STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
An appeals court says Texas may require the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. Houston Public Media's politics and government reporter Andrew Schneider has been covering this. Andrew, good morning.
ANDREW SCHNEIDER, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: OK. First, the facts. What's the ruling?
SCHNEIDER: The Fifth Circuit ruled 9 to 8 that the Texas law does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from establishing a religion and requiring individuals to participate in that religion. They also ruled it doesn't violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. That's the idea that all of us have the ability to exercise our own religions or not to exercise religion. That means the state can enforce the law mandating the display of posters of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom in the state. And the wording has to be from an explicitly Protestant translation of the Ten Commandments. That law, which was passed by the Republican-majority state legislature, went on the books last September.
INSKEEP: OK. But, Andrew, you said this was a very close ruling - 9 to 8. Some people, including eight judges, will think that posting the Ten Commandments obviously does violate the Constitution. How did the court say it does not?
SCHNEIDER: Well, the court says historically, an established church essentially means something along the lines of the Church of England as it was for the 13 colonies before the War of Independence. And they said that law doesn't create an established church like that.
INSKEEP: OK. So it's a piece of paper on the wall, in the court's view and the court majority's view. What are the implications of this beyond Texas?
SCHNEIDER: Well, all this is coming at a time when at least three other states - Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama - have been looking to challenge the enforcement of the Establishment Clause. They cited a recent Supreme Court case expanding what states can do on religious liberty issues. If the Fifth Circuit prevails, University of Missouri constitutional law professor Charles Rocky Rhodes says, pretty much anything else the government wants to do to acknowledge religion is going to be acceptable.
CHARLES ROCKY RHODES: Their analysis pretty much writes the Establishment Clause out of the Constitution, even though when we talk about religion, that's actually the first clause - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
SCHNEIDER: And Rhodes says that opens the door to challenges on a wide range of other cases involving potential government requiring displays of religion.
INSKEEP: How are the parties to this case responding?
SCHNEIDER: Well, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office defended the law, is hailing the decision as a win for Texas and for moral values. The conservative policy research organization Texas Values is calling it one of the most important victories for religious liberty in Texas history. Now, groups that led the legal challenge, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, say they were extremely disappointed. And they anticipate asking the Supreme Court to reverse the decision.
INSKEEP: Now, Andrew, you said if the Fifth Circuit prevails here. What are the next steps in this case?
SCHNEIDER: It's going to be even harder for the Supreme Court to avoid reviewing this case, especially after an earlier decision upholding Louisiana's law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. The Fifth Circuit's new ruling effectively nullifies the Supreme Court decision from a 1980 case that explicitly barred states from passing laws like the one Texas did last year. Only - requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in schools. Only the high court can reverse a Supreme Court decision.
INSKEEP: Interesting. Andrew Schneider from Houston Public Media, thanks so much.
SCHNEIDER: You're welcome.
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