Federal judge bars Arkansas public schools from displaying the Ten Commandments

The federal judge called the law ‘obviously unconstitutional’ and said passing it was likely part of a coordinated strategy to inject Christian religious doctrine into public schools.

• A federal judge on Aug. 4 blocked Arkansas public school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms and libraries.
• Other states have passed similar laws, including in Louisiana and Texas, and legal challenges are underway against those measures.

A federal judge on Aug. 4 barred several Arkansas school districts from implementing what he described as a “plainly unconstitutional” state law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms and libraries.  

The preliminary injunction, a temporary measure that maintains the status quo until a court hears the merits of the case, was issued a day before Arkansas Act 573 was set to go into effect.  

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Brooks wrote that the Protestant displays would unconstitutionally violate the right to free exercise of religion as well as the Establishment Clause, a provision of the First Amendment that prohibits the government from favoring religion over non-religion.

He noted that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a “nearly identical” law in Kentucky in 1980.  

“Why would Arkansas pass an obviously unconstitutional law?” he wrote. “Most likely because the State is part of a coordinated strategy among several states to inject Christian religious doctrine into public-school classrooms.”  

He went on to say that such states, including Louisiana and Texas, may be taking such measures in light of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings in favor of religious expression and accommodation in public spaces.  

Several civil liberties groups – Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, the ACLU and the Freedom From Religion Foundation – and the New York-based law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP are representing the plaintiffs, a group of multifaith families with children in Arkansas public schools.  

The Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville and Siloam Springs school districts are defendants in the case. The state of Arkansas, on behalf of Attorney General Tim Griffin, is listed as an intervenor in the case – a third party who’s not part of the original lawsuit but requests to get involved. 

Following Brooks’ order, Griffin told Axios he was “reviewing the court’s order and assessing our legal options.”  

Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders also disagreed with the order. 

“In Arkansas, we do in fact believe that murder is wrong and stealing is bad,” Sanders told Axios. “It is entirely appropriate to display the Ten Commandments – the basis of all Western law and morality – as a reminder to students, state employees and every Arkansan who enters a government building.”  

BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment Reporting Fellow at USA TODAY. Reach her at bjfrank@usatoday.com.

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