Ten Commandments Monument Returning to Capitol Lawn Next Week

Religion

A monument of the Ten Commandments will return to the Arkansas Capitol Lawn next week, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The Arkansas Legislature authorized the privately financed monument in 2015, and it was installed on the capitol grounds last year.

Unfortunately, less than 24 hours after it was placed on the lawn, a Van Buren man plowed a car into the monument, destroying it.

The new monument is a duplicate of the original, but it will be flanked by concrete barriers to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Meanwhile, the ACLU has promised to sue the state as soon as the monument is put in place — even though an identical monument was ruled constitutional in Texas some years ago.

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Group Sidesteps Attorney General in Casino Bid

Casinos,

Recently we have written about efforts by the Quapaw Tribe in Oklahoma and the group Driving Arkansas Forward to build casinos in Arkansas.

Under their proposed constitutional amendment, four casinos would be authorized in Garland, Crittenden, Pope, and Jefferson counties. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has rejected wording for the proposal multiple times, citing ambiguities in the measure’s ballot title.

This week the group asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to approve the measure’s wording and let them start gathering petition signatures to place the casino amendment on the 2018 ballot — despite the fact the Attorney General’s office has said the measure’s wording is deficient.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports lawyers for Driving Arkansas Forward told the Arkansas Supreme Court that the A.G. has abused her duties in failing to approve the casino amendment.

I am not aware of any past group sidestepping the Arkansas Attorney General’s office this way. Instead of working with the A.G. to write an unambiguous ballot proposal — the way pas groups have done — Driving Arkansas Forward is asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to usurp the Attorney General’s authority.

Casino gambling is linked to homelessness, domestic violence, divorce, and bankruptcy. It’s a blight on the community. Arkansas already has enough problems from gambling. We don’t need any more.

The Attorney General was right to reject this casino proposal; the Arkansas Supreme Court should do the same.

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