8th Circuit Hears Oral Arguments in Ten Commandments Case

Ten Commandments Monument, ,

On September 22, a three-judge panel for the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the case against an Arkansas law allowing posters of the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools and public buildings.

Last year, lawmakers passed Act 573 of 2025 by Sen. Jim Dotson (R — Bentonville) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R — Heber Springs) requiring privately-funded copies of the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools and other public buildings in Arkansas. The measure received strong support from the state legislature.

But lawyers from the ACLU and a group of atheist organizations sued to block Act 573 in court.

The federal judge presiding over the case issued decisions claiming the Ten Commandments posters would pressure children “to observe, meditate on, venerate, and follow the State’s favored religious text, and to suppress expression of their own religious beliefs and backgrounds at school.”

However, Arkansas has appealed to the 8th Circuit. Last week, the Arkansas Attorney General’s office asked the appeals court to reverse the district court’s decision and let Arkansans place posters of the Ten Commandments in public schools and buildings as Act 573 allows.

The Attorney General’s office said the 8th Circuit should uphold Act 573, because “the district court’s analysis is flawed across the board.”

The Attorney General’s office noted that the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether displays like the Ten Commandments posters are constitutional based on their longstanding history and tradition.

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. Courts have also ruled that public school students are free to study religious texts like the Bible academically.

This year the 5th Circuit has been favorable to laws placing the Ten Commandments in school classrooms in Texas and Louisiana. The judges from the 5th Circuit pointed out that “no child is required to recite the Commandments, believe them, or affirm their divine origin.”

With all of this in mind, we believe our federal courts ultimately will uphold Act 573 as constitutional.

You can listen to oral arguments over Act 573 below.

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

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What Christian Parents Should Know About Sports Betting

Gambling, ,

The group Axis recently released a video highlighting how sports betting is harmful — especially for teenage boys.

Axis provides videos and resources designed to help parents have gospel-centered conversations with their children about faith and culture. Their recent video helps parents understand how sportsbook apps turn sports fans into gamblers and why young men are especially vulnerable.

Nationwide, sports betting is legal in 39 states — including Arkansas, where people are on track to wager nearly a billion dollars this year on sports betting alone. But a growing body of evidence shows this type of gambling is causing serious harm — especially to teens and young adults.

Studies show people who gamble on sports may be twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems. When sports gambling happens online, the rate is even higher.

Experts estimate more than half of men ages 18 – 49 now have an active sportsbook account online. While not all of these prople may suffer from gambling problems, and bankruptcy attorneys across the country say online sports betting is driving a surge in personal bankruptcies among young adults in their 20s and 30s.

Twenty-year-old males account for approximately 40% of calls to gambling addiction hotlines, and upwards of 20 million men are in debt or have been in debt as a result of sports betting.

In 2024, the Arkansas Problem Gambling Council announced it had seen a 22% increase in calls for help with problem gambling — driven largely by sports betting.

And a 2025 survey found one in four sports bettors worry that they cannot control their gambling. Some studies have also linked legal sports betting to increases in divorce, binge drinking, domestic violence, and violent crime.

It’s time to admit that the national experiment with sports betting has failed. The cost of sports betting isn’t just measured in dollars and cents. It’s also measured in human lives.

On the whole, most Americans do not believe sports betting has been good for society or good for sports. The NFL and sportsbooks have actually faced consumer protection lawsuits over the harm that gambling causes.

As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for Arkansas to protect its citizens and families from predatory gambling. Otherwise gambling addiction will simply continue wreaking havoc and hurting families in our state.

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

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State of Arkansas, Snap Go Back and Forth in Court

Social Media,

The State of Arkansas and social media company Snap are still going back and forth in court over a consumer protection lawsuit Attorney General Tim Griffin filed in June.

Snap’s Snapchat app lets users send photos and videos — called “Snaps” — that automatically disappear after being viewed. As of 2026, the platform boasts an estimated 493 million active daily users — many of whom are teenagers.

But the social media app has been at the center of multiple controversies regarding sexting and grooming.

In a lawsuit filed on June 23, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin alleged Snapchat exploits young users and exposes them to dangers like “sextortion rings, predatory grooming, violent content, illegal drug marketplaces, unrealistic beauty standards, and an untested My AI chatbot that delivers dangerous and inappropriate advice to minors.”

The attorney general’s team says Snap has failed to provide “even basic safeguards” for kids.

In response, Snap successfully moved the lawsuit from state court to federal court. The company has filed court documents indicating it participates in programs designed to educate people about digital safety and protect kids online. The case is currently before Judge Brian Miller, whom President George W. Bush appointed to the federal court in 2008.

Attorney General Griffin has asked Judge Miller to remand the case to state court.

The lawsuit against Snap is similar to other lawsuits Attorney General Griffin has filed against social media companies.

In 2023, Attorney General Griffin sued Meta — the company that owns Facebook and Instagram — for intentionally designing its social media platforms “to exploit human psychology and foster addiction to maximize users’ screen time.”

Meta recently resolved that lawsuit as part of a $17 billion settlement the company reached with dozens of attorneys general from around the country.

In 2023, Attorney General Griffin also filed two lawsuits against ByteDance — the company that owns TikTok.

Those legal complaints call the TikTok app “a Chinese ‘Trojan Horse’ unleashed on unsuspecting American consumers.” The A.G.’s team says that TikTok deceptively labeled its app as being appropriate for ages 13 and up when it really should have been rated 17+. Attorney General Griffin’s office is still actively pursuing its lawsuits against TikTok in Arkansas court.

A growing body of evidence shows that social media platforms may deliberately addict users, promote objectionable content, and put people’s personal information at risk. Parents need to understand what these platforms may be doing to children.

Social media platforms are more than just phone apps or websites.

These are multibillion-dollar businesses with CEOs, boards of directors, investors, and development teams. The adults who profit from these businesses need to be held accountable when they harm innocent people — especially teens.

Children deserve proactive protection online. If tech companies won’t protect children, then voters and policymakers must do it.

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

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