A federal court in Little Rock has scheduled a hearing for this Friday in the lawsuit over Arkansas’ Ten Commandments monument.
In a court order, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker announced her court would hold a hearing on the pending cross motions for summary judgment in the case on Friday, July 7, at 10:00 a.m. in downtown Little Rock.
In 2015 the Arkansas Legislature passed a measure authorizing a privately-funded monument of the Ten Commandments on the State Capitol Building grounds.
The monument is identical to one ruled constitutional at the capitol building in Texas.
Shortly after Arkansas’ monument was unveiled, atheist groups and the Satanic Temple joined a lawsuit to have it removed from the capitol grounds.
The case originally was set to go to trial in July of 2020, but the trial was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lawsuit has remained in limbo ever since, and Judge Baker has twice been asked to set a schedule for resolving it.
In January, Judge Baker issued a scheduling order indicating a trial date in the case would be set sometime after August 31 of this year.
As we have said many times, there shouldn’t be anything controversial about a monument honoring the significance of the Ten Commandments.
Historians have long recognized the Ten Commandments as one of the earliest examples of the rule of law in human history, and they have helped shape philosophy and laws in countries around the world.
Arkansas’ monument simply commemorates that legacy.
