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.
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.