Photo: Jana Birchum / Getty Images News / Getty Images
A federal judge based in San Antonio has blocked the T law which required all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments.
The law, passed during the regular session of the legislature, was supposed to take effect on September first.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, a Clinton appointee, issued a 55-page ruling Wednesday following more than 12 hours of hearings Friday and Monday. He wrote that the law was plainly unconstitutional, and children exposed to what he called was a state-approved Christian version of the biblical document was coercive.
"For those who disagree with the court’s decision and who would do so with threats, vulgarities and violence, grace and peace unto you," Biery wrote in his conclusion. "May humankind of all faiths, beliefs and non-beliefs be reconciled one to another. Amen."
Texas Values issued a statement, in which attorney Jonathan Saenz said, “This was a softball case and decision, but no surprise here as Judge Biery is the same judge who told a Texas high school valedictorian that she couldn’t pray or even say the word “prayer” in her speech – which was quickly overturned on appeal by the court and then Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. This ruling only applies to the school districts in this case, all other schools can display the posters freely.”
The case is expected to be appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.