Reporting for USA Today, BrieAnna J. Frank covers the story of another state where rthe judge understands the First Amendment.
A federal judge on Aug. 4 barred several Arkansas school districts from implementing what he described as a “plainly unconstitutional” state law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms and libraries.
The preliminary injunction, a temporary measure that maintains the status quo until a court hears the merits of the case, was issued a day before Arkansas Act 573 was set to go into effect.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Brooks wrote that the Protestant displays would unconstitutionally violate the right to free exercise of religion as well as the Establishment Clause, a provision of the First Amendment that prohibits the government from favoring religion over non-religion.
He noted that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a “nearly identical” law in Kentucky in 1980.
“Why would Arkansas pass an obviously unconstitutional law?” he wrote. “Most likely because the State is part of a coordinated strategy among several states to inject Christian religious doctrine into public-school classrooms.”
He went on to say that such states, including Louisiana and Texas, may be taking such measures in light of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings in favor of religious expression and accommodation in public spaces.