Arkansas pushes Eighth Circuit to revive Ten Commandments requirement in schools

Arkansas asked the Eighth Circuit to reinstate Act 573, a 2025 law requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments on classroom and library walls in at least 16x20 inch, legible lettering. The state argues a poster doesn't coerce students or burden anyone's religious exercise, while parents representing 14 students argue the text itself, starting with a command against worshipping other gods, is inherently exclusionary to atheist and polytheistic families.

A district court already sided with the parents in March, with Judge Timothy Brooks finding the law serves no educational purpose and usurps parental authority over religious upbringing, citing the 1980 Supreme Court precedent Stone v. Graham. Arkansas contends that ruling misapplied Stone and ignored later cases finding secular purposes can coexist with religious displays.

One judge on the panel pressed both sides on how a law bringing religious content directly into classrooms, rather than restricting it, fits existing neutrality doctrine, noting he found few comparable cases. The court took arguments under advisement with no ruling timetable.

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