Federal Appeals Court Rules Texas Can Require Ten Commandments in Public School Classrooms

A federal appeals court ruled on April 21 that Texas can require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, handing a major victory to conservative groups pushing for more religion in public education.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 9-8 to uphold Texas Senate Bill 10, which took effect on September 1, 2025. The ruling reverses a district court decision that had blocked school districts from posting the displays.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the decision "a major victory for Texas and our moral values." Governor Greg Abbott's office described the law as "commonsense" and consistent with American history and tradition.

The court's majority held that the law does not establish a religion in the constitutional sense. Judges in the majority wrote that the law does not compel students to recite, believe, or affirm the divine origin of the Commandments.

Civil liberties groups pushed back hard. The American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State said the ruling contradicts established Supreme Court authority and the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. Both groups said they plan to ask the Supreme Court to review the decision.

The ruling has implications beyond Texas. The 5th Circuit also heard arguments in a similar Louisiana case in January 2026 and lifted a block on that state's law in February. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a similar law in April 2026. Arkansas has a comparable law currently blocked by a federal judge.

Legal analysts say the Supreme Court will likely need to weigh in, given that the 5th Circuit's ruling effectively nullifies a 1980 Supreme Court decision that explicitly prohibited such displays in public schools.