Family Council Files Amicus in 8th Circuit — Plus Petition Problems, Marijuana Mayhem, Editing Embryos, and More

Current Events, ,
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is weekly-rewind-banner-corrected-1024x165.png

Here’s a quick recap of the week’s top stories from Family Council and our friends:

From Family Council

Family Council Files Amicus Brief Defending Ten Commandments Monument in Federal Court. On Wednesday, attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom representing Family Council filed an amicus brief in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals defending Arkansas’ monument of the Ten Commandments. The amicus brief identifies a basic flaw in the lawsuit against the monument, and it points out how the district court in Little Rock went against U.S. Supreme Court precedent when it ruled that anti-religion activists could demand religion be scrubbed from the public square. Keep Reading.

Secretary of State Says Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment Fails to Qualify for Ballot, Cites “Potential Signature Forgery” on Petitions. On Thursday, Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester announced the Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment failed to qualify for the November ballot, citing examples of “potential signature forgery” and other shortcomings on the amendment’s petitions. Keep Reading.

8th Circuit Panel Says Arkansas Can Protect Kids from Inappropriate Material in Public Libraries. On Thursday, a three-judge panel from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Arkansas can enforce a law protecting children from inappropriate material in public libraries. Keep Reading.

Report Reminds Us Marijuana is Anything But “Harmless” On July 1, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) published a report showing that cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) “has increased more than 500% since 2016.” The AAMC says in some cases CHS can cause seizures, heart rhythm problems, and kidney failure, and it can even be fatal. Keep Reading.

Illicit Marijuana Still Plagues Oklahoma Despite Lax Laws. Nationwide, marijuana’s supporters have claimed legalization would reduce crime by weakening organized crime, and today marijuana is legal to varying degrees in many states. But evidence shows legalization has actually emboldened drug cartels. Keep Reading.

Beyond Crispr: Recreating Man with Genetic Editing. Recently, the New York Times reported that scientists at Columbia University have used a new technology called “base editing” to alter the DNA of early human embryos with unprecedented accuracy. Keep Reading.

From Our Friends

No Ballot for Voters Who Bet on Elections With Kalshi, Wisconsin Warns. From Daily Citizen.

University of Minnesota Unveils Dolls With Mix-and-Match Genitalia for Children. From Daily Citizen.

Pro-Life Group’s Van is Vandalized a Second Time. From LifeNews.

No, Islam is Not Kind to Christians. From Breakpoint.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

READ MORE

Secretary of State Says Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment Fails to Qualify for Ballot, Cites “Potential Signature Forgery” on Petitions

Elections,

On Thursday, Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester announced the Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment failed to qualify for the November ballot, citing examples of “potential signature forgery” and other shortcomings on the amendment’s petitions.

The Arkansas Constitution lets canvassers circulate petitions to place measures on a general election ballot. Its original intent was to give citizens a way to function as a “legislative body.” But instead of giving everyday people a way to enact their own laws, special interests have hired people to circulate petitions to place misleading, deceptive, and poorly written measures on the ballot in Arkansas.

Last year, Arkansans testified in legislative committees about petition canvassers allegedly trying to provoke altercations and encouraging people to sign petitions multiple times.

In response, the Arkansas Legislature has passed several good laws intended to address petition fraud and other problems with the initiative process, but those laws have been tied up in court.

The Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment would amend the Arkansas Constitution to keep the ballot initiative process wide open and prevent the state legislature from enacting safeguards against petition fraud and other offenses.

Most of the ballot measure’s financial support appears to have come from out of state.

Ethics filings show the National Education Association in Washington, D.C., donated nearly $1.4 million to the campaign for the amendment this year. The National Education Association is the largest teacher labor union in the United States.

Another $250,000 came from The Fairness Project in Washington, D.C. According to its website, the Fairness Project currently opposes pro-life efforts in Missouri and supports a pro-abortion measure in Virginia.

On Thursday, news outlets reported Secretary of State Jester sent a letter notifying Protect AR Rights, the group backing the Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment, that it did not provide enough valid petition signatures to place the measure on the November ballot.

The Secretary of State’s letter reportedly noted a number of deficiencies and irregularities with the group’s petitions. KLRT Fox 16 News in Little Rock reports:

In a letter to Protect AR Rights, Jester wrote:

“Notably, 87 petition parts were for a different constitutional amendment, The Educational Rights Amendment of 2026, but were submitted with your petition. Two thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine (2,779) signatures were from individuals whose names were on the petition more than one time, whether due to them illegally signing multiple times or due to forgery. Fifteen times a notary appears to have notarized a canvasser’s blank signature line. Most troubling, in 504 occurrences someone appears to have forged another’s information or signature.”

The Secretary of State’s office also provided a 15-page document on its website highlighting examples of petitions that the office said were improperly notarized or that contained potentially illegal or ineligible signatures.

After counting the number of valid petition signatures submitted, the Secretary of State’s office reportedly determined that the proposal did not have enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

READ MORE

8th Circuit Panel Says Arkansas Can Protect Kids from Inappropriate Material in Public Libraries

Decency,
Above: The book It’s Perfectly Normal sits on display in the children’s section of the Craighead County Public Library in Jonesboro. The book contains inappropriate illustrations depicting nudity and sexual activity.

On Thursday, a three-judge panel from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Arkansas can enforce a law protecting children from inappropriate material in public libraries.

In 2023, the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 372 — a good law that generally prohibits giving or sending a child harmful material that contains nudity or sexual activity. The law also eliminates exemptions for libraries and schools in the state’s obscenity statute, and it clarifies how library patrons can work to remove objectionable material from a library’s catalog.

However, before the law could take effect, a coalition of libraries in Arkansas led by the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging portions of Act 372.

As a result, U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks in Fayetteville blocked two important sections of the law — Section 1, which makes it a Class A misdemeanor to give or send a child harmful sexual material that contains nudity or sexual activity, and Section 5, which clarifies how library patrons can work to remove objectionable material from a library’s catalog.

Fortunately, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin appealed that bad ruling to the 8th Circuit. On Thursday, a three-judge panel overturned the lower court’s decision — meaning Arkansas will finally be able to enforce Act 372.

This is really good news for families all over Arkansas.

Act 372 isn’t just about library books — it’s about standing up for children. Family Council has heard repeatedly from people who are deeply troubled by obscene and inappropriate children’s books that some librarians have placed on the shelves of their local libraries.

For example, the Jonesboro public library has been at the center of multiple controversies over its decision to place books with sexually-explicit images in its children’s section and for failing to adopt a policy that separates sexual material from children’s content.

The library in Jonesboro even went so far as to post on Facebook that it isn’t the library’s responsibility to protect kids from obscenity. Following the controversy in Jonesboro, voters opted to cut the library’s millage in half.

Other public libraries in Arkansas have included graphic children’s books in their catalogs and failed to separate sexual material from children’s material as well.

Some of the people who testified publicly against Act 372 in 2023 signaled that they actually wanted to be free to share obscene material with children. That simply isn’t right.

Libraries ought to be held to the same standards as everyone else when it comes to giving harmful or obscene material to a child.

Families should be able to take their children to the library without worrying what they might see, and taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize graphic novels that depict explicit images of children engaged in sexual acts.

We are grateful to Attorney General Griffin for tirelessly defending Act 372 in court. This is a good law that will protect children all across Arkansas.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

READ MORE