In a significant ruling, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that Texas is permitted to mandate the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. This decision marks a triumph for conservatives advocating for a greater presence of religious elements in educational settings.

The court’s 9-8 verdict has also provided momentum for similar legislative efforts in states like Arkansas and Louisiana. Critics of the measure argue that posting the Ten Commandments in schools constitutes an attempt to promote religious beliefs among students, effectively turning it into state-sponsored religious indoctrination.

However, the appeals court, with a conservative majority based in New Orleans, dismissed these objections. The court’s opinion stated that requiring the display does not infringe upon the rights of students or their parents.

“Students are not compelled to recite, accept, or acknowledge the divine origins of the Commandments,” the ruling clarified.

In response, the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups, representing the interests of parents opposing the Texas law, expressed their intention to challenge the ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court level.

“The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when and if to provide their children with religious instruction. This decision tramples those rights,” they said in the statement.

The mandate is one of several fronts in Texas that opponents have fought over religion in classrooms. In 2024, the state approved optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools, and a proposal set for a vote in June would add Bible stories to required reading lists in Texas classrooms.

The decision over the Ten Commandments law reverses a lower federal court ruling that had blocked about a dozen Texas school districts — including some of the state’s largest — from putting up the posters. The Texas law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott took effect in September, marking the largest attempt in the nation to hang the Ten Commandments in public schools.

From the start, the law was met almost immediately by a mix of embrace and hesitation in Texas classrooms that educate the state’s 5.5 million public school students.

The mandate animated school board meetings, spun up guidance about what to say when students ask questions, and led to boxes of donated posters being dropped on the doorsteps of campuses statewide. Although the law only requires schools to hang the posters if donated, one suburban Dallas school district spent nearly $1,800 to print roughly 5,000 posters.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, called the ruling “a major victory for Texas and our moral values.”

“The Ten Commandments have had a profound impact on our nation, and it’s important that students learn from them every single day,” he said.

Tuesday’s ruling comes after the appeals court heard arguments in January in the Texas case and a similar case in Louisiana. In February, the court cleared the way for Louisiana to enforce its law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

Republican Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the Texas ruling “adopted our entire legal defense” of the law in her state. In Alabama, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey also signed a similar law earlier this month.

“Our law clearly was always constitutional, and I am grateful that the Fifth Circuit has now definitively agreed with us,” Murrill said in a statement posted to social media.

Judge Stephen A. Higginson, in a dissenting opinion joined by four others on the court, wrote that the framers of the Constitution “intended disestablishment of religion, above all to prevent large religious sects from using political power to impose their religion on others.”

“Yet Texas, like Louisiana, seeks to do just that, legislating that specific, politically chosen scripture be installed in every public-school classroom,” Higginson wrote.

The law says schools must put donated posters “in a conspicuous place” and requires the writing to be a size and typeface that is visible from anywhere in a classroom to a person with “average vision.” The displays must also be 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall (40 centimeters wide and 50 centimeters tall).

Texas’ law easily passed the GOP-controlled Legislature and Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have backed posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

___

Prince Harry quietly honored the memory of his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, by arranging for a wreath to be placed at her gravesite, commemorating what would have been her 100th birthday. This gesture was reported by People magazine, which is known to have close ties to the Duke of Sussex.

The floral tribute was laid at St George’s Chapel within Windsor Castle, where the Queen was laid to rest following her passing in 2022. Her final resting place in the King George VI Memorial Chapel is shared with her husband, Prince Philip, as well as her father, George VI, her mother, the Queen Mother, and her sister, Princess Margaret.

While Prince Harry remained in California, senior members of the Royal Family, led by King Charles and Queen Camilla, gathered at Buckingham Palace to pay their respects and celebrate the Queen’s legacy.

This act of remembrance by Prince Harry follows a similar tribute he paid last August to honor Prince Philip. On the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, he discreetly left a personal letter at the National Memorial Arboretum.

It comes after the Duke paid tribute to Philip last August in a personal letter left secretly at the National Memorial Arboretum on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.

Harry asked a friend to discreetly leave the note and a wreath of red poppies for his late grandfather at the Burma Star Memorial in Staffordshire, following the national commemorations attended by the King and Queen earlier the same day.

But one friend of the Royal Family told the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden at the time: ‘What hypocrisy. Harry hurt his grandfather deeply during the final year of his life.’ 

The letter was said to have been placed after Charles and Camilla left to avoid distracting from the service which honoured the sacrifice of Second World War heroes who fought and died in the Pacific and Far East.

Queen Elizabeth II with Harry after Lady Gabriella Windsor’s wedding at Windsor Castle in 2019

Queen Elizabeth II was interred alongside her husband Prince Philip in the King George VI Memorial Chapel at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, which also houses the remains of the Queen’s father George VI, her mother the Queen Mother and sister Princess Margaret 

Prince Harry paid tribute to his late grandfather Prince Philip last August in a personal letter left secretly at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day

Harry asked a friend to place a letter and wreath on the Burma Star Memorial last August

In 2020, the year of Megxit, former soldier Harry was left saddened when he was refused his wish to have a poppy wreath placed at the Cenotaph, the focus of the UK’s Remembrance Sunday service, on his behalf. 

Just months later, the Duke, who undertook two tours to Afghanistan, was stripped of his military patronages by Elizabeth II after his decision to step down as a senior working royal was made permanent. 

Since Elizabeth II’s death on September 8, 2022, Harry has returned to her burial site in Windsor on two occasions – including on the first anniversary in 2023.

The Duke also paid his respects last year, when he was in the UK for the WellChild awards and met his father Charles for the first time in more than a year.

At yesterday’s palace reception, the King was accompanied by all the working royals in honour of what would have been his late mother’s 100th birthday.

Joining the King and Queen were the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and even the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra – aged 90 and 89 respectively. 

The reception was a celebration of Elizabeth II’s life and legacy, as guests from 45 of the patronages she supported were also present for the occasion.

Meanwhile, Harry returned to Montecito last week after he and Meghan toured Australia during a four-day visit that drew large crowds of supporters – as well as fierce criticism.

The Sussexes were accused of using their royal links to cash in on Australia as they carried out a mix of charity and business engagements during their time Down Under.

(From left) The Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, the Princess of Wales, the Prince of Wales, King Charles III, Queen Camilla, the Princess Royal, the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Alexandra and the Duchess of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace yesterday

Prince William and Kate celebrate the 100th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth yesterday

The Princess of Wales with guest Tony Gledhill during the Buckingham Palace event yesterday 

The Princess of Wales hugs 88-year-old George Cross hero Tony Gledhill during the reception

In Sydney, Meghan was the headlining guest at a ‘women-only’ retreat that some fans shelled out as much as £1,700 to attend.

During a VIP meet-and-greet with these superfans, Meghan asked if it was finally time to invest in herself after spending ‘all her life investing in women’.

The Duchess also told the crowd her experience in the public eye had been ‘very difficult’ but that people’s criticism of her had to do with their own ‘projections’.

She said the last decade, during which she celebrated happy moments such as her wedding and the birth of her two children, had been tainted by the vicious attacks.

Critics suggested Harry and Meghan were using Australia ‘like an ATM’ and that the ‘quasi royal tour’ was an extensive exercise in ‘self promotion’.

Since returning to Los Angeles, Meghan has announced the launch of two new candles inspired by the couple’s children – with the Duchess of Sussex using their royal links to promote the ‘Mother’s Day Edit’.

The marketing materials for the two candles mention Archie and Lilibet’s royal titles, as Meghan unveiled Signature Candle No. 506, named after her son’s birthdate of May 6, and Signature Candle No. 604, an homage to Princess Lilibet’s June 4 birthday.