As of this week, the lawsuit over Arkansas’ monument of the Ten Commandments has languished in court for six years and nine months — with no end in sight.
A decade ago, the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 1231 of 2015 by former Sen. Jason Rapert and then-Rep. Kim Hammer.
Act 1231 authorized placement of a privately funded monument of the Ten Commandments on the Arkansas Capitol Building grounds. Forty state legislators co-sponsored this good law, and some of them — including Kim Hammer, who now represents District 16 in the Arkansas Senate — still serve in the General Assembly.
The Ten Commandments monument — which is identical to one the U.S. Supreme Court ruled constitutional at the capitol building in Texas — was unveiled in 2018.
However, it did not take long for atheist groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Satanic Temple to file a lawsuit over the monument.
The case was filed May 23, 2018, and it originally was set to go to trial in July of 2020. But U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker postponed the trial due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, both sides in the lawsuit have asked Judge Baker to resolve the case, but the lawsuit has remained in limbo.
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. With that in mind, we believe our federal courts eventually will resolve this lawsuit and uphold Arkansas’ Ten Commandments monument as constitutional.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
