Arkansas Attorney General Asks 8th Circuit to Keep Ten Commandments Monument on Capitol Grounds

Ten Commandments Monument
Above: Former Sen. Jason Rapert and then-Rep. Kim Hammer unveil Arkansas’ monument commemorating the Ten Commandments in this file photo from 2018.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office has appealed to the 8th Circuit to keep a monument of the Ten Commandments on the State Capitol Building grounds.

In 2015 the Arkansas General Assembly passed a law authorizing a privately funded monument of the Ten Commandments at the Capitol Building in Little Rock, and the monument was finally unveiled three years later. But almost immediately, atheist groups filed a lawsuit to remove the monument from the Capitol grounds. That lawsuit languished in federal court until March 31, when a judge ruled against the monument.

However, Attorney General Tim Griffin has appealed that bad decision to the judges at the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals process so far has been scheduled to take the rest of the spring a good portion of the summer.

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.

That’s why the Ten Commandments traditionally have appeared in artwork at courthouses and other public buildings.

Arkansas’ monument commemorates that same historical and cultural legacy. It’s also identical to a monument the U.S. Supreme Court ruled constitutional at the Texas Capitol Building in 2005. With that in mind, we believe our federal courts ultimately will uphold Arkansas’ Ten Commandments monument as constitutional.

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

READ MORE

Pro-Life Centers Win Unanimous Supreme Court Victory

Abortion, , ,

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously agreed New Jersey pregnancy centers can defend themselves from government overreach.

In 2023, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office subpoenaed a massive amount of information from First Choice Women’s Resource Centers in New Jersey — including donor information that may be sensitive.

In response, First Choice filed a federal lawsuit to protect its sensitive data from government overreach, and the attorney general sued to force First Choice to hand over the documents.

After two years in court, on Wednesday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of First Choice.

In the ruling, Justice Neil Gorsuch pointed out that the New Jersey Attorney General’s office targeted First Choice despite receiving no consumer complaints against the pro-life group, writing:

“The [New Jersey] Attorney General served a subpoena on First Choice, commanding the group to produce 28 categories of documents, including documents reflecting the names, phone numbers, addresses, and places of employment of all individuals who had made donations to First Choice by any means other than through one specific webpage. Effectively, that demand required First Choice to provide personal information about donors who gave through two other websites, through the group’s various social media pages, by mail, in person, or by any other means. The subpoena warned twice that failure to comply may render the group liable for contempt of court and other penalties. . . .

“Since the 1950s, this Court has confronted one official demand after another like the Attorney General’s. Over and again, we have held those demands burden the exercise of First Amendment rights. Disputing none of these precedents but seeking ways around them, the Attorney General has offered a variety of arguments. Some are old, some are new, but none succeeds.”

This is really good news. Last summer, Family Council joined a coalition of pro-life groups in an amicus brief supporting First Choice’s lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court. We are glad to see the Court rule in First Choice’s favor.

Pregnancy resource centers offer women real options besides abortion. Many of these centers provide everything from ultrasounds and pregnancy tests to maternity clothes and adoption referrals — typically free of charge.

That’s part of the reason Arkansas provides millions of dollars in publicly funded grants for these organizations. It’s a way Arkansas can use public funds to support women and children without expanding government or creating new state programs.

Family Council is pleased to stand up for pro-life pregnancy resource centers in Arkansas and around the country. We hope all of our state and federal officials will continue to do so as well.

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

READ MORE

Updated: Federal Court Finally Blocks Mail-Order Abortion Drugs Nationwide

Abortion, , , ,

Updated at 10:45 A.M. on Monday, May 4: On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an administrative stay letting mail-order abortion drugs resume at least until 5:00 P.M. on Monday, May 11.

On May 1, a three-judge panel from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked mail-order abortion drugs nationwide. The case is already being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Arkansas law generally prohibits abortion except to save the life of the mother, and it is a crime for an abortionist to mail abortion drugs like RU-486 into the state.

But under President Biden, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration loosened its safety protocols to allow mail-order abortion drugs. Pro-abortion states have also enacted “shield laws” for abortionists who mail abortion drugs into states like Arkansas.

All of that has created a dangerous industry of abortion-by-mail in Arkansas and across America.

In response, the State of Louisiana challenged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s mail-order abortion rules. Family Council joined other pro-life organizations in an amicus brief in the lawsuit earlier this year.

On Friday, a panel of judges from the 5th Circuit issued a stay against the FDA effectively blocking the agency’s mail-order abortion rules nationwide. The decision is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but we are optimistic the Court will uphold the 5th Circuit’s decision.

New evidence shows that abortion drugs are much more dangerous than the FDA previously thought.

A recent study by the experts at the Ethics and Public Policy Center found abortion drugs are at least 22 times more dangerous than the drugs’ labeling indicates. Nearly 11% of women experience serious health complications from abortion pills — including sepsis, infection, and life-threatening hemorrhage.

Abortion drugs hurt women and kill unborn children. These drugs should not be available at all — much less through the mail.

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

READ MORE