(The Center Square) – A federal judge has permanently blocked an Arkansas law from going into effect requiring elementary and secondary public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every library and classroom. The ruling has implications for a similar Texas case before the Fifth Circuit.
Chief Judge Timothy Brooks of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas issued a preliminary injunction last August blocking four public school districts from complying with Arkansas Act 573. On Monday, he granted the plaintiff’s request for Summary Judgment and denied motions made by the state, effectively blocking the law from going into effect in now six school districts.
The law requires all public schools in Arkansas to display the Ten Commandments using text from the Protestant King James Bible. It stipulates the size of the posters and that they must be donated or purchased with private funds.
Seven multifaith families sued the Bentonville, Conway, Fayetteville, Lakeside, Siloam Springs and Springdale school districts requesting the court to block them from displaying the posters. They argue the law violates the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution.
Chief Judge Brooks agreed, saying Act 573 “was likely to violate Plaintiffs’ Establishment and Free Exercise rights under the First Amendment … as made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. The Constitution prohibits states from making any law ‘respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’”
In his 26-page ruling, he said the plain text of Act 573 “does not suggest that other documents be posted alongside the Ten Commandments for educational reasons or mitigating context. That is because the Legislature intends the posters to hang in all classrooms without regard to the subject matter taught in class, the age of the students, or any other material consideration. Nothing could possibly justify hanging the Ten Commandments – with or without historical context – in a calculus, chemistry, French, or woodworking class, to name a few.”
He also pointed out that the Supreme Court has already ruled that “a state law mandating the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools – without integrating such displays into the curriculum ‘in an appropriate study of history, civilization, ethics, comparative religion, or the like’ – violates the Establishment Clause.”
The ruling only impacts six school districts, not the entire state.
In response, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “The 10 Commandments aren’t just the foundation of our faith – they’re the foundation of every law and moral code in the West. That’s why we are appealing this ruling.”
ACLU of Arkansas said the ruling was “a victory for religious freedom and church-state separation.”
“Today’s ruling is a resounding affirmation that public schools are not Sunday schools. The Constitution protects every student’s right to learn free from government-imposed religious doctrine,” ACLU of Arkansas legal director John Williams said. “Arkansas lawmakers cannot sidestep the First Amendment by mandating that a particular version of the Ten Commandments be displayed in every classroom.”
The ruling comes after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Louisiana law requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. The full court ruled it was premature to determine if the law was constitutional and didn’t address a similar Texas case before the court, The Center Square reported.
Arkansas is appealing to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Split decisions in the appellate courts could lead to the cases being heard before the U.S. Supreme Court, although the laws aren’t identical.
