Class action targets Ten Commandments school displays

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A group of 18 multifaith and nonreligious Texas families have brought a class action lawsuit to stop all Texas public school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments in every classroom. 

On Dec. 2, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas filed the case Ashby v. Schertz-Cibolo-Universal ISD, the first class action lawsuit and the third suit challenging Senate Bill 10.

“The courts are clear that forcing displays of the Ten Commandments on Texas students is unconstitutional,” said Chloe Kempf, attorney at the ACLU of Texas. “Yet Texas school districts won’t stop. Enough is enough. With this class action lawsuit, Texans are coming together to say: Students and families — not the government — should decide how or whether they practice their faith.”

Although two federal judges in Texas have ruled that S.B. 10 is unconstitutional, school districts across the state continue to display the Ten Commandments. 

The ACLU of Texas maintains the new case is necessary because public school districts continue to violate the constitutional rights of students and their families. 

“Politicians are abusing their power to advance a religious extremist agenda and impose one narrow set of religious beliefs on Texas school children. Not on our watch,” said Rachel Laser (she/her), president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “Our Constitution’s guarantee of church-state separation means that families – not politicians – get to decide if, when, and how their children engage with religion.”

The class action seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would stop any public school district not already involved in litigation from displaying the Ten Commandments.

“As Unitarian Universalists, our faith is led by equity, compassion, and acceptance of all people,” said plaintiff Caitlyn Besser (she/her), whose children attend school in Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD. “The Ten Commandments posters required by S.B. 10 impose a specific religious doctrine on my children, which directly violates our family’s faith.”

Ashby v. Schertz-Cibolo-Universal ISD is filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.