Court permanently blocks Arkansas Ten Commandments law

In a lawsuit filed by AU and allies on behalf of Arkansas families, a federal district court on March 16 issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the school district defendants from implementing a state law that requires all public schools to permanently display a government-chosen, Protestant version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom and library.

In his decision, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Brooks wrote, “Act 573 must be permanently enjoined. Failing to do so would violate the Establishment Clause rights of all Arkansas public school children and their parents and also violate Plaintiffs’ Free Exercise rights.” 

Brooks added: “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. And the words ‘curriculum,’ ‘school board,’ ‘teacher,’ or ‘educate’ don’t appear anywhere in Act 573. Accordingly, there is no need to strain our minds to imagine a constitutional display mandated by Act 573. One doesn’t exist.” 

The injunction prohibits the six school district defendants from “complying with Act 573.” Last year, the court had issued a preliminary injunction temporarily barring the school district defendants from displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms and libraries. 

“Act 573 is a direct infringement of our religious freedom rights, and we’re pleased that the court ruled in our favor,” said Samantha Stinson, who is a plaintiff in the case, along with her husband, Jonathan Stinson. “The version of the Ten Commandments mandated by Act 573 conflicts with our family’s Jewish tenets and practice, and our belief that our children should receive their religious instruction at home and within our faith community, not from government officials.” 

Represented by Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, the ACLU, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel, the plaintiffs in Stinson v. Fayetteville School District No. 1 are a group of 10 multifaith and nonreligious Arkansas families with children in public schools.