A lawsuit filed this week against the state-mandated Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms argues the requirement violates a parental rights amendment voters added to the Texas Constitution last November.
The suit, brought by three Houston-area mothers, could be the first test of the GOP-backed constitutional amendment, which declares that parents have the "right to make decisions concerning the child's upbringing."
"The State has changed what I teach my children about religion, how I teach it, and when I teach it," said Dr. Audrey Rosa Nath, whose four children attend Houston ISD. "I used to spend (my time) teaching them what our family believes. Now I spend it rebutting a text the State ordered into their classroom, in a room where I am not present and cannot answer."
Their lawsuit, filed in Harris County, seeks to take down the Ten Commandments displays that are mandated by Senate Bill 10. Under the law, public school districts don't have to purchase posters that list the Ten Commandments, but they must display them if they're donated. It's not clear how many districts across Texas have put them up.
READ MORE: Did the Ten Commandments really shape U.S. law? Legal experts weigh in on Texas classroom display fight.
The lawsuit also argues that SB10 violates a 1999 law signed by then-Gov. George W. Bush, the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The decades-old law bars a government agency from burdening a person's free exercise of religion, and the lawsuit argues posting the text in classrooms violates that right.
The parents argue in their lawsuit that the harm is imminent because the school year is beginning next month. One of the plaintiffs, Emily Roth, tried in March to have Spring Branch ISD remove posters from classrooms or simultaneously include displays from other faiths, but the school board unanimously voted against her requests.
She told Hearst Newspapers at the time she felt "the system has failed." Roth is the only one of the three parents seeking monetary damages from her children's district.
The lawsuit is the latest to challenge the state mandate.
READ MORE: Federal appeals court allows Ten Commandments displays in Texas classrooms. Here's what to know.
A coalition of parents and advocacy organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, sued in federal court before SB10 went into effect last year, arguing the posters were unconstitutional under the First Amendment. Houston ISD was among the districts that were sued.
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in an 8-9 vote, sided with the state in April, ruling the displays were constitutionally sound. The coalition seeks to ultimately file a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.
SB10 tasks Attorney General Ken Paxton with defending the law in court, and he has made clear he would use every tool to ensure the Ten Commandments were posted in classrooms. His office did not respond to a request for comment from Hearst Newspapers Friday.
"America is a Christian nation, and it is imperative that we display the very values and timeless truths that have historically guided the success of our country," Paxton said when he announced he was suing Galveston ISD last year for refusing to post the displays. That lawsuit is currently ongoing.
The pushback against displays of the Ten Commandments comes as Texas has become a focal point in the larger debate surrounding the role of religion in public life. State lawmakers have worked to weave religious teachings - predominantly from the Christian faith - into school curriculum and readings, sparking concerns from critics who see the efforts as a violation of religious freedoms granted by the First Amendment.
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This article originally published at New lawsuit seeks to bring down Ten Commandments posters from every Texas school district.