Notre Dame religious liberty scholars urge Supreme Court to strike down Texas Ten Commandments law
Notre Dame religious liberty scholars urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review and strike down a Texas law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms. Their amicus brief argues the law imposes state-sponsored religious instruction on students and violates the First Amendment’s establishment clause and Supreme Court precedent. A federal district judge blocked the law in 2025, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld it. The scholars say Supreme Court review is needed to clarify the constitutional limits on religious displays in public schools.
about 20 hours ago
Notre Dame religious-liberty scholars are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review and invalidate a Texas law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public-school classrooms. Their brief argues that the mandate amounts to state-sponsored religious instruction and that the courts need clearer guidance on how the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause applies. 1
Gov. Greg Abbott signed the law in June 2025. It requires a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments in every Texas public elementary- and secondary-school classroom. 1
A federal district judge blocked the law in August 2025, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld it, concluding that it does not violate the First Amendment. In an amicus brief filed Sept. 28, scholars from Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay & Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic urged the Supreme Court to take up the case. 1
The scholars say the classroom displays would effectively compel students to receive religious instruction. They contend that the law’s purpose is to teach “government-approved religious truth” and that it conflicts with constitutional protections and Supreme Court precedent. 1
The brief also asserts that the appeals court misstated the history behind the First Amendment and misapplied Supreme Court decisions. The scholars say Supreme Court review could provide urgently needed guidance on the scope of the Establishment Clause. 1
In 2005, the Supreme Court upheld a Ten Commandments display at the Texas Capitol, while striking down displays at several Kentucky courthouses in a separate case that year. 1
A similar dispute arose over a Louisiana law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public-school classrooms. A federal judge blocked that law in 2024, but the 5th Circuit later reversed the ruling, saying Supreme Court precedent had left the constitutional question unresolved. 1*
Religious liberty limits state-sponsored religion in public education
Catholic teaching supports the principle that the state may not compel religious belief or impose religious practice in public education. Religious liberty protects people and communities from coercion; it does not mean that religion must be excluded from public life or that every religious reference in education is forbidden.
In schooling, this principle must be balanced with the rights of parents and the Church. Pius XI condemned educational monopolies that force families into government schools against their Christian conscience or legitimate preferences, and argued that religious diversity does not make neutral or mixed schooling the only possible model.
So the phrase “limits state-sponsored religion” is sound if it means that government cannot use public schools to force religious adherence or override families’ rights. It would be too broad if taken to mean that religious expression or education has no place in public life. The supplied sources support those principles, but do not specify how they apply to particular policies—such as school prayer, religious instruction, or funding—in a given country.