3 states are challenging precedent against posting the Ten Commandments in public schools - cases that could land back at the Supreme Court

"As disputes rage on over religion's place in public schools, the Ten Commandments have become a focal point. At least a dozen states have considered proposals that would require the posting of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, with Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas mandating their display in 2024 or 2025. Challenges led to all three laws being at least partially blocked."

"Litigation over posting the Ten Commandments in schools first reached the Supreme Court in 1980. In Stone v. Graham, the justices invalidated a Kentucky statute requiring displays of the commandments in classrooms. The court reasoned that the law violated the First Amendment's establishment clause: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." At the time, the court applied the first of the three criteria it has since abandoned, known as the "Lemon test," to evaluate whether governmental action violates the establishment clause."

At least a dozen states proposed requiring Ten Commandments postings in public school classrooms; Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas enacted mandates in 2024 or 2025. Legal challenges promptly followed, with courts at least partially blocking all three laws and families filing a class-action lawsuit in Texas. Federal judges temporarily enjoined the Texas law in roughly two dozen districts while appeals pursue overturning a 45-year-old Supreme Court precedent barring such displays. The Supreme Court adopted a new religious freedom standard in 2022 that may affect future rulings. Earlier Supreme Court rulings, including Stone v. Graham (1980), invalidated mandatory displays under the First Amendment and the Lemon test.

Read at The Conversation