SAN ANTONIO – A federal judge in San Antonio heard testimony Friday on whether to block a new Texas law that would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom statewide.
A decision was expected Friday, but after hours of testimony and more witnesses to be called, the case was adjourned until 10 a.m. Monday.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery presided over the case. He said multiple times that he believes the case will likely go to the Supreme Court.
Biery said the court will not rule immediately after evidence is closed but will release its decision before the law is set to go into effect on Sept. 1.
The lawsuit was filed by more than a dozen families against 11 school districts, including Alamo Heights, North East, Northside and Lackland independent school districts.
If Biery blocks the law, it would only immediately impact the districts listed in the lawsuit. However, if the families hope that other school districts will follow the judge’s decision.
Attorney Jonathan Youngwood, who represents the families, argued the law is unconstitutional. He said parents should be the one instilling religious values, not the schools.
By mandating a Protestant version of the commandments, as opposed to the Jewish or Catholic version, Youngwood said the law establishes a preference of one religion over others.
Defense attorney William Farrell argued the commandments are a part of U.S. history and noted that the required text matches the inscription on a monument outside of the state capitol.
Farrell also argued that the law was developed by a committee representing different faiths and is similar to other laws filed in Arkansas and Louisiana.
In June, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Louisiana’s law, which the court said would cause “irreparable deprivation of First Amendment rights.”
Austin ISD attorney Stephanie Anne Hamm took a different position. She said that the district should not be part of the lawsuit because it was not the one to pass the legislation.
Steven Green, a constitutional law professor from Oregon, testified it’s a “misnomer that the Ten Commandments had any place in establishing (the) nation’s laws.”
Green said there is “no evidence that any classroom in history have posted the Ten Commandments,” describing it as a “modern phenomenon.”
Mark David Hall, an American history professor in Virginia who served on the White House’s Religious Liberty Commission advisory board, said the commandments were a foundational influence to Western civilization and a source for American law.
When asked about children who are not Christian, Hall said other religious texts can be displayed as well if the Ten Commandments are displayed.
“It would be educational malpractice if you don’t expose children to all religions,” Hall said to the court.
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