A group of 18 multifaith and nonreligious Texas families filed a class action lawsuit to stop all Texas public school districts that are not already involved in active litigation or subject to an injunction from displaying the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Even though two federal judges in Texas have ruled that Senate Bill 10 is unconstitutional, school districts across the state continue to display the Ten Commandments. With more than 1,000 school districts in Texas, a class action lawsuit is the most effective way to protect the religious freedom of all Texas public school children and their families.
Ashby v. Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District is the first class action lawsuit and the third lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 10 filed by Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel. In all three cases, the organizations represent Texas families who don’t want their children to be forced to observe and venerate a state-mandated version of the Ten Commandments each school day, in violation of their religious freedom.
The new case is necessary because — even with two federal court injunctions preventing more than two dozen Texas school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments — public school districts continue to violate the constitutional rights of students and their families. The class action lawsuit filed in December of last year seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would stop any public school district not already involved in litigation from displaying the Ten Commandments.