Photo by Laura Rivera on Unsplash

A group of 15 nonreligious and multifaith Texas families filed a new lawsuit with the assistance of the Freedom From Religion Foundation in federal court today to stop their public school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms pursuant to Texas law Senate Bill 10.

The new complaint comes in response to school districts that have or are about to display Ten Commandments posters,despite a federal court’s recent ruling that SB 10 is a clear violation of students’ and families’ religious freedom and the separation of church and state. The plaintiffs in Cribbs Ringer v. Comal Independent School District also plan to file a motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, asking the court to require the defendant school districts to remove any Ten Commandments displays currently posted and to refrain from hanging new displays pending the resolution of the litigation. The school districts named as defendants in today’s lawsuit include: Comal ISD, Georgetown ISD, Conroe ISD, Flour Bluff ISD, Fort Worth ISD, Arlington ISD, McKinney ISD, Frisco ISD, Northwest ISD, Azle ISD, Rockwall ISD, Lovejoy ISD, Mansfield ISD and McAllen ISD.

The complaint, filed in a San Antonio federal court, points to the court’s recent decision in Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, which held that SB 10’s provisions requiring the display of a Protestant version of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom are “plainly unconstitutional” under the First Amendment. The plaintiffs in both cases are represented by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel. 

“SB 10 is a calculated step to erode the separation of church and state and the right for my family to exercise our nonreligious beliefs,” says plaintiff Nichole Manning (she/her). “I am compelled to advocate for my children, for these basic freedoms upon which this country was founded.”

“As a devout Christian and a Lutheran pastor, the spiritual formation of my children is a privilege I take more seriously than anything else in my life,” says plaintiff Rev. Kristin Klade (she/her). “The mandated Ten Commandments displays in my children’s public school impede my ability to ‘train up my child in the way he should go’ (Proverbs 22:6). I address questions about God and faith with great care, and I emphatically reject the notion that the state would do this for me.”

“Forcing religion, any religion, on others violates my Jewish faith,” says plaintiff Lenee Bien-Willner (she/her). “It troubles me greatly to have Christian displays imposed on my children. Not only is the text not aligned with Judaism, but the commandments should be taught in the context of a person’s faith tradition. State-sponsored religion, however, does not belong in the public classroom.”

Following the Nathan ruling, counsel in the case sent a letter to all Texas school districts warning them not to implement SB 10 because it would violate the First Amendment.  

“We are determined to keep on fighting for the rights of Texas students and their families,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor (she/her), co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “The secular foundation of our country’s public school system is nonnegotiable.”

“A federal court has already made clear that school districts violate the First Amendment when they post the Ten Commandments in classrooms under SB 10,” says Heather L. Weaver (she/her), senior counsel for the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “School districts must respect students’ and parents’ constitutional rights, and we will continue to hold school districts accountable when they flout this obligation.”

“Texas families from religious and nonreligious backgrounds are once again coming together to challenge this blatantly unconstitutional law,” says Chloe Kempf (she/her), staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas. “This lawsuit is a continuation of our work to defend the First Amendment and ensure that government officials stay out of personal family decisions. All students — regardless of their race or religious background — should feel accepted and free to be themselves in Texas public schools.”

“Our Constitution’s guarantee of church-state separation means that families — not politicians — get to decide when and how public-school children engage with religion,” says Rachel Laser (she/her), president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “Multiple federal courts, including in Texas, have been clear: Ten Commandments displays in public schools violate students’ and families’ religious freedom. These displays must be removed.”

“This lawsuit, brought on behalf of a new group of Texas families, underscores a critical principle: public schools across the state must uphold — not undermine — the constitutional protections afforded to every student. As multiple courts have reaffirmed, the First Amendment safeguards the rights of individuals to choose whether and how they engage with religion, and that protection extends to every classroom,” says Jon Youngwood (he/him), global co-chair of the Litigation Department at Simpson Thacher.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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