Multiple progressive organizations are suing to protest a law that was recently passed in Arkansas requiring all of the state’s schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, with Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation filing a formal complaint against the state.
For context, on June 11, 2025, Americans United for Separation of Church and State issued a press release announcing that they had joined forces with several other organizations to sue in federal court over the passing of Arkansas Act 573 of 2025, which requires all public schools to post “a state-approved version of the Ten Commandments” in each classroom and library.
In its press release, Americans United issued statements from multiple plaintiffs who had joined the organization in filing its lawsuit, including Samantha Stinson, who identified as religiously Jewish. Stinson said, “As American Jews, my husband and I deeply value the ability to raise our children in our faith, without interference from the government.”
Continuing, Stinson said that the use of a “Christian-centric translation of the Ten Commandments” would “infringe on our rights as parents and create an unwelcoming and religiously coercive school environment for our children.”Another plaintiff, Carol Vella, agreed, saying, “The classroom displays required by Act 573 will make [Jewish students] feel like they don’t belong simply because they don’t follow the government’s favored religion.”
Furthermore, Americans United CEO, Rachel Laser, said that the Constitution’s guaranteed separation of church and state “means that families–not politicians-get to decide if, when, and how public-school children engage with religion.” In addition, Laser said that Act 573 was “part of the nationwide Christian Nationalist scheme to win favor for one set of religious views over all others and nonreligion – in a country that promises religious freedom.”
Moreover, the co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Annie Laurie Gaylor, also supported the lawsuit in Americans United’s press release, saying, “This is a clear imposition of religious doctrine on Arkansas public school children. We will fight to uphold this nation’s foundational constitutional principles.”
However, press accounts confirmed that Republican State Sen. Jim Dotson, who had sponsored Act 573, defended the law and said that it was not unconstitutional, telling KATV, “From the state to the federal level all throughout our history, it is a historical reference point or historical document that has basic things like you shall not kill, steal, commit adultery, those basic foundations of life that is good for everybody to keep front of mind so that we are hopefully living good lives.”
Continuing, Sen. Dotson said that the Supreme Court “has held repeatedly throughout history that not everything is an establishment of religion. Going back to a more strict scrutiny standard of the interpretation of the constitution with our current supreme court, so I don’t think this is a violation.”
Watch KATV’s coverage of Act 573:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video