SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Eighteen multifaith and nonreligious families filed a federal class action lawsuit Tuesday seeking to stop more than 1,000 Texas public school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms, marking a significant escalation in the legal fight over state-mandated religious instruction in public schools, according to a press release from the ACLU of Texas.
The press release explains that the new case, Ashby v. Schertz-Cibolo-Universal ISD, was filed in response to widespread noncompliance with previous court orders blocking enforcement of Senate Bill 10. According to the ACLU of Texas, the suit aims to protect “all Texas public school children and their families” after districts continued the displays despite prior rulings striking them down.
According to the ACLU, the filing challenges the state-mandated requirement that children “observe and venerate a state-mandated version of the Ten Commandments each school day,” which the organizations argue violates constitutional protections. The ACLU states this mandate persists even though “two federal judges in Texas have ruled that Senate Bill 10 is unconstitutional.”
The press release reports that the lawsuit seeks an immediate temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to bar any district not already covered in existing lawsuits from displaying the posters. The families bringing the action represent 16 school districts across Austin, Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth and San Antonio, according to the ACLU.
Mari Gottlieb, a plaintiff in the case, stressed how religious displays undermine her family’s multifaith identity. “As a Jewish, Christian, and Chinese American family, we teach our children to draw strength from many traditions — not to see one as supreme,” she said, adding that S.B. 10 “perpetuates the feelings of exclusion that our ancestors knew all too well.”
Another plaintiff, Caitlyn Besser, said in the ACLU release that the mandate “imposes a specific religious doctrine on my children, which directly violates our family’s faith.” Additionally, plaintiff Briana Pascual-Clement noted that the posters communicate that her Mormon children “are outsiders in their school community,” according to the press release.
The press release also quoted plaintiff Kasey Malone, who stated, “I send my child to public school because I do not want the government to push religious beliefs and doctrine on my child,” adding that the government is “elevating Christianity over my child’s nonreligious beliefs.”
The ACLU of Texas, the national ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation all argue the mandate is a clear constitutional violation. As ACLU of Texas attorney Chloe Kempf said in the press release, “The courts are clear that forcing displays of the Ten Commandments on Texas students is unconstitutional. Yet Texas school districts won’t stop.”
According to the press release, the Freedom From Religion Foundation also warned of the harm this causes to young students. Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the organization, said the mandate is “a zealous crusade to turn schools into places of religious indoctrination,” calling the law “a distressing violation of conscience.”
The ACLU reports that the defendants in the original Nathan case have appealed, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will hear the challenge en banc on Jan. 20, 2026. The injunctions blocking the Ten Commandments displays remain in place during the appeal, according to the press release.
The new class action, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, would ensure statewide compliance and halt what the organizations call an ongoing violation of students’ constitutional rights.
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