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(The Center Square) – The Texas Senate passed two bills on Thursday to bring the Ten Commandments and prayer back to public schools. They each passed along party lines, 17-12, with Republicans voting for and Democrats voting against.
SB 1396, filed by Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, relates to a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text in public schools.
The bill would allow “the board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school not operated by or affiliated with a religious organization to, by record vote, adopt a policy requiring every campus or school to provide a period of prayer and readings from the Bible,” according to the bill summary.
It also would require those who want to participate in prayer or Bible reading at their public school institutions to submit a signed form stating they acknowledge they freely chose to hear or participate, have no objections to hearing or participating, and waive any constitutional claims they may assert against the school district or school officials when participating in these activities, according to the bill summary.
The committee substitute clarifies that the bill isn’t limited to one specific religious text and simplifies the enforcement language.
SB 1515, filed by Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, would require Texas public elementary and secondary schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
King argues the bill is constitutional and is consistent with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Last year, the Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, 142 S. Ct. 2407 overturned the Lemon test established through a 1971 ruling in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971). Instead of the Lemon test, the test now relates to whether a governmental display of religious content corresponds to American history and tradition.
The bill analysis points to the court’s ruling in Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39 (1980), which held that “the Lemon test prohibited public schools’ display of the Ten Commandments; but, with the end of Lemon, Stone v. Graham that is no longer applicable. Many public schools prior to Stone v. Graham did display the Ten Commandments, as a part of America’s history and tradition.”
It also sates, “Religious liberty was a bedrock of America’s founding. For the last several decades, expression of that liberty has been restricted. However, thanks to this recent SCOTUS opinion, those restrictions have been lifted. S.B. 1515 restores those liberties that were lost and reminds students all across Texas of the importance of a fundamental foundation of American and Texas law – the Ten Commandments.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the senate, praised the passage of the bills, saying, he would “never stop fighting for religious liberty in Texas. Allowing the Ten Commandments and prayer back into our public schools is one step we can take to make sure that all Texans have the right to freely express their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Both bills have been received in the House and have yet to be assigned to a committee.
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This article First appeared in the center square
