A federal court has issued a second preliminary injunction blocking Arkansas’s Act 573, the law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks extends protections to families in the Conway School District, where the district placed Ten Commandments posters in classrooms even though the court had already made clear that Act 573 is unconstitutional. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is representing the plaintiffs in the case as part of a coalition.
“We welcome the court’s injunction, which further protects the rights of students,” says Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The judiciary is affirming the secular underpinnings of the U.S. Constitution.”
“This decision is another important victory for Arkansas families and for the Constitution,” says John Williams, legal director of the ACLU of Arkansas. “The court saw through the state’s attempt to justify this unconstitutional law and reaffirmed that students have the right to attend public schools free from government-imposed religion. We are proud to stand with our clients and will continue fighting to ensure every child’s rights are protected.”
“Public schools are not Sunday schools,” says Heather L. Weaver, senior counsel at the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “This ruling affirms that school districts may not flout the First Amendment by posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms.”
“All Arkansas public school districts should heed the court’s clear warning: Displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms is ‘obviously unconstitutional,’” says Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “Families in Conway School District, throughout Arkansas, and across the country get to decide how and when their children engage with religion – not politicians or public-school officials.”
“This latest decision underscores the duty of public schools to protect the constitutional rights of every student,” says Jon Youngwood, global co-chair of the Litigation Department at Simpson Thacher. “By issuing a second preliminary injunction prohibiting schools in the Conway School District from displaying the Ten Commandments, the ruling reinforces a fundamental truth: the First Amendment safeguards the rights of individuals to choose whether and how they engage with religion, and that protection extends to every classroom.”
Families in other districts who encounter Ten Commandments displays in classrooms are encouraged to contact the ACLU of Arkansas at www.acluarkansas.org/get-help. All public schools have a constitutional obligation to respect students’ and families’ First Amendment rights.
A copy of the order can be found here.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
