Families file suit challenging Arkansas law that requires Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms
The federal lawsuit challenges a measure Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law earlier this year, similar to a requirement enacted by Louisiana and one that Texas' governor has said he'll sign.
The Arkansas law takes effect in August and requires the Ten Commandments to be prominently displayed in public school classrooms and libraries.
"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 said.
The suit was filed on behalf of the families by the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. The lawsuit names four school districts in northwest Arkansas — Fayetteville, Bentonville, Siloam Springs and Springdale — as defendants.
A spokesperson for Fayetteville schools said the district would not comment on pending litigation, while the other three districts did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for Attorney General Tim Griffin said his office was reviewing the lawsuit and considering options.
Attorneys for the families, who are Jewish, Unitarian Universalist or nonreligious, said they planned to ask the federal judge in Fayetteville for a preliminary injunction blocking the law's enforcement. The attorneys say the law violates longstanding Supreme Court precedent and the families' First Amendment rights.
"By imposing a Christian-centric translation of the Ten Commandments on our children for nearly every hour of every day of their public-school education, this law will infringe on our rights as parents and create an unwelcoming and religiously coercive school environment for our children," Samantha Stinson, one of the plaintiffs, said in a news release.
Louisiana was the first state to enact such a requirement, and a federal judge blocked the measure before it was to take effect Jan 1. Proponents of Louisiana's law say that ruling only applies to the five school boards listed in the suit, but The Associated Press is unaware of any posters being displayed in schools as the litigation continues.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
7 minutes ago
- Telegraph
This is the darkest day in British foreign policy since the invasion of Iraq
What on Earth is Keir Starmer playing at? His threat to recognise a state of Palestine unless Israel obeys his imperious demands, against the interests of its own citizens, avoids contact with reality and constitutes an abysmal betrayal. First, the emperor of Downing Street has commanded the Jewish state to end the war in Gaza. Would that be with or without its hostages, Prime Minister? With or without Hamas remaining in power? Because if Israelis remain in captivity and Hamas remains in place, further rounds of bloodshed are a certainty, extending the suffering down generations. These are the hard realities that the Israelis must consider, although Starmer has the luxury of ignoring them. Secondly, the PM wants Israel to allow the United Nations to retake control of aid distribution. But the reason Jerusalem intervened was that it believed the UN was working hand-in-glove with Hamas, which was taking much of the aid and selling it at inflated prices, raising the money it needed to pay its fighters. Surely not? Surely yes. According to Israeli intelligence, ten per cent of UN employees in Gaza, about 1,200 men, are card-carrying members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad, and terrorists have made good use of UN facilities. About 12 members of UN staff were allegedly involved in the October 7 atrocities. The UN aid operation was keeping Hamas in power. Without that source of income, the jihadi grip on the Strip was weakening. That is exactly why Hamas made returning aid to UN hands a key negotiating demand. Ramallah has repeatedly turned down offers of a state that satisfied 100 per cent of its demands. In 2008, for instance, Ehud Olmert offered 94 per cent of the West Bank with land swaps for the remainder, East Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital and the Old City turned over to international control, not to mention a tunnel between the West Bank and Gaza and the right of return for quotas of diaspora Palestinians. The Palestinians missed the opportunity. Why? Because their government was playing a long game to destroy the Jewish state using both the bullet and the ballot, both the suicide bomb and international diplomacy. I'm not just talking about Hamas. Even the regime in Ramallah pays monetary rewards to anybody convicted of terrorism and failed to condemn October 7 until last month. Take a step back and the Prime Minister's blind betrayal of the Jewish state is breathtaking. Of course the war is horrendous; of course the Israeli government includes some regrettable far-Right figures; of course mistakes have been made. But how would Starmer's Britain fare if we were invaded by jihadis, saw 1,200 of our citizens butchered, lost 258 hostages, and faced an enemy embedded in tunnels beneath one of the most densely-populated areas on Earth? I shudder to think. Here are the facts. Israel did not start this war. Israel did not want conflict; it withdrew from Gaza in 2005, handing the keys to the Palestinians, who then lost control of the territory to Hamas. Israel is not trying to kill, starve or oppress civilians. It is simply trying to defeat the enemy that attacked its people so brutally almost two years ago, and get its hostages back. Is that really so much to ask? As messy and imperfect as any democracy may be, you'd have thought that the international community would understand that it is preferable to jihadism, and stand firm until the war is won. Instead, we have all the pressure piling up on Israel, and nothing at all upon the Palestinian side, let alone upon Hamas. Worst of all, Starmer's treachery is emboldening the jihadis. Why should they release the hostages and surrender when the world is on their side? International condemnation of Israel was the main reason why Hamas hardened its negotiating position in Qatar last week, resulting in the talks failing. Rather than a ceasefire deal, Hamas found itself delightedly congratulating Emmanuel Macron on his proposal to recognise Palestine, and encouraging other countries to do the same. The international community has created an environment in which it is in the interests of Hamas to keep the Palestinians starving, keep the war going, and to keep the hostages in the catacombs. At this point, it is no exaggeration to suggest that Starmer and the other turncoats are doing exactly what Hamas wants them to. And it will only produce one outcome: more cycles of violence in the future. Why is the Prime Minister doing this? A look at some of the Labour MPs who are pressing him to take this action is revealing. Shabana Mahmood, whose Birmingham Ladywell constituency has a Muslim population of 46 per cent. Wes Streeting, whose Ilford North seat is 23 per cent Muslim (he won it by only 528 votes). A pattern emerges here. The fact that Starmer appears to care more about domestic politics than he does about true peace in the Middle East is as hypocritical as it is deplorable. The worst of it is that Hamas predicted this all along. Yahya Sinwar knew that October 7 would trigger a war; as a student of recent history, he also understood that before long, the West would side with him. All he had to do was ensure a steady stream of footage of suffering Palestinian civilians, whether genuine, exaggerated or fabricated. He knew our leaders would fall for it. This is the darkest day in British foreign policy since the invasion of Iraq.
The Guardian
7 minutes ago
- The Guardian
From safety first to Palestine first, Keir Starmer shows some leadership
What a difference a week makes. Last Tuesday, Keir Starmer batted away all invitations to recognise the state of Palestine. It wasn't happening. Keir was committed to being appalled by the situation in Gaza but not appalled enough to do anything about it. He then received a letter from more than 250 MPs, including some cabinet ministers, later in the week begging him to recognise the state of Palestine. He still stonewalled. The time was not yet right. Not even the opinion polls that showed most of the UK population supported the recognition of Palestine could move him. Keir knew best. Safety first. Don't do anything to rock the boat. Few were expecting that much of the emergency cabinet meeting to discuss Gaza. Some slightly stronger words to reflect the level of feeling among some cabinet ministers maybe. But still leaving himself some wriggle room. A balancing act that was sure to leave almost everyone feeling unhappy. But then the readout. The message was unequivocal. The UK was going to recognise the state of Palestine before the next meeting of the UN general assembly in September unless the Israelis got their act together and committed to a ceasefire, allowed substantial aid into Gaza, got serious about a long-term peace plan, withdrew from the West Bank and accepted a two-state solution. Moments later, Starmer popped up in the Downing Street media room for a brief, five-minute statement to confirm the government's position. The time for action had come. No more equivocation or delay. It could be sooner, it could be later, but there was no way of blocking a Palestinian state. Hamas had to release the hostages and step aside. Benjamin Netanyahu had to act in good faith or accept the inevitable. The UK could no longer stand to one side and watch a humanitarian disaster unfold. In a neat piece of timing, no sooner had Keir finished addressing the UK than David Lammy came on stage at the UN to repeat the message. The UK was done with pleading with both sides to act responsibly. The UN had passed resolution after resolution, demanding that the war in the Middle East come to an end and aid got through to a starving civilian population. Enough was enough. Britain had played a unique role in the history of the area with the Balfour declaration and the creation of a Jewish homeland. But the UK had also made a promise to the Palestinian people that they should have the right to their own land and to live in peace. Now was the time to no longer pay lip service to the idea of a two-state solution and right the historical injustice. 'I feel the hand of history on our shoulders,' Lammy said in a deliberate echo of Tony Blair's words on the Northern Ireland peace process. The chamber broke out in spontaneous applause as he left the stage after confirming that the UK would recognise the state of Palestine in just over a month's time. It was also a sign that Keir had played a blinder during his meeting with President Trump in Scotland the day before. That hadn't been the easiest day out for the prime minister. But Starmer has proved himself to be one of the best wranglers of The Donald on the world stage. Knowing when to keep his mouth shut and let Agent Orange just ramble. A narcissist is always going to be greedy for attention and Keir had been happy to sit back and let Trump be Trump. Let him boast about having ended six wars – though weirdly The Donald had reined that back to just five in a media appearance on Tuesday. Almost certainly still five too many, but no one was counting. Let him indulge his own vanity. Give him the Nobel peace prize if he really wants it. There were bigger prizes on offer. And the biggest of them all had been Gaza. There will still be some who think the UK could have reached this position weeks ago. But Keir was not bothered about them. He's a man who operates at his own pace and to his own lawyerly methods. Everything must be squared away. No surprises left. This had been a good day for Starmer and the UK. A better day for the starving Palestinians. A day when a world leader had shown some leadership. Who would have thought?
Daily Mail
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Republican ridiculed after misspelling name of own state in TV ad
The goal of any campaign launch is to generate attention, but as one GOP candidate has learned in the past twenty-four hours, not all of it is good. Mike Collins, a Republican Congressman representing Georgia's 10th District, announced Monday that he would be running in 2026 to flip the U.S. Senate seat presently held by Democrat John Ossoff. But, X users were quick to notice a glaring error in a political advertisement posted to kick off Collins' campaign. 'Georiga, let's ride' the ad posted to X by the Mike Collins War Room account reads including a glaring misspelling of the state of 'Georgia.' Social media users were quick to pounce on the 58-year-old Senate hopeful's mistake. 'If you're running for the Senate, at the very least, you should be able to spell the name of the state you're running in, don't you think, Mike Collins?' wrote an X user posting under the handle of @OldGuyRant2. Another X user posting under the handle @jsmurray wrote 'If you can't spell Georgia, you definitely can't represent it. Spellcheck ain't gonna save you now, Mike.' X User @DocLanceP simply wrote, 'Bro, hire a copy editor.' Despite the error, Collins' campaign touted over $220,000 raised in the first 12 hours of his entry into the race. Mike Collins is ready to put the hammer down and get it done. — Mike Collins War Room (@TeamOverhaulGA) July 27, 2025 'GEORIGA From Mike Collins War Room' Me too re fav tweets. God bless Mike & his war room. And let's put that hammer down… and get it done. — Jill the Pill! (@JillPinoak) July 29, 2025 Collins is a key Trump ally in the House of Representatives who has made a name for himself as a top social media troll, but has also helped pass legitimate legislation. The Georgia Representative was an author of the Laken Riley Act, a bill signed into law by Trump earlier this year. The legislation is named after a former nursing student at Augusta University who was murdered at the age of 22 by an illegal alien with a prior criminal record. The incident occurred in Collins' congressional district. The Laken Riley Act requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain illegal immigrants who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. The bill also authorizes states to sue the federal government for decisions or alleged failures related to immigration enforcement. Audio of Collins being praised by Trump for his work on the bill is also included in the campaign ad. 'Congressman Mike Collins. Mike, you were fantastic. He loves his state, and he took this very personally,' Trump can be heard saying about the bill in an audio excerpt included in the campaign launch video. Prior to being elected to Congress, Collins built a trucking business, which he is still involved in. His trucking background is featured heavily in his initial campaign ad. Collins is the second GOP congressman to enter the GOP primary field for the Senate seat, joining Representative Buddy Carter who represents the Savannah area. Both members are considered to be close with Trump. The Cook Political Report ranks the 2026 Senate race in Georgia as a 'Toss-Up.' Trump flipped Georgia back into the GOP column when he took home the state's 16 electoral college votes last November. Both of the U.S. Senate seats for the state are presently held by Democrats.
