las voces de vecinos conversando y las risas de los chicos en la vereda. Todos esperando que el tiempo pase y se lleve con él la oscuridad que hoy lo inunda todo.
La Revolución impone sus símbolos, pero la realidad impone sus verdades. Cuba se está apagando. Y ya no hay relato que la engañe.
Esta es la historia de un país que se derrumba.
Pero también es la historia de un pueblo en busca de la esperanza y la dignidad perdidas.
Aura, cuba
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