How Texas’s Law Could Change the Future of the Separation of Church and State

President Donald Trump, left, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hold hands during a roundtable discussion at the Community Emergency Operations Center, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)

by Jose Baixauli

In 2023, Texas state senator Phil King introduced Senate Bill 1515, which tried to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom, with the intention of improving student behavior. However, although the bill initially went through the Senate, it failed to receive a vote in the House before the session deadline, never becoming a law. The idea resurfaced in the 2025 legislative session as Senate Bill 10, passed by the Texas Legislature on May 28, 2025, signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 21, 2025, and scheduled to take effect today, Sept. 1, 2025. 

However, a temporary injunction was issued on Aug. 20 of this year by Judge Fred Biery, blocking the enforcement of SB 10 in eleven Texas school districts, including major ones like the Houston ISD and Austin ISD. He ruled that the law violated the First Amendment by advancing a specific religious version of the Ten Commandments and potentially coercing students. He did this by citing precedent from a similar Louisiana law and emphasized that Texas’s version selects a specific Christian version of the text, thus failing constitutional neutrality. 

This means that it cannot be implemented in certain districts like Houston and Austin, among others named in the lawsuit. Jurisdictions like Conroe ISD and Montgomery ISD are examples of school districts not named in the lawsuit; however, they’re still exercising caution and pausing installations to avoid lawsuits. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is actively appealing Judge Biery’s injunction. The case is expected to move to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The case has also caused public responses from civil liberties groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), arguing that SB 10 infringes the Establishment Clause and undermines religious freedom protections. 

But why does this matter? We live in Florida; why should we care about some religious law in Texas?

It’s not because of the law itself, but rather the implications. If SB 10 is ultimately upheld, it could weaken the separation between church and state by allowing overtly religious texts to not only be displayed in public institutions but also forced. Other states may also try to introduce similar laws (as Louisiana already tried), creating a trend that challenges the traditional interpretation of the First Amendment.

 It also revives the “History and Tradition” argument. Recent Supreme Court rulings like Kennedy v. Bremerton (2022) (about a football coach praying on the field) already leaned on the history and tradition instead of the old Lemon test. SB 10 supporters argue that displaying the Ten Commandments reflects America’s historical roots, pushing courts toward that standard instead of strict neutrality. If courts allow Texas’s law, it could open the door for government endorsement of specific religions, which leads to inevitable fights over which texts qualify.

Future hearings will likely debate whether public schools are coercive environments, especially for impressionable kids. Cases involving school prayer, religious symbols in public spaces, and even curriculum content could shift toward favoring religious expression by the state.

The key question for courts to consider is this: Does requiring religious texts in classrooms violate the Establishment Clause, or is it protected by historical tradition?