Texas could join Louisiana with a law to require the Ten Commandments in classrooms

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Source: NPR

January 20, 2025 2:00 PM ET


Key Texas legislators say they intend to pass a law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. The move would add some big-state momentum to a trend started by Louisiana last year with a law that is blocked in court but has other states looking at similar proposals.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, signaled the move last year after Louisiana's law passed. He said Texas should have been the first in the nation to adopt it and he swore the state would in 2025. He named it as one of the leading conservative priorities. The state's legislative session began this month and is scheduled to end in June.

A federal judge in Louisiana called that state's version of the law "overtly religious" and unconstitutional when blocking it in November. The case is being appealed and Republican attorneys general from 18 states have joined to support it.

Supporters say history is at stake

As in other states, Texas proponents argue that the commandments are a historical document. "To be honest, if you don't know the Ten Commandments, you don't really know the basis for much of American history and law. It played such a role in our founding and among our founders," said state Sen. Phil King, a Republican from outside of Fort Worth who will help to lead the Texas effort. "In fact, few documents have had a bigger impact on not just the United States but on Western civilization in general than the Ten Commandments."

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/nx-s1-5230486/texas-ten-commandments-schools-legislature