A federal judge has permanently barred several Arkansas school districts from posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms, ruling that the state’s 2025 mandate violated the Constitution. The decision is the latest flashpoint in a long-running fight over the First Amendment’s religion clauses, especially in the setting where government authority is most constant: a classroom full of children required by law to be there.
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What Arkansas required
In April 2025, Arkansas enacted Act 573, a law designed to put the Ten Commandments on display in public-school classrooms. Backed by Republicans, including Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, supporters framed the measure as a history-and-civics move, arguing the Commandments are a foundational document for American law and history.
But the details mattered in court. The law required a classroom display of a sacred text, and the version at issue was drawn from the Protestant King James Bible. Several parents cited in the lawsuit said they practice different faiths, including Judaism, Catholicism and Unitarianism, or do not practice a religion, and took issue with the required posters in school.
The judge’s ruling
U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, struck down the law for several major districts on March 16. Brooks argued the law’s only purpose was to spread religious doctrine rather than serve a secular educational goal.
Brooks wrote: Act 573’s purpose is only to display a sacred, religious text in a prominent place in every public-school classroom
and And the only reason to display a sacred, religious text in every classroom is to proselytize to children. The State has said the quiet part out loud
.
The judge also referred to the law as coercive
, saying it admits there is no educational purpose in displaying the Ten Commandments
. He noted that because the posters are on classroom walls, students are unable to avoid reading them: Children cannot similarly avoid reading the Ten Commandments posted in their classrooms for thirteen years of compulsory schooling.
Not statewide, appeal expected
The ruling is not a statewide ban, but it impacts several large school districts in Arkansas. Arkansas officials have said they will appeal.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Gov. Sanders defended the displays and said, In Arkansas, we do in fact believe that murder is wrong and stealing is bad. It is entirely appropriate to display the Ten Commandments — the basis of all Western law and morality — as a reminder to students, state employees, and every Arkansan who enters a government building, and I look forward to appealing this suit and defending our state’s values.
The Arkansas Attorney General’s office also confirmed the state intends to appeal. Jeff LeMaster, communications director for Attorney General Tim Griffin, told Fox News Digital, We are reviewing the opinion and will appeal.
Broader legal backdrop
The Arkansas decision arrives as other states pursue similar classroom-display laws. It follows a ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that cleared the way for a similar law to move forward in Louisiana, requiring Ten Commandments posters in schools.
If courts continue to split on the issue, the question could end up before the Supreme Court.
