The legal fight over Ten Commandments posters in Texas classrooms has reached the nation's highest court.

Civil rights groups on Tuesday, Aug. 18, petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the Texas law requiring the displays in every public school classroom, according to Houston Public Media. The case could determine whether posters stay up across Spring ISD's 42 campuses and Klein ISD's 50 campuses, where more than 83,000 students combined attend school under a law requiring the displays in classrooms that receive donated copies.

More than two dozen Texas families, represented by the ACLU and other organizations, filed the petition after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law in April in a narrow 9-8 ruling. That decision reversed lower court orders that had blocked districts including Houston, Cy-Fair and Fort Bend ISDs from displaying the posters.

"We would like for the Supreme Court to make clear that singling out Scripture for display in public schools is a violation of the First Amendment," the ACLU's Heather Weaver said Tuesday.

The petition argues the 5th Circuit's ruling conflicts with Supreme Court precedent and has "deepened confusion among the lower courts," The Hill reported. In 1980, the Supreme Court struck down a similar Kentucky law, finding it served a plainly religious purpose.

Spring ISD's more than 32,000 students began their school year on Aug. 12, just days after a Harris County judge denied a bid to block the posters before classes started. Klein ISD students also began classes this month. The law, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, took effect in September 2025 and requires districts to hang the Ten Commandments only if the posters are donated. Conservative groups began delivering boxes of posters to campuses statewide last fall.

Joshua Fixler, a Jewish parent from Houston and one of the plaintiffs, said forcing "a Christian version of the Ten Commandments on children in every classroom is particularly upsetting" as a rabbi and parent.

In a related but separate state-level challenge filed in July, Houston-area mother Audrey Rosa Nath told Houston Public Media on July 31 that the commandments tell her son "there's something wrong with him for celebrating his grandpa's Hinduism."

Spring ISD enrolls students across 25 elementary schools, nine middle schools and seven high schools in Harris County. Klein ISD serves 51,236 students across 33 elementary, 10 middle and five high school campuses. Neither district has publicly commented on the Supreme Court petition.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office did not immediately comment Tuesday.

The justices are expected to consider the petition at a closed-door conference after the court's October term begins. If the court agrees to hear the case, a ruling would likely come by late June. If it declines, the 5th Circuit's decision stands and the posters remain in Texas classrooms.