Texas sues school district for following the law and not posting the Ten Commandments
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against Galveston ISD shows how far Christian Nationalists will go to force their religion into public education
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The State of Texas is now suing a school district for not obeying its illegal Christian demands. The move puts the district in the awkward position of having to decide who they’d rather get sued by—the state or First Amendment experts—and sends a chilling message to every public school district in Texas that their only options are to waste time and money that should be going to educate students… or promote Christianity.
All of this involves the state’s unconstitutional Ten Commandments law.
A quick recap: Earlier this year, Texas passed a bill to post the Decalogue in public schools—King James’ Version only. The law also included a provision requiring the attorney general of the state, Ken Paxton, to defend districts that get sued over this... which is a fancy way of saying taxpayers would be the ones screwed over if liberals tried to fight this in court.
One major lawsuit came anyway. More than a dozen families in 11 different districts challenged the law and they were represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the ACLU of Texas, the ACLU (national), and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. (Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP assisted with the case for free.) Those were basically the same groups that filed similar lawsuits in both Louisiana and Arkansas.
In August, a federal judge sided with the church/state separation crowd, putting a temporary hold on the ridiculous law. The downside is that his ruling only applied to the 11 school districts connected to the plaintiffs in the case. At least until his final order came down.
Since then, the two sides have been fighting a war urging school districts to listen to their lawyers and not their opponent’s.
When 14 other school districts not involved in the initial lawsuit put up the Ten Commandments anyway, the church/state crowd went directly to the judge to have the signs taken down—that amended lawsuit has yet to be resolved.
The whole situation has put these school districts in a horrible position.
The state is forcing them to put up these Christian displays. The law says those displays are blatantly illegal. But conservatives are trying to appeal these decisions every time a judge strikes them down, using dubious arguments about how the Decalogue is totally a part of American history, until an appellate court or the Supreme Court gives them the okay to promote Christianity in public schools. (At the moment, the ball is in the court of the notoriously conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The 17 active judges on that court will hear the Texas and Louisiana cases in January.)
But Attorney General Paxton doesn’t want to wait for judges to rule on whether the Texas law is unconstitutional. He’s actively pressuring school districts to obey his whims before judges can weigh in.
In September, Christian Nationalist State Sen. Mayes Middleton donated Ten Commandments displays to the Galveston Independent School District. Under the provisions in the Texas law, the district was required to “accept any offer of a privately donated poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments.” But a couple of weeks ago, the school board voted against doing that.
They didn’t even argue it was a bad idea; they merely said they wanted to wait “until after the appeals of the constitutionality of SB10 are fully heard and decided upon.” Basically, let the courts sort this out, and they’ll do whatever the courts say. It’s the responsible thing for a district to do.
It’s worth saying that again: If Texas passes a bill that violates federal law, then the federal law is still in effect. That’s why the district said it wouldn’t put up the donated posters until after the courts had weighed in on the Texas bill.
That’s why Paxton is now suing them, saying in a press release that the district was essentially denying the country’s Christian heritage (which is a lie) and refusing to obey the law (which they’re also not doing).
“America is a Christian nation, and it is imperative that we display the very values and timeless truths that have historically guided the success of our country,” said Attorney General Paxton. “By refusing to follow the law, Galveston ISD chose to both blatantly ignore the Legislature and also ignore the legal and moral heritage of our nation.”
…
Attorney General Paxton further stated that, “There is no valid legal basis to prevent Texas schools from honoring a foundational framework of our laws, especially under the misconception that a ‘separation of church and state’ phrase appears in the Constitution. It does not.”
Paxton is deliberately lying about the law because he’s a conservative Christian, so honesty doesn’t play any role in his moral philosophy. (Just ask his wife.) As any legal scholar or middle schooler can tell you, while the exact phrase “separation of church and state” doesn’t appear in the Constitution, that’s what the Establishment Clause means. That’s what court after court has affirmed for generations. Conservative Christians want to play a semantic game because they’re well aware that the law isn’t on their side. The only way they can spread their faith is through force, which tells you a lot about how little confidence they have in the persuasive power of the Bible itself.
In response to the argument that the school district is simply following federal law, Paxton says the court should step in and force the district to put up the posters anyway because it would be waaaaay worse for Texas if public school districts were seen as “openly flouting Texas law.”
This also opens the door for Texas Republicans to punish any public school district they want. All they have to do is send copies of the Ten Commandments to any school district, triggering the Texas law, and if the district doesn’t put them up, the state has a new reason to punish them.
It’s just the latest way Texas Republicans are waging a war against public education. It’s not enough that they whitewash history; they won’t rest under they replace actual education with Sunday School.
Even if the courts rule against Paxton in this situation (which should be a no-brainer), all of this is a waste of time for the district, which now has to respond to the complaint and devote resources to fighting its own elected officials.
It’s clear Texas has decided the worst thing about its education system are all the damn students and teachers and administrators who make it operate. They’re showing it by declaring war on schools for following the Constitution. Defying the First Amendment is a point of pride for Texas conservatives.
Galveston ISD’s predicament exposes the cruel trap this Christian Nationalist agenda has created. The district has to choose between state law and the Constitution because those two things are in conflict. They have to choose between angering Ken Paxton or violating the Bill of Rights. It’s a political minefield created by Republicans who don’t give a damn about public education.
This isn’t even about the Ten Commandments anymore. It’s about control. Republicans want to turn Texas classrooms into pulpits, forcing teachers and students to publicly affirm a theology many of them don’t share. That’s how insecure these Republicans are. Unable to win people over with their ideas, they rig the maps and weaponize children’s education to prop up their own crumbling moral authority.
It’s telling that Paxton’s version of Christian Nationalism involves coercion, threats, and lies. That’s his faith. That’s what it teaches him.
Every hour spent fending off Paxton’s crusade is an hour stolen from Texas students. It’s deeply ironic that these students are living under a right-wing government more interested in preaching the commandments than keeping them. (Again, just ask Paxton’s wife.) Until Texas voters ever decide they’ve had enough of this theocratic theater, classrooms will continue to be battlegrounds and not places of learning.
Ken Paxton is as corrupt as they come, and always has been. The Texas Senate did not acquit Paxton on the charges that got him impeached because he was innocent. They circled the wagons and acquitted him because he's a Republican. This is more show-boating on Paxton's part. Performance art directed at the bottom-feeding Republican base so they can play the poor, persecuted victims of the godless left. The same people who would lose their minds at the mere suggestion any religion but their own be represented in the public school classrooms.
Hey, Texas...
Posting the 10 C is a violation of the 2nd Commandment. And when are you going to get it in your thick skulls that the 10 C were meant for the Israelites alone?