A federal judge has ruled that several Texas school districts do not need to comply with a state law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all classrooms.

I n surprising fashion, a federal judge in San Antonio on Wednesday morning temporarily blocked a new state law requiring public schools to display a poster of the Ten Commandments in every classroom in Texas. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued his 55-page ruling that described the law as coercive and unconstitutional.

The state law had said public schools would have to display the Ten Commandments in a “conspicuous” location in every classroom in Texas by Sept. 1.