More than two dozen Texas families petitioned the high court after a federal appeals court upheld the statute in April.
Texas wants posters of the Ten Commandments displayed in public schools, the stated purpose being to pay tribute to their impact on America's legal system.
Opponents argue the displays violate the so-called separation of church and state by imposing scripture in classrooms. Supporters say the law rests on solid historical and legal ground.
Attorney Jeremy Dys of First Liberty Institute says the regulated displays acknowledge the country's legal foundation rather than attempt religious conversion.
"When the law was passed, I think both here in Texas and in the state of Louisiana, the legislature went to pains to observe that the presence of the Ten Commandments has been with us from the very beginning," he tells AFN.
He submits that if they are good enough to hang before the Supreme Court justices (pictured above), "then it would certainly be worth our consideration within our public schools."
Opposition groups are relying on a 1980 Supreme Court precedent that used the "Lemon test" rule from the 1971 Supreme Court case Lemon v. Kurtzman to strike down a similar classroom display in Kentucky.
Dys argues that older standard has been overruled by recent high court decisions, particularly the 2022 decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which replaced the Lemon test with a standard rooted in historical practices and traditions.
"They keep on citing this case that relies entirely upon Lemon as if it has any more legal force in effect," Dys relays. "It doesn't, and we cannot allow that ghoul that Justice [Antonin] Scalia referred to so many years ago to be resurrected here or to be trotted out as if it's good law."
The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether it will hear the appeal. If the justices decline to take up the case, the lower court decision allowing the Ten Commandments displays in Texas classrooms will remain in effect.
