Legislation Filed to Protect Religious Liberty in Arkansas

Legislation,

Legislation filed at the capitol on Thursday would help further protect the free exercise of religion in Arkansas.

H.B. 1615 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R — Elm Springs) and Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R — Branch) would ensure that faith-based adoption and foster care providers, religious organizations, and religious individuals are not penalized for living out their deeply held religious convictions.

The bill also provides legal protections for professionals, students, and state employees who act according to their religious convictions.

In 2015 Gov. Hutchinson signed Arkansas’ Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law to safeguard the free exercise of religion in Arkansas. In 2023 lawmakers passed additional legislation to further strengthen this good law.

Time and again, wedding venues, bakeries, photography studios, florist shops, and others have come under fire, because their owners wanted to operate according to their deeply held convictions.

Our laws must protect religious liberty as much as possible. H.B. 1615 improves on good state laws to help prevent the government from burdening the free exercise of religion in Arkansas.

If enacted, H.B. 1615 would provide Arkansans with some of the best religious freedom protections in the nation. That would be something to celebrate.

You can read H.B. 1615 here.

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

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Arkansas Senate Backs Good Bill Affirming Religious Liberty at School

Legislation,

On Tuesday the Arkansas Senate passed S.B. 223, the Religious Rights at Public Schools Act of 2025.

This good bill  by Sen. Mark Johnson (R — Little Rock) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R — Heber Springs) affirms public school students’ and teachers’ religious liberties.

S.B. 223 does not create any new rights or liberties. It simply provides public schools and students with an outline of existing religious freedoms — such as the right to pray or discuss religion during free time at school, and public schools’ ability to offer academic courses on the Bible under state laws passed in 2013 and 2019.

The bill also ensures public schools and public school students are informed about how religious liberty is protected under state and federal law. This will help prevent schools from squelching anyone’s religious liberties.

When it comes to religious liberty, public schools have been a battleground for more than 60 years. It’s important that we stand up for religious freedom at school. S.B. 223 is a good bill that helps do exactly that.

The bill now goes to the Arkansas House of Representatives for consideration. Below is an overview of how each senator voted on S.B. 223.

The Following Senators Voted FOR S.B. 223

  • J. Boyd
  • J. Bryant
  • A. Clark
  • Crowell
  • B. Davis
  • Dees
  • J. Dotson
  • J. English
  • Flippo
  • Gilmore
  • K. Hammer
  • Hester
  • Hill
  • B. Johnson
  • M. Johnson
  • B. King
  • M. McKee
  • J. Payton
  • C. Penzo
  • J. Petty
  • Rice
  • Stone
  • G. Stubblefield
  • D. Sullivan
  • D. Wallace

The Following Senators Voted AGAINST S.B. 223

  • S. Flowers
  • Hickey
  • Irvin
  • G. Leding
  • F. Love
  • R. Murdock
  • J. Scott
  • C. Tucker

The Following Senators Did Not Vote

  • Caldwell
  • J. Dismang

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In Legal Limbo: The Ten Commandments Case Seems to Have No Exodus

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. Atheist organizations filed a lawsuit to have the monument removed, but the case has remained in limbo for nearly seven years.

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.

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