Texas Senate bill proposes a copy of the Ten Commandments in every classroom

HOUSTON - Senator Phil King explains his intent in creating Senate Bill 1515: S.B. 1515 would require Texas public elementary and secondary schools to display the Ten Commandments in each classroom. 

At present, Texas public schools have no such requirement, and this legislation only became legally feasible with the United States Supreme Court's opinion last year in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, 142 S. Ct. 2407 (2022), which overturned the Lemon test under the Establishment Clause (found in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971)) and instead provided a test of whether a governmental display of religious content comports with America's history and tradition. 

Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39 (1980), had held that the Lemon test prohibited public schools' display of the Ten Commandments; but, with the end of Lemon, Stone v. Graham that is no longer applicable. Many public schools prior to Stone v. Graham did display the Ten Commandments, as a part of America's history and tradition. See American Legion v. American Humanist Association, 139 S. Ct. 2067, 2083 (2019) (noting that the Fraternal Order of the Eagles used to distribute copies of the Ten Commandments to school groups). 

Religious liberty was a bedrock of America's founding. For the last several decades, expression of that liberty has been restricted. However, thanks to this recent SCOTUS opinion, those restrictions have been lifted. S.B. 1515 restores those liberties that were lost, and reminds students all across Texas of the importance of a fundamental foundation of American and Texas law—the Ten Commandments. As proposed, S.B. 1515 amends current law relating to the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools. 

 
Here's a copy of the Bill:
 

In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the Lemon test which had previously been used to prevent a governmental display of religious content.

The bill contains specific directions as to the size of the image and the exact working of the ten commandments, based on the statue of the commandments that stands on the grounds of the state capitol. The ten commandments monument was presented to the people of Texas by the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1961.

At the committee hearing held in Austin on Wednesday, April 5, overwhelmingly the majority of those appearing testified for the bill.