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Attorney General: State Mandates Bible Teaching in Texas Schools

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Attorney General Greg Abbott decided today that Representative Warren Chisum's bill (H.B. 1287) requires allTexas public schools to offer instruction on the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

The 80th Texas Legislature passed into law Rep. Chisum's bill that requires allTexas school districts to provide instruction in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and New Testament.

Jonathan Saenz, director of legislative affairs at Free Market Foundation, was instrumental in helping to pass H.B. 1287, and said, "For too longTexas school districts have been threatened and oppressed by enemies of academic freedom, for simply daring to offer instruction on the Bible."

At the request of the Attorney General, Liberty Legal Institute filed a brief which argued that H.B. 1287 mandates allTexas schools provide instruction on the Bible and that the course outlined in the law is a permissible way of accomplishing that mandate. Abbott's statement agrees with Liberty Legal, saying that schools must include instruction on the Bible's impact on literature and history.

Hiram Sasser, director of litigation at Liberty Legal Institute, said, "I applaud the Attorney General for deferring to the legislature, upholding the law and being a part of givingTexas students the cultural currency they will need to compete and be successful in the 21st century."

To read the Attorney General's decision, visit http://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinions/opinions/50abbott/op/2008/htm/ga-0657.htm.

For interviews with Jonathan Saenz, Hiram Sasser, or other Liberty Legal attorneys, please contact Jennifer Grisham, director of media, at (972) 423-3131 ext. 102, or media@libertylegal.org.

Liberty Legal Institute, Free Market Foundation's legal division, is a legal organization committed to the defense of religious freedoms and First Amendment rights. For more information, visit our website at http://www.libertylegal.org.

SOURCE Liberty Legal Institute