A group of seven multifaith Arkansas families has filed a federal lawsuit to stop Act 573, a new state law that requires all public elementary and secondary schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom and library. The plaintiffs — who are Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, or nonreligious — argue that the law violates the First Amendment’s Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses by imposing religious doctrine on students and interfering with families’ rights to direct their children’s religious upbringing.
The law mandates that a specific Protestant version of the Ten Commandments be displayed “prominently” in a format that is clearly visible to every student. The complaint explains that these mandatory displays create a religiously coercive environment and send the harmful message that students who do not subscribe to the government’s favored religious beliefs do not belong in their own public schools.
The lawsuit, Stinson v. Fayetteville School District No. 1, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. The families are represented by the ACLU of Arkansas, the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, with pro bono support from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.
The plaintiffs are also seeking a preliminary injunction to block the law before it takes effect on August 5, 2025.
