Interfaith Alliance Welcomes Supreme Court Challenge to Texas’s Ten Commandments Mandate

Every student deserves a real education—not state-sponsored religious indoctrination

WASHINGTON — Interfaith Alliance, a national leader in defending religious freedom and multifaith democracy, today welcomed a petition from more than two dozen Texas families urging the Supreme Court to strike down a law mandating 10 Commandments posters in public schools. 

In the cases Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District and Cribbs Ringer v. Comal Independent School District, the plaintiffs are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Fifth Circuit’s ruling allowing Texas to enforce S.B. 10. The families are represented by the ACLU, the ACLU of Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. 

The law requires every public school classroom to permanently display a government-approved version of the Ten Commandments. In April, a 9-8 decision by the Fifth Circuit ruled that the law did not violate the First Amendment.

Interfaith Alliance joined a multifaith coalition of religious organizations in a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that S.B. 10 violates the Establishment Clause by privileging a version of the Ten Commandments observed by some Protestant Christians, pressuring students of other faiths and no faith to conform, and interfering with parents’ right to direct their children’s religious upbringing.

Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance, released the following statement:

“We applaud this courageous, multi-faith group of families who are taking this fight to the Supreme Court. Every child deserves a real education, not religious indoctrination. The Constitution leaves no room for government-imposed religious coercion in our public schools.

“Right-wing politicians champion ‘parental choice’ until parents choose to keep the Government’s version of the 10 Commandments out of their children’s classrooms. Texas and other states that have passed similar laws strip families of that choice and turn classrooms into a front in the Christian nationalist campaign to impose one narrow religious viewpoint on every student. The Supreme Court should hear this case and make clear: the Constitution protects students from state-sponsored religion, and parents—not politicians—are in charge of their children’s religious instruction.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Ben DePasquale, [email protected]

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Interfaith Alliance and Interfaith Alliance Foundation are a network of people of diverse faiths and beliefs from across the country working together to build a resilient democracy and fulfill America’s promise of religious freedom and civil rights not just for some, but for all. We mobilize powerful coalitions to challenge Christian nationalism and religious extremism, while fostering a better understanding of the healthy boundaries between religion and government. We advocate at all levels of government for an equitable and just America where the freedoms of belief and religious practice are protected, and where all persons are treated with dignity and have the opportunity to thrive. For more information, visit interfaithalliance.org.