A group of progressive organizations has filed a lawsuit against a recently passed law in Arkansas that requires public schools to display the Ten Commandments.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a complaint on Wednesday on behalf of a religiously diverse group of parents.
At issue is Act 573, a measure signed into law by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in April and is scheduled to take effect in August. The lawsuit argues that “Act 573 is not neutral with respect to religion.”
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.
“By design, it expressly requires the display of religious scripture — the Ten Commandments — in every public-school classroom and library,” stated the complaint, in part.
“It also requires a specific, state-approved, Protestant version of that scripture to be posted, taking sides on theological questions regarding the correct content and meaning of the Ten Commandments and enshrining in state law an official denominational preference.”
The lawsuit also claimed that children from non-Christian homes “will be forcibly subjected to the state’s official version of the Ten Commandments for nearly every hour that they are in school.”
“As a result of the displays mandated by Act 573, students who do not subscribe to the state’s official version of the Ten Commandments — including the minor-child Plaintiffs — will be pressured into religious observance, veneration, and adoption of this religious scripture,” continued the suit.
“As a result of the displays mandated by Act 573, students who do not subscribe to the state’s official version of the Ten Commandments — including the minor-child Plaintiffs — also will feel pressure to suppress expression or practice of their own faiths and religious beliefs or nonreligious beliefs in view of their peers, teachers, and other school staff.”
Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United, said in a statement released Wednesday that the “Constitution’s guarantee of church-state separation means that families — not politicians — get to decide if, when and how public-school children engage with religion.”
“This law is part of the nationwide Christian Nationalist scheme to win favor for one set of religious views over all others and nonreligion — in a country that promises religious freedom,” said Laser.
Originally known as Senate Bill 433, Act 573 requires all classrooms and libraries in all public schools, as well as buildings maintained by taxpayer funds, to display a poster or framed copy of the U.S. national motto “In God We Trust” and also a poster or framed copy of The Ten Commandments.
The legislation passed the Republican-controlled Arkansas Senate in a 27-4 vote and the Republican-controlled Arkansas House of Representatives in a 71-20 vote.
Republican State Sen. Jim Dotson, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, argued in March that the proposal that the Decalogue displays were not unconstitutional.
“From the state to the federal level all throughout our history, it is a historical reference point or historical document that has basic things like you shall not kill, steal, commit adultery, those basic foundations of life that is good for everybody to keep front of mind so that we are hopefully living good lives,” he stated, as quoted by KATV.
“The U.S. Supreme court has held repeatedly throughout history that not everything is an establishment of religion. Going back to a more strict scrutiny standard of the interpretation of the constitution with our current supreme court so I don’t think this is a violation.”
In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 per curiam opinion in the Stone v. Graham ruling that Kentucky cannot force public schools to display the Ten Commandments because it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Last year, Louisiana passed a similar Ten Commandments law, which faces a legal challenge from Americans United, FFRF and the ACLU.
