A federal judge has blocked a new Arkansas law from going into effect in several area school districts. Act 573, filed by Sen. Jim Dotson, to require schools to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom and in every public building in the state.Parents in four Northwest Arkansas school districts filed a lawsuit challenging the law.The opinion out of the U.S. Western District of Arkansas Fayetteville Division said the four school districts listed in the suit, Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, and Siloam Springs are ordered not to hang the Ten Commandments while the lawsuit plays out.The lawsuitThe complaint was filed by parents on behalf of themselves and their minor children in the Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, and Siloam Springs school districts.The plaintiffs are two Jewish families, a Unitarian Universalist family, and nonreligious families. The Jewish families took issue with the translation and paraphrasing of the commandments. All the families believe the displays would pressure their children to limit their expression of their own faiths at school.Follow this link to read the complaint.What is Act 573?The law was signed into law in April, during the 95th General Assembly of the Arkansas State Legislature.Act 573 requires school districts and government buildings to display Ten Commandments posters they receive and use donated funds to purchase posters. The law states the posters must “include the text of the Ten Commandments in a size and typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the room in which the durable poster or framed copy is displayed.”It also specifies the text of the commandments. It is an unnumbered paraphrase of the King James Version translation of Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21.Follow this link to read the law for yourself.A poster or framed copy of the national motto, “In God We Trust,” must also be posted.
A federal judge has blocked a new Arkansas law from going into effect in several area school districts.
Act 573, filed by Sen. Jim Dotson, to require schools to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom and in every public building in the state.
Parents in four Northwest Arkansas school districts filed a lawsuit challenging the law.
The opinion out of the U.S. Western District of Arkansas Fayetteville Division said the four school districts listed in the suit, Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, and Siloam Springs are ordered not to hang the Ten Commandments while the lawsuit plays out.
The lawsuit
The complaint was filed by parents on behalf of themselves and their minor children in the Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, and Siloam Springs school districts.
The plaintiffs are two Jewish families, a Unitarian Universalist family, and nonreligious families. The Jewish families took issue with the translation and paraphrasing of the commandments. All the families believe the displays would pressure their children to limit their expression of their own faiths at school.
Follow this link to read the complaint.
What is Act 573?
The law was signed into law in April, during the 95th General Assembly of the Arkansas State Legislature.
Act 573 requires school districts and government buildings to display Ten Commandments posters they receive and use donated funds to purchase posters.
The law states the posters must “include the text of the Ten Commandments in a size and typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the room in which the durable poster or framed copy is displayed.”
It also specifies the text of the commandments. It is an unnumbered paraphrase of the King James Version translation of Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21.
Follow this link to read the law for yourself.
A poster or framed copy of the national motto, “In God We Trust,” must also be posted.