Federal Judge Partially Blocks Law Placing Ten Commandments in Public Schools
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks partially blocked a state law placing copies of the Ten Commandments in Arkansas’ public schools.
Act 573 of 2025 by Sen. Jim Dotson (R — Bentonville) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R — Heber Springs) requires privately-funded copies of the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools and other public buildings in Arkansas.
The measure received strong support in the Arkansas Legislature earlier this year, and Act 573 is slated to take effect in August.
However, in an effort to block Act 573, lawyers from the ACLU and a group of atheist organizations filed a federal lawsuit against four public school districts:
- The Fayetteville School District
- The Springdale School District
- The Bentonville School District
- The Siloam Springs School District
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has intervened in the case as well, and his office is defending Act 573.
Act 573 was set to take effect Tuesday, but Judge Brooks blocked the four school districts from complying with the law. Act 573 still applies to other school districts in Arkansas that are not part of the lawsuit.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks made a shocking claim about Act 573 and the legislature’s reason for enacting this good law, writing:
“Why would Arkansas pass an obviously unconstitutional law? Most likely because the State is part of a coordinated strategy among several states to inject Christian religious doctrine into public-school classrooms. These states view the past decade of rulings by the Supreme Court on religious displays in public spaces as a signal that the Court would be open to revisiting its precedent on religious displays in the public school context.”
In 2017 Arkansas passed the National Motto Display Act allowing the national motto — “In God We Trust” — to be displayed in Arkansas’ classrooms along with the U.S. flag and the Arkansas flag. Act 573 amended the National Motto Display Act to add the Ten Commandments to the list of historical items displayed in school. Nothing in Act 573 suggests Arkansas’ elected lawmakers are part of a “coordinated strategy” to inject Christianity in public schools. That is an unnecessary attack on the Arkansas Legislature. A state lawmaker might just as easily accuse Judge Brooks of being part of a coordinated strategy among federal judges to keep students from learning about historical documents.
Over the years, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states are free to honor and recognize documents or symbols that are important to our nation’s history — like the Ten Commandments or the national motto.
In the court proceedings, Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office pointed out,
As the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized, the Ten Commandments have enormous historical significance “in America’s heritage.” . . . It is therefore beyond serious dispute—and settled by the Supreme Court—that the Ten Commandments have historical significance and are “one of the foundations of our legal system.”
The Ten Commandments are one of the earliest examples of the rule of law, and they have had a profound impact in shaping our society and our government.
During her testimony in support of Act 573 last April, Rep. Alyssa Brown noted that the U.S. Supreme Court now uses a “longstanding history and tradition test” to decide if it is constitutional to display something like a copy of the Ten Commandments. Rep. Brown said, “The Ten Commandments without a doubt will pass this longstanding history and tradition test.”
We believe our federal courts ultimately will agree and uphold Act 573 as constitutional.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
U.S. Department of Education Continues to Roll Back Transgender Policies at Schools
Over the past two weeks, the U.S. Department of Education has continued to push back against pro-transgender policies that many schools adopted under the Biden Administration.
Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education and in activities that receive federal funding — like school athletic programs. But the Biden Administration issued executive orders and rules drastically redefining “sex” under federal law to include sexual orientation and gender identity. As a result, many schools, colleges, and universities adopted policies that let male athletes compete in women’s sports and use girls’ locker rooms, showers, restrooms, and changing areas at school.
However, earlier this year, President Trump signed executive orders undoing many of the Biden Administration’s bad policies.
Since then the U.S Department of Education has worked hard to ensure public schools, colleges, and universities treat women and girls fairly.
On July 25, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that five Northern Virginia school districts had policies in place letting biological males use girls’ locker rooms and restrooms at school.
In a press release, the Office for Civil Rights said:
In February of this year, OCR opened an investigation into Alexandria City Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Prince William County Public Schools. The investigation was based on complaints alleging that the Divisions have similar anti-discrimination policies pertaining to “transgender-identifying” students, which violate the sex-based protections of Title IX. The Divisions are also the subject of several lawsuits, informal complaints, and reports, which allege that students in the Divisions avoid using school restrooms whenever possible because of the schools’ policies, and that female students have witnessed male students inappropriately touching other students and watching female students change in a female locker room.
On August 1, the U.S. Department of Education announced Wagner College in New York has entered into a Resolution Agreement to comply with Title IX.
Earlier this year, female fencer Stephanie Turner forfeited a match after she was forced to compete against a biological male from Wagner College during the women’s event at USA Fencing’s Cherry Blossom Open competition. The Department of Education opened an investigation into Wagner as a result.
According to the Department of Education, Wagner has agreed to make sure biological males do not compete in women’s sports and “issue a personalized letter of apology to any Wagner College female fencer and issue a public statement of apology to all female athletes who were required to compete against a male in a Wagner athletics program designated for women.”
In July, the Department of Education made a similar announcement when it issued a press release saying the University of Pennsylvania had agreed to restore female athletes’ swimming records, issue apologies to female swimmers, and take steps to make sure biological males don’t compete in women’s athletics.
We have written repeatedly about how female swimmers, powerlifters, cyclists, sprinters, volleyball players, and others have seen their sports radically changed by men who claim to be women.
Letting men compete in women’s sports effectively erases women’s athletics.
It hampers women’s ability to compete for athletic scholarships and hurts their professional opportunities as adults.
In some sports, letting men compete against women can even be dangerous.
Concerned Women for America reports that more than 1,900 male athletes have taken first place medals away from women and girls.
In 2021 Arkansas passed Act 461 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R — Mountain View) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R — Smackover) preventing male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school. This good law protects fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin also recently joined 26 other state attorneys general in signing a formal letter calling on the NCAA to restore records and honors to female athletes.
And Arkansas has adopted good laws protecting physical privacy in school locker rooms, showers, restrooms, changing areas, and sleeping accommodations.
Most Americans agree that athletes should compete according to their biological sex — not their gender identity.
We deeply appreciate our elected leaders and policymakers who work hard to stand up for fairness in women’s sports both in Arkansas and across the country.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.