Houston mothers challenge Texas Ten Commandments law under state religious freedom protections

AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) — Three Houston mothers are suing to stop displaying the Ten Commandments in Texas public school classrooms, arguing it violates the state’s religious freedom law and a voter-approved parental rights amendment .

Their lawsuit is the latest challenge to Senate Bill 10 — this time under Texas law. Other attempts to prohibit the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools under federal law — primarily the First Amendment’s guarantee of separation of church and state — have been unsuccessful so far.

The mothers’ suit, filed in Harris County on Thursday (July 30), demands that the displays be taken down and that the court act before mid-August, when the school year begins. The bill was signed by the governor last year.

Emily Roth, one of the plaintiffs, said in a Friday morning press release that the state’s Ten Commandments poster purposefully ignores religious differences in the classroom and will make students feel like they do not belong.

“It teaches students, and their teachers, that exclusion is acceptable, maybe even preferred,” she said. “That is not a lesson I want my children learning from the state of Texas.”

The parents are suing under…