Fayetteville, Ark. – In a victory for religious freedom and church-state separation, a federal district court issued a preliminary injunction today in Stinson v. Fayetteville School District No. 1, prohibiting the school district defendants from implementing an Arkansas law that requires all public schools to permanently display a government-chosen, Protestant version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom and library.
In his decision, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Brooks held that Arkansas Act 573, which is due to take effect on Aug. 5, “is plainly unconstitutional” under both the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment.
Ruling that the law would lead to unconstitutional religious coercion of the child plaintiffs and interfere with their parents’ rights to direct their children’s religious education, Judge Brooks explained:
“Students receiving instruction in algebra, physics, engineering, accounting, computer science, woodworking, fashion design, and German will do so in classrooms that prominently display (the King James version of) the Ten Commandments. Every day from kindergarten to twelfth grade, children will be confronted with these Commandments—or face civil penalties for missing school.”
Today’s decision also sounds the alarm against growing state efforts to “experiment” with government establishments of religion: “Why would Arkansas pass an obviously unconstitutional law? Most likely because the State is part of a coordinated strategy among several states to inject Christian religious doctrine into public-school classrooms.”
“Act 573 is a direct infringement of our religious-freedom rights, and we’re pleased that the court ruled in our favor,” said Samantha Stinson, who is a plaintiff in the case along with her husband, Jonathan Stinson. “The version of the Ten Commandments mandated by Act 573 conflicts with our family’s Jewish tenets and practice, and our belief that our children should receive their religious instruction at home and within our faith community, not from government officials.”
“Today’s decision will ensure that Arkansas families – not politicians or public-school officials – get to decide how and when their children engage with religion,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “It sends a strong message across the country that the government respects the religious freedom of every student in our public schools.”
“Public schools are not Sunday schools,” said Heather L. Weaver, senior counsel for the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “Today’s decision ensures that our clients’ classrooms will remain spaces where all students, regardless of their faith, feel welcomed and can learn without worrying that they do not live up to the state’s preferred religious beliefs.”
“Today’s ruling is a victory for Arkansas families and for the First Amendment,” said John Williams, legal director for the ACLU of Arkansas. “The court saw through this attempt to impose religious doctrine in public schools and upheld every student’s right to learn free from government-imposed faith. We’re proud to stand with our clients — families of many different backgrounds — who simply want their kids to get an education.”
“We are delighted that reason and our secular Constitution have prevailed, and that children will be spared this unconstitutional proselytizing,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “Our public schools exist to educate, not to evangelize a captive audience.”
“We are heartened by today’s well-reasoned decision that underscores a foundational principle of our nation: the government cannot impose religious doctrine,” said Jon Youngwood, Co-Chair of Simpson Thacher’s Litigation Department. “This ruling is critical to protecting the First Amendment rights of students and families to make their own decisions as to whether and how they engage with religion.”
The preliminary injunction, issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, prohibits the school-district defendants, including Fayetteville School District No. 1, Springdale School District No. 50, Bentonville School District No. 6, and Siloam Springs School Dist. No. 21, from “complying with Act 573 of 2025 by displaying the Ten Commandments in public elementary- and secondary-school classrooms and libraries.”
Represented by the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, the ACLU, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel, the plaintiffs in Stinson v. Fayetteville School District No. 1 are a group of seven multifaith and nonreligious Arkansas families with children in public schools.
More information about the case is available here.
Americans United is a religious freedom advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, AU educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
Liz Hayes
Associate Vice President of Communications
[email protected]
