A great example of both checks and balances and federalism.
This is just round one.
You might want to microwave some popcorn and enjoy the show.
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A Texas federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked from taking full effect a new state law requiring public schools to display donated posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
In his decision, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery concluded that the law favors Christianity over other faiths, is not neutral with respect to religion and is likely to interfere with families' “exercise of their sincere religious or nonreligious beliefs in substantial ways.”
“There are ways in which students could be taught any relevant history of the Ten Commandments without the state selecting an official version of scripture, approving it in state law, and then displaying it in every classroom on a permanent basis,” Biery wrote in his opinion, adding that the law “crosses the line from exposure to coercion.”
Texas is expected to appeal the ruling. Once that happens, the case will go to the same federal appeals court where a three-judge panel recently blocked Louisiana's Ten Commandments law from taking effect. Louisiana's attorney general has said she would seek further relief from the full appeals court and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court.
Oral arguments in the Texas case, Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, concluded on Monday, several weeks after 16 parents of various religious backgrounds, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and other religious freedom organizations, sued the state over what their lawyers called "catastrophically unconstitutional” legislation.
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