In a major victory for conservative Christians, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that will make it mandatory for all public school classrooms in his state to display the Ten Commandments on a 16-by-20-inch poster starting on September 1, 2025.
For context, on June 21, 2025, the office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that Senate Bill 10, which requires every classroom in Texas public schools to display the Ten Commandments, was signed, along with over 600 other bills that the governor’s office described as “critical.”
In his office’s official announcement, Gov. Abbott said, “Texas is where the American Dream lives,” adding, “Today, I signed critical legislation passed in the 89th Regular Legislative Session that protects the safety of Texans and safeguards the individual freedoms that our great state was founded on. Working with the Texas Legislature, we will keep Texas the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”
Furthermore, the bill was passed on May 25, 2025, by the Texas House, and it initially received major pushback from leftist groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), along with prominent House Democrats. According to coverage from Houston Public Media, State Rep. Candy Noble (R-Lucas) argued that the grounds for the bill were already supported by a 2005 Supreme Court Case, saying, “So the wording won’t need to be subject to a new court case objection.”
Additionally, Sen. Phil King (R-TX) made a point in favor of the bill in an interview, saying, “For 200 years, the Ten Commandments were displayed in public buildings and classrooms across America.” The senator added that the display of the Ten Commandments in a classroom was already approved by a Supreme Court precedent, adding, “Now that the legal landscape has changed, it is time for Texas to pass SB 10 and restore the history and tradition of the Ten Commandments in our state and our nation.”
However, as reported by Houston Public Media, State Rep. Vincent Perez (D-El Paso) vehemently opposed the bill, saying, “Posting religious texts without context doesn’t teach history.” In addition, Rep. Perez said that displaying the Ten Commandments in a classroom “risks promoting one religion over others, something our Constitution upholds.”
In addition, the ACLU was strongly opposed to the bill as well, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional” in a statement released on May 29, 2025. An ACLU spokesperson said that the bill was “prohibited by longstanding Supreme Court precedent,” referring to a case that ruled against “posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms.”
However, the ACLU’s opposition to the bill was refuted by Matt Krause of the First Liberty Institute, a religious liberty legal firm, in an interview with CBN News. Krause called the bill “a great way to remind students of the foundations of American and Texas law” and added that the bill was “completely constitutional,” adding, “First Liberty was grateful to support these important bills and looks forward to them being signed into law by Governor Abbott.”
Watch coverage of the bill’s development:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video