Several families filed a lawsuit against Arkansas school districts on Wednesday over a new law mandating the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public school classrooms and buildings.
Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed the law in April, which is set to take effect in August and applies to all public schools, colleges and buildings that are funded by taxpayer dollars. The parents argue in the suit that the law imposes religion onto children and families, saying it infringes on religious liberties and “substantially interferes with and burdens the right of parents to direct their children’s religious education and upbringing.” (RELATED: Trump Ed Department Rescinds ‘Largest’ Fine Ever Levied Against Christian School)
“These children and their families adhere to an array of faiths, and many do not practice any religion at all,” the lawsuit reads. “Nevertheless, because of Arkansas Act 573 of 2025 … all of these students will be forcibly subjected to scriptural dictates, day in and day out.”
Sanders’ office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AK) (R-LA) delivers remarks at the statue dedication ceremony for civil rights leader Daisy Bates in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol on May 08, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“Permanently posting the Ten Commandments in every classroom and library—rendering them unavoidable—unconstitutionally pressures students into religious observance, veneration, and adoption of the state’s favored religious scripture,” the lawsuit continues. “It also sends the harmful and religiously divisive message that students who do not subscribe to the Ten Commandments—or, more precisely, to the specific version of the Ten Commandments that Act 573 requires schools to display—do not belong in their own school community and pressures them to refrain from expressing any faith practices or beliefs that are not aligned with the state’s religious preferences.”
Louisiana in 2024 became the first state to implement a Ten Commandments requirement in public school classrooms, though the effort faced similar legal challenges and was later struck down by a federal court. The Texas legislature in May also passed a Ten Commandments measure.
In a previous case, an appeals court ruled that a two-and-a-half ton monument of the Ten Commandments placed in the Alabama State Judicial Building violated the Establishment Clause by making an explicitly religious display “unavoidable.”
“The right to decide which religious beliefs, if any, to follow belongs to families and faith communities, not the government,” John Williams, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, which represents the plaintiffs in the case, said in a statement. “We will not allow Arkansas politicians to misuse our public schools to impose scripture on children.”
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
