December 5, 2017 | Posted in Religious Freedom | By Jerry Cox
In 2015 Sen. Jason Rapert (R – Bigelow) sponsored a law authorizing a monument of the Ten Commandments on the Arkansas State Capitol Grounds. It was placed on the Capitol lawn on June 27, 2017.
Less than 24 hours later, a man plowed a vehicle into the monument, completely destroying it.
In late October we learned the monument had been reconstructed and would be placed on the Capitol lawn in the near future.
Today a subcommittee of the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission approved a proposal to reinstall the monument and make it more secure by adding concrete barriers to prevent a vehicle from destroying it again.
The Associated Press reports a public hearing on the proposed changes will be held this week before they go before the full commission next week.
Meanwhile, the ACLU has said it plans to file a lawsuit against the State of Arkansas as soon as the monument is back on the Capitol Grounds. They say the monument is unconstitutional and has no place on public property — even though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled an identical monument constitutional in Texas.
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Jerry Cox
Jerry is the founder and president of Family Council. He began Family Council in 1989 after a successful effort to amend the Arkansas Constitution to prevent the use of public funds for abortions. He and his wife reside in Little Rock. They have four sons.