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USA Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
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 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@ USA TODAY's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
Axios
6 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
Judge blocks Arkansas Ten Commandments law
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked an Arkansas law that would require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. It was set to take effect next week. Why it matters: Nearly 500,000 students will return to Arkansas classrooms this month. Some supporters see the Ten Commandments as a historical document that helped shape U.S. law, but the plaintiffs argue that displaying the document in public schools would infringe on their constitutional right to freedom of religion. State of play: Arkansas Act 573, passed by the state Legislature this year and signed into law by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, would require that every "public institution of higher education and elementary and secondary school library and classroom in the state" prominently display a copy of the "historical representation of the Ten Commandments." The posters were to be at least 16 inches by 20 inches and in a legible typeface. All copies were to be donated or purchased through private funds, but if a donated copy didn't meet the requirements, the school could replace it using public funds. The big picture: In his ruling, U.S. Western District of Arkansas Judge Timothy Brooks cited similar laws in nearby Louisiana and Texas. The Louisiana law has been declared unconstitutional, and the Texas law is being challenged, though a ruling hasn't yet been declared. Oklahoma's state superintendent issued guidelines last year that every classroom have a copy of the Bible and the Ten Commandments and that teachers should include the documents in the curriculum. The guidance is being challenged. At least 15 other states had proposed some form of the law as of February. What they're saying: "Forty-five years ago, the Supreme Court struck down a Ten Commandments law nearly identical to the one the Arkansas General Assembly passed earlier this year. That precedent remains binding on this Court and renders Arkansas Act 573 plainly unconstitutional," Judge Brooks wrote in the ruling. "Why would Arkansas pass an obviously unconstitutional law? Most likely because the State is part of a coordinated strategy among several states to inject Christian religious doctrine into public-school classrooms." The other side: "In Arkansas, we do in fact believe that murder is wrong and stealing is bad. 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," Sanders said in a statement emailed to Axios.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal Judge Blasts Republicans For Trying To Pass 'Obviously Unconstitutional' Law
A federal judge on Monday called out Republican-led states for attempting to inject Christianity into public schools, claiming they had a 'coordinated strategy' to push through 'unconstitutional' laws. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) in April signed legislation that would require the state's public schools to display the Ten Commandments from the Christian Bible in every single classroom. A group of parents promptly sued their school districts, saying the law was a clear violation of the Constitution, which prohibits the government from establishing a religion. On Monday, Judge Timothy Brooks issued a preliminary injunction blocking the implementation of the law in several districts in Arkansas. 'Why would Arkansas pass an obviously unconstitutional law? Most likely because the State is part of a coordinated strategy among several states to inject Christian religious doctrine into public-school classrooms,' Brooks said in the ruling. GOP-led states, encouraged by a conservative-leaning Supreme Court, are passing laws that would force religion into the classroom. Legal experts suspect their goal is to get one of the cases in front of the high court in order to undo decades of precedent that bars religion in public schools. 'These states view the past decade of rulings by the Supreme Court on religious displays in public spaces as a signal that the Court would be open to revisiting its precedent on religious displays in the public-school context,' Brooks said in the ruling. Many similar laws are working their way through courts right now. Louisiana's was struck down last yearand again in June by an appeals court. A group of parents in Texas are suing their state over a Ten Commandments requirement, and nearly identical measures have been proposed in Missouri, Oklahoma and Alabama. 'Just ten days after the Arkansas Plaintiffs filed suit, Texas enacted its own public-school Ten Commandments law,' Brooks said in the ruling. 'Similar laws appear to be in the works in other states, which will lead to more lawsuits — until, it seems, the Supreme Court puts its foot down.' The rush to push religion into the classroom is part of a broader attempt to dismantle the public education system. In the aftermath of the racial justice protests that swept the nation in 2020 and the coronavirus-related school closures, the Republican Party has doubled down on its efforts to insert conservative ideology into schools across the country. Conservative leaders took over school boards and passed laws aiming to remove books with racial justice or LGBTQ+ themes from schools. Their efforts were given a boost when Donald Trump returned to power in January. He promised to abolish the Department of Education and vowed to eradicate diversity programs and services for LGBTQ+ and immigrant children. He's made good on those promises by threatening school funding for diversity programs and firing nearly half the staff at the Department of Education. In the last few years, the Supreme Court has signaled that it's increasingly open to ruling in favor of conservative Christians. In 2023, the justices sided with Lorie Smith, a Colorado web designer, who sued her state over its law requiring her to serve everyone equally. Smith claimed that requiring her to make wedding websites for same-sex couples was a violation of her religious freedom. That same year, the court ruled in favor of Joe Kennedy, the high school football coach who sued his school district after he was fired for praying on the field. He was rehired and then quit after one game. In May, the court narrowly blocked a religious charter school in Oklahoma from receiving taxpayer funds, but only because Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case. The tie vote only meant that the case would go back to the lower courts, and other states could bring similar cases. And that same month, the court ruled 6-3in favor of a group of Maryland parents who sued their school district over books with LGBTQ+ themes. The parents claimed their religious rights were violated when Montgomery County Public Schools stopped allowing them to pull their children from school on days when the books in question were used in lessons.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Crawford County Library will foot the bill for lawsuit over segregation of LGBTQ+ children's books
The "social section" in Crawford County Library's Van Buren branch (Screenshot from court documents) A West Arkansas public library system will pay its home county's legal fees in a case the county lost last year over the location of certain LGBTQ+ materials in all five library branches. The Crawford County Quorum Court voted unanimously Monday night at a special meeting to accept the library's governing board's offer to pay nearly $113,000, which U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks declared the defendants in the suit must pay. Three mothers whose children are library patrons sued the Crawford County Library System in May 2023 over its segregation of children's books with LGBTQ+ themes into 'social sections.' This was a 'compromise' in light of public outcry over the books being on the shelves at all, said Deidre Grzymala, the former library director who resigned in February 2023. Plaintiffs Rebecka Virden, Nina Prater and Samantha Rowlett alleged in their suit that the 'social sections' were based on 'an extreme and malevolent view of the Bible' and violated the First Amendment. The lawsuit's five defendants are the county, the county judge, the quorum court, the library board and the library's current director, Charlene McDonnough, who took over the role in January 2024. U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes ruled in the plaintiffs' favor in September and ordered the library to return the segregated books to their original sections. The case was reassigned to Brooks in October. The projected legal cost was around $118,000, but the cost was reduced by $5,000 after Brooks did not grant any motions from the plaintiffs or defendants after the ruling. Crawford County and County Judge Chris Keith were also defendants in a separate lawsuit against the state over Act 372 of 2023, which would have given local elected officials the final say over whether to relocate challenged library materials some consider 'obscene.' The 18 plaintiffs, including Crawford County Library patrons, cited county officials' statements that Act 372 was a reason to maintain the 'social sections.' Brooks enjoined the challenged portions of Act 372, citing First Amendment violations, in December. The legal fees facing Crawford County defendants in both lawsuits now exceed $575,000, library board chairman Keith Pigg said. Federal judge declares sections of Arkansas' library obscenity law unconstitutional Before Brooks' April 16 order for the defendants to foot the bill for the Crawford County-specific lawsuit, the quorum court and the library board had already squabbled for months over whether the county or the library was responsible for the payment. Members of the library board appointed by the current quorum court supported paying the bill with library operating funds. On Wednesday, the board voted 3-1 to authorize the payment with library funds as a gesture of 'good will' toward the quorum court, which took the board up on the offer Monday. Pigg did not vote on the motion, and he urged the quorum court on Monday not to approve it. Pigg is the only current board member remaining from before Crawford County citizens began complaining to the quorum court about LGBTQ+ books in the library in late 2022. Jeffrey and Tammi Hamby of Van Buren co-wrote a December 2022 letter to Crawford County pastors, saying LGBTQ+ content within children's reach is 'grooming a generation of children to feel this is normal and an accepted way of life.' Pigg reminded the quorum court Monday that, while a majority of the library board approved the $113,000 payment, the board did not approve the use of roughly $40,000 in library funds to pay Grzymala's severance package after she resigned. Both state law and the state Constitution prohibit local elected officials from using library funds without the library board's consent. Pigg said the library system's services would suffer if it were forced to pay the legal fees. In an interview Tuesday, McDonnough agreed, saying the library's budget is 'already set for 2025,' but that the system would likely have to reduce its hours at some branches and purchase fewer books in early 2026. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX At an April 18 library board meeting, member Tammi Hamby blamed the lawsuit on Grzymala and accused her of dishonesty. Grzymala's attorney, Christopher Hooks, responded with an April 23 letter to the county seeking $100,000 in damages over the remarks. Hooks said Hamby violated the county's 'separation agreement' with Grzymala upon her resignation, which stated that Grzymala and the county would refrain from 'criticizing, denigrating or disparaging each other.' The quorum court appointed Hamby and two others to the library board in early 2023 to succeed three members who resigned en masse. All three board members now in those positions voted in favor of the library paying the legal fees stemmng from the lawsuit. McDonnough told the Advocate in December that Crawford County residents had not been publicly decrying library content since Holmes' September ruling against the county. On Monday, some residents revived those complaints before the quorum court. Mike Rich blamed the lawsuit on 'the LGBT group and their liberal allies' who 'sued to force exposure' of objectionable content to minors. Challenges to public library funding throughout Arkansas meet frustration, some resistance 'The library is now a compromised, dangerous institution,' Rich said. Other citizens disputed this claim and urged the quorum court to reject the library board's payment offer, saying the parties that lost the case should have to pay for it. Rich said he hopes Crawford County will see a future ballot measure to defund the library. Several counties throughout the state have seen attempts to reduce the tax millage that funds their libraries, to varying degrees of success. Some of those counties have experienced public clashes over children's access to LGBTQ+ books, including in Craighead County, which narrowly lost half its library tax funding in 2022. An effort to restore the millage failed last year. McDonnough said she has faith in Crawford County libraries to stay afloat despite the turmoil. 'Our libraries are strong and resilient, and this is just a bump in the road that we will conquer,' McDonnough said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal judge strikes down Arkansas social media age verification law
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A federal judge in Fayetteville has struck down an Arkansas law that would require minors to get a parent's permission before they can create a social media account. NetChoice, a tech trade association based in Washington, D.C. with notable members such as Meta and X, sued the state of Arkansas over Act 689 in June 2023, claiming that it violated the First Amendment. Act 689, also known as the Social Media Safety Act, required certain social media companies to verify the ages of those in the state seeking to create an account and check to ensure that minors have parental permission. However, Western District of Arkansas judge Timothy Brooks said the law isn't narrowly tailored to address the state's interests in protecting minors from objectionable content. Study: Arkansas homebuyers need this much income to afford a 'typical' home On Monday, the lawsuit came to a close after the judge struck down the law, claiming that the law infringed on the First Amendment rights of internet users and was unconstitutionally vague, violating the Fourteenth Amendment. 'Rather than targeting content that is harmful to minors, Act 689 simply impedes access to content writ large,' Brooks said. Brooks wrote that since the law drew content-based and speaker-based distinctions to determine which companies had to follow the law, it was deemed unconstitutional under the First Amendment. 'Arkansas takes a hatchet to adults' and minors' protected speech alike, though the Constitution demands it use a scalpel,' Brooks wrote in a 41-page order on Monday. Brooks also said the law is too vague in defining what online services are covered by the age verification requirements. The law was set to go into effect on Sept. 1, 2023, but on August 31, 2023, Brooks filed a preliminary injunction, preventing the law from taking effect. Arkansas man arrested, facing 461 counts of child pornography charges After months of motions to extend and motions for summary judgment, Brooks granted Netchoice's motion for summary judgment and permanently enjoined the law on Monday, ending the lawsuit. Chris Marchese, the director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, released the following statement on Tuesday morning: 'The court confirms what we have been arguing from the start: laws restricting access to protected speech violate the First Amendment. And while we are grateful that this law has been permanently struck down and free speech online preserved, we remain open to working with Arkansas policymakers to advance legislation that protects minors without violating the Constitution.' 'This ruling protects Americans from having to hand over their IDs or biometric data just to access constitutionally protected speech online,' Marchese noted. 'It reaffirms that parents—not politicians or bureaucrats—should decide what's appropriate for their children.' 'I respect the court's decision, and we are evaluating our options,' Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said in a statement to KNWA/FOX24 on Tuesday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
