Trial Court Date Set for Ten Commandments Monument

Last week, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker set a trial court date for the lawsuit over Arkansas’ monument of the Ten Commandments.

The trial will begin the week of July 13, 2020.

In 2015 Sen. Jason Rapert (R – Conway) 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.

The monument was rebuilt and placed on the Capitol grounds in April of 2018.

Now the American Humanist Association, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and the Satanic Temple all are part of a lawsuit to have the monument removed.

In a written statement last week, Sen. Jason Rapert said, “the Ten Commandments are an important component to the foundation of the laws and legal system of the United State of America and the State of Arkansas.”

Sen. Rapert went on to note that the monument of the Ten Commandments was not publicly funded.

“Over 800 donors gave funds to help us fulfill this project. . . . Private donations were used to rebuild the monument which was reinstalled with the addition of security bollards to protect it,” he said.

The monument is identical to one the U.S. Supreme Court ruled constitutional in Texas in 2005.

Frankly, there just shouldn’t be anything controversial about a monument honoring the significance of the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments are one of the earliest examples of the rule of law in human history.

The Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are amazing documents, but the Ten Commandments are the great-great-granddaddy of them all.