ST. LOUIS: A lawsuit involving ten Arkansas families – some religious, some not – who are suing the state and the districts where their children attend school reached an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday.
The three-judge panel is considering what to do about ‘Act 573,’ a 2025 Arkansas state law that requires the Old Testament Ten Commandments to be displayed in all Arkansas libraries and classrooms. The law requires that the posters representing the commandments be at least 16x20 inches.
In March, U.S. Federal Judge Timothy Brooks blocked Arkansas schools from displaying the commandments after seven families in the Bentonville, Springdale, Fayetteville, and Siloam Springs school districts filed suit.
During oral arguments on Tuesday, Autumn Hamit Patterson, a representative of the Arkansas attorney general’s office, suggested that the court's original decision to display the commandments in schools should not have been reversed. She called Brooks’ decision “flawed.”
Claiming the displays have historical significance, Patterson insisted the placement of the Ten Commandments was not coercive because the schools weren’t being forced to include them in the school curriculum.
Attorney for the plaintiffs, Jonathan Youngwood, argued that the placement of the commandments is inconsistent with the beliefs of atheists or non-Christians.
“They are directly religious,” he said.
According to the court, a decision is expected “as soon as possible” now that the arguments have been concluded. There is no specific timetable for the ruling.