Houston mothers lose emergency bid to block Ten Commandments mandate

A Harris County judge refused to grant three Houston mothers emergency relief to stop Texas’ new Ten Commandments classroom mandate, leaving Senate Bill 10 in force for now. The case now moves to an injunction hearing, where Emily Roth, Audrey Rosa Nath and Sanjam Kaur Sohal will press their challenge in Harris County District Court.

The law at issue was enacted in June 2025 and requires public elementary and secondary schools to display a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments in each classroom. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has instructed schools to display the text in accordance with state law, putting local campuses in the middle of a fight over what belongs on classroom walls.

Roth, Nath and Sohal argue that the mandate violates Texas law, including religious-freedom protections and parental-rights provisions. Their case comes after U.S. Judge Fred Biery issued a temporary injunction in August 2025 blocking several Texas school districts from implementing the law, and after a federal appeals court upheld the statute in April 2026. The latest ruling did not settle those claims; it only denied the mothers’ first request for emergency court relief.

For Houston-area families, that means the question is still open about whether the state can require religious displays in public school rooms before students settle into the new school year. The injunction hearing is the next major test, and it could determine whether districts move ahead with classroom posters or hold off while the legal fight continues.

The dispute has become a parent-versus-state battle over who controls the daily environment inside Texas schools. The plaintiffs filed in Harris County District Court, making Houston part of a broader statewide confrontation that has drawn religious-freedom and civil-liberties groups into the debate. Families on both sides are now watching the same practical question: whether the law will shape what children see as soon as they walk into class, or whether a judge will again block it before districts act.