Federal Judge Blocks Arkansas Law Requiring Ten Commandments in Public Classrooms

Ruling cites “clear constitutional violation” as state plans further appeal

In a decision issued August 4, 2025, a federal judge blocked enforcement of Arkansas Act 573, a new law requiring every public school classroom in the state to prominently display the Ten Commandments. The ruling granted a preliminary injunction requested by a coalition of parents and students from four school districts, halting implementation of the law just one day before it was set to take effect.

The plaintiffs, who are Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, atheist, and agnostic, argued that the mandated display violates the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks agreed, writing that the law amounts to “the official promotion of religious doctrine” in a setting where students are legally compelled to attend.

Arkansas Act 573 directed public school districts to post a 16-by-20-inch version of the Ten Commandments—specifically from the King James Bible—in every classroom and library, with the text required to be legible “from anywhere in the room.” The posters could be funded privately or through donations, and unlike Louisiana’s similar 2024 law, no historical explanation or curriculum tie-in was required.

The judge found that the law failed constitutional muster under both longstanding Supreme Court precedent and more recent decisions. Citing the Supreme Court’s 1980 ruling in Stone v. Graham, which struck down a nearly identical Kentucky law, Brooks wrote, “This case begins and ends with Stone,” concluding that Arkansas’s statute serves “no educational function” and instead aims “to induce schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey” the commandments.

The State of Arkansas argued that the law was consistent with historical practices and was meant to reflect the Ten Commandments’ influence on U.S. legal traditions. But the court rejected this rationale, relying on expert historical testimony that found no tradition of displaying the commandments in American classrooms and no founding-era consensus supporting such government-sponsored religious expression.

The court also dismissed the state’s claim that the displays would be “passive,” noting that public school students “cannot look away” and have “no meaningful opportunity” to avoid the religious messaging in a captive classroom setting. The ruling emphasized that the law burdens the religious and parental rights of non-Christian families by mandating state-sponsored scripture in contradiction with their beliefs.

“Plaintiffs are not just bystanders,” the judge wrote. “They claim they will be subjected to a state-mandated, religiously preferential version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom for the remainder of their education.”

The preliminary injunction applies to the four named school districts—Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, and Siloam Springs—and prohibits enforcement of the law while the case proceeds. The Arkansas Attorney General’s Office, which intervened to defend the statute, is expected to appeal.

A full trial on the constitutionality of Act 573 could occur in early 2026 if the injunction is upheld on appeal. Meanwhile, similar laws recently passed in Louisiana and Texas remain in legal limbo, with challenges ongoing in federal courts.

Tags: Arkansas Act 573, Ten Commandments in schools, Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause, federal injunction

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