State Senator Sarah Eckhardt Rejects Bill to Place 10 Commandments in Texas

For Immediate Release Contact
March 19, 2025 Jeffrey Clemmons
Jeffrey.Clemmons@Senate.Texas.gov
Press Statement
State Senator Sarah Eckhardt Rejects Bill to Place 10 Commandments in Texas
Classrooms: “Texans Do Not Want Religion Crammed Down Their Throats.”
AUSTIN, TX – Tonight, the Texas Senate voted out a bill to require the 10 Commandments to
be placed in all Texas classrooms. Senator Eckhardt joined her Democratic colleagues in
voting against the bill, which flagrantly violates the Founders’ intent to separate church and
state. The bill also fails to meet the standard established by the 6-3 ruling of the
majority-conservative Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Bremerton (2022), which protected the free
speech rights of a high school coach who was fired for praying during a football game. The coach’s
speech was protected because the district did not organize the prayer, the prayer was outside the
coach’s official capacity as a teacher, and because it did not require a captive audience as SB10
does through its coercion for students, regardless of their faith background, to observe the 10
Commandments while they are supposed to be receiving an education.
Senator Sarah Eckhardt released the following statement on the passage of the bill:
“While Coach Kennedy’s silent prayer after a football game doesn’t cross the line into
coercion, Senate Bill 10 rushes the line and does a victory dance in the end zone of coercion.
Exclusively requiring schools to display one particular, state-sanctioned version of the Ten
Commandments–of which the bill author refused every attempt to include any other comparable
religious text or tradition because they are apparently not a part of Texas’ or America’s history–is
precisely what the founders intended to defend against by establishing the separation of church
and state. I would venture that Texans do not want religion crammed down their throat by
their government; I would venture that Texans don’t even want their own religion crammed
down their throat by their government. I vote against this bill to uphold our Founding
Father’s commitment to the first amendment.”
Sarah Eckhardt is the third-term Democratic State Senator representing District 14, comprising Austin and
surrounding areas. She serves on the Administration, Border Security, Nominations, and Veterans Affairs
committees in the 89th Legislative Session, and has previously served on the Water, Agriculture, & Rural
Affairs and Local Government committees. A proud UT Law and Public Affairs alum, Senator Eckhardt was
the first woman to serve as Travis County Judge from 2014-2020.