Judge permanently blocks Ten Commandment displays at several Arkansas school districts

A judge ruled Monday to permanently bar several school districts from following Arkansas’s law to display the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.  

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Brooks ruled the law violates the Establishment Clause and the free exercise rights of the plaintiffs.  

“Act 573’s purpose is only to display a sacred, religious text in a prominent place in every public-school classroom. And the only reason to display a sacred, religious text in every classroom is to proselytize to children. The State has said the quiet part out loud,” the judge wrote.  

The ruling affects several Arkansas school districts but is not a statewide ban.  

The Hill has reached out to the state’s attorney general’s office for comment. 

“Today’s decision ensures that our clients’ classrooms will remain spaces where all students, regardless of their faith, feel welcomed and can learn without worrying that they do not live up to the state’s preferred religious beliefs,” said Heather Weaver, senior counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. 

The ruling comes after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Louisiana’s state law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms. Arkansas is under the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. 

A split in decisions could lead the case to the Supreme Court, which some proponents of the law are hoping for.

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