Federal Judge Blocks Conway Public Schools From Displaying Ten Commandments Posters
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks blocked public schools in Conway from placing copies of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
Act 573 of 2025 by Sen. Jim Dotson (R — Bentonville) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R — Heber Springs) requires privately-funded copies of the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools and other public buildings in Arkansas. The measure received strong support in the Arkansas Legislature earlier this year.
However, in an effort to block Act 573, lawyers from the ACLU and a group of atheist organizations have sued to block the law in Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, and Siloam Springs. On Thursday, Judge Brooks blocked Act 573 in Conway as well, claiming the posters would pressure children “to observe, meditate on, venerate, and follow the State’s favored religious text, and to suppress expression of their own religious beliefs and backgrounds at school.”
In 2017 Arkansas passed the National Motto Display Act allowing the national motto — “In God We Trust” — to be displayed in Arkansas’ classrooms along with the U.S. flag and the Arkansas flag. Act 573 amended the National Motto Display Act to add the Ten Commandments to the list of historical items displayed in school. Nothing in Act 573 would “pressure” students.
Over the years, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states are free to honor and recognize documents or symbols that are important to our nation’s history — like the Ten Commandments or the national motto.
In the court proceedings, Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office pointed out,
As the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized, the Ten Commandments have enormous historical significance “in America’s heritage.” . . . It is therefore beyond serious dispute—and settled by the Supreme Court—that the Ten Commandments have historical significance and are “one of the foundations of our legal system.”
The Ten Commandments are one of the earliest examples of the rule of law, and they have had a profound impact in shaping our society and our government.
During her testimony in support of Act 573 last April, Rep. Alyssa Brown noted that the U.S. Supreme Court now uses a “longstanding history and tradition test” to decide if it is constitutional to display something like a copy of the Ten Commandments. Rep. Brown said, “The Ten Commandments without a doubt will pass this longstanding history and tradition test.”
We believe our federal courts ultimately will agree and uphold Act 573 as constitutional.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
