Arkansas lawmakers seek legal action after Ten Commandments lawsuit

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas state legislators met at the Capitol on Tuesday for a press conference to discuss Act 573, which requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public-school classrooms.

A lawsuit filed on July 1 by a group of families represented by the American Civil Liberties Union argues the law violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which prohibits government endorsement of religion. 

State Sen. Jim Dotson and State Rep. Alyssa Brown, who helped sponsor the law, said they believe the measure preserves history and benefits students.

“We believe that it will be upheld in a court or a higher court and an Obama-appointed judge’s ruling on that does not change the truth,” Brown said. “American history and its founding of its law shows that the Ten Commandments is a part of that.”

John Williams, legal director of the ACLU of Arkansas, said the law is unconstitutional.

“We think that’s both an unconstitutional establishment of religion, and we think it interferes with our clients’ religious liberty because it really imposes a state-sanctioned version of the Ten Commandments on our clients who don’t recognize that as the version of the Ten Commandments — if they recognize the Ten Commandments at all,” Williams said.

An attorney for Family Counsel pointed to the American Legion v. American Humanist Association U.S. Supreme Court decision, which upheld a large cross monument on public land, saying it shows that longstanding religious symbols can take on nonreligious meaning and become part of cultural heritage.

“Instead of putting the burden of proof upon those who are offended with the Ten Commandments within our schools and our government buildings, he’s put the burden of proof upon those who want to put it up,” Jermey Dys, senior counsel for First Liberty, said. “Exactly backwards of what the Supreme Court says he’s supposed to do.”

Williams said the law is not inclusive and could have a greater impact on students.

“We think that this law is not inclusive, it coerces religious belief, it coerces a particular religious view, particularly school-aged children who are more vulnerable to this sort of thing,” Williams said.

For now, the law applies statewide except in four northwest Arkansas districts covered by the current lawsuit. The case could take years to resolve, and if appeals move forward, it could eventually reach the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.