Fifth Circuit: Too Soon to Rule on Constitutionality of Louisiana Law Requiring Public Schools to Display Ten Commandments

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In a victory for religious freedom and church-state separation, a federal district court issued a permanent 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 wrote, “Act 573 must be permanently enjoined. Failing to do so would violate the Establishment Clause rights of all Arkansas public-school children and their parents and also violate Plaintiffs’ Free Exercise rights.” 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, Brooks explained: “Act 573’s purpose is only to display a sacred, religious text in a prominent place in every public-school classroom. 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.” Brooks added: “Nothing could possibly justify hanging the Ten Commandments—with or without historical context—in a calculus, chemistry, French, or woodworking class, to name a few. And the words ‘curriculum,’ ‘school board,’ ‘teacher,’ or ‘educate’ don’t appear anywhere in Act 573. Accordingly, there is no need to strain our minds to imagine a constitutional display mandated by Act 573. One doesn’t exist.” “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 ruling is a resounding affirmation that public schools are not Sunday schools. The Constitution protects every student’s right to learn free from government-imposed religious doctrine,” said John C. Williams, legal director for ACLU of Arkansas. “Arkansas lawmakers cannot sidestep the First Amendment by mandating that a particular version of the Ten Commandments be displayed in every classroom. As the court recognized, this law served no educational purpose and instead placed the authority of the state behind a specific religious message. We’re grateful that the court has permanently blocked this unconstitutional law and protected the religious freedom of Arkansas students and families of all faiths and none.” “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,” said Heather L. Weaver, senior counsel for the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “Today’s decision honors the Constitution's promise of church-state separation and religious freedom,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “It will ensure that Arkansas families – not politicians or public-school officials – get to decide how and when their children engage with religion." “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.” “Today’s thoughtful decision reinforces a bedrock principle of our constitutional system: the government may not compel adherence to any religious doctrine,” said Jon Youngwood, co‑chair of Simpson Thacher’s Litigation Department. “This ruling is a critical affirmation of the First Amendment rights of students and families to decide for themselves whether—and in what ways—they engage with religion.” The injunction, issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, permanently prohibits the school-district defendants, including Bentonville School District No. 6, Conway School District, Fayetteville School District No. 1, Lakeside School District No. 9, Siloam Springs School Dist. No. 21, and Springdale School District No. 50, from “complying with Act 573.” Last year, the court issued a preliminary injunction temporarily barring the school district defendants from displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms and libraries. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 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 10 multifaith and nonreligious Arkansas families with children in public schools.

OKLAHOMA CITY — A coalition of civil rights organizations today urged the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board to reject Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School’s application to form the nation’s first religious public charter school, which would be a flagrant violation of Oklahomans’ religious freedom and the constitutional promise of church-state separation, as well as Oklahoma’s guarantee that public schools be open to all. In a letter to the board, the coalition explained the many ways Ben Gamla’s proposed school would violate state and federal law by indoctrinating students in a specific religion and discriminating against students, staff, and, potentially, parents. The groups also pointed to substantial deficiencies in required elements throughout the application. The letter was authored by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, Education Law Center, Freedom From Religion Foundation and Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. Most of these organizations represented Oklahoma public school advocates, parents, and faith leaders in a 2023 lawsuit to block Oklahoma from creating and funding St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, a proposed religious public charter school that was ruled unconstitutional by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2024, a decision the U.S. Supreme Court let stand in 2025. In today’s letter, the groups detail how Ben Gamla’s proposal would similarly violate the U.S. Constitution, the Oklahoma Constitution, the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act and the board’s own regulations, which make clear that charter schools are public schools that must be secular and open to all students and cannot use religion as a license to discriminate in admissions or employment. “Establishing the nation’s first religious public school would be a dangerous sea change for American democracy,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. “We urge the board to protect public education and the religious freedom of Oklahoma taxpayers and students by rejecting Ben Gamla’s application. Public schools aren’t and should never be religious schools.” “The very idea of a religious public school is a constitutional oxymoron,” said Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “We hope the board rejects this application and safeguards the religious liberty of Oklahoma students, families, and taxpayers.” “Although the Oklahoma Supreme Court has already made crystal clear that a religious charter school would violate the law, we are again faced with the need to oppose the establishment and public funding of such a school in the state,” said Jessica Levin, litigation director at Education Law Center. “We are proud to stand with a large and diverse group of people in Oklahoma and across the country who will fight to maintain a secular public education system that is open to all and rejects discrimination of any kind.” “Public charter schools are public schools, and public schools must be secular,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “Allowing a religious charter school would open the door to government-funded religious indoctrination and discrimination, undermining the religious freedom of students, families and taxpayers alike. Oklahoma has already seen where this road leads, and there is no lawful basis to repeat that mistake.” “Public dollars should strengthen public schools that welcome every child, not be diverted to religious institutions that exclude or indoctrinate,” said Brent Rowland, interim executive director and legal director at Oklahoma Appleseed. “The Constitution’s separation of church and state protects both religious freedom and public education. When the state funds a religious charter school, it violates that promise and drains scarce resources from the neighborhood public schools that most Oklahoma families rely on. At a moment when our communities are desperate for meaningful investment in public education, Oklahoma officials should reject this application and uphold the constitutional guardrails that serve all students.” Attorneys authoring the letter include Alex J. Luchenitser and Luke Anderson at Americans United; Daniel Mach at the ACLU; Jessica Levin, Wendy Lecker, Patrick Cremin and Katrina Reichert at ELC; Samuel T. Grover and Kyle J. Steinberg at FFRF; and Brent L. Rowland and Morgan Bandy at Oklahoma Appleseed.

KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Five taxpayers in Knox County, Tennessee, who support public education and church-state separation have been granted permission by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee to intervene in The Wilberforce Academy of Knoxville v. Knox County Board of Education. The court determined that these taxpayers, all parents of current or former Knox County public school students, had a legal right to participate in the lawsuit, which centers on the constitutionality of a religious public charter school attempting to open in Knox County. These taxpayers are now intervenor-defendants in the lawsuit. In response to their motion filed last week, the court ruled that the parent taxpayers “demonstrated direct and concrete interests in: (1) preventing the potential unlawful use of taxpayer funds to establish religion and (2) ensuring that their children’s education is not diminished by the diversion of funds to religious schools.” The court also noted the serious stakes of the case and the fact that no other party planned to defend the constitutionality of Tennessee law forbidding religious charter schools. The intervenors are represented by Education Law Center, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, Freedom From Religion Foundation, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the law firm Morrison Foerster pro bono. The counsel team issued the following statement: “There is no question that Knox County taxpayers, including our clients, have a substantial interest in preventing their tax dollars from illegally funding a religious public school. Likewise, public school parents have a clear interest in preventing already-scarce funding from being diverted away from their children’s schools to pay for religious instruction. “We are pleased that neither side opposed our clients’ participation in the Wilberforce Academy lawsuit, and that the court immediately recognized our clients’ right to assert a vigorous defense of the laws forbidding religious public education. “Someone needs to stand up for the cherished and longstanding American principle of church-state separation and for the public schools that are the cornerstone of our democracy. We’re proud to represent these clients, who have stepped up to do just that.”

ACLU, ACLU of Tennessee, and partners are representing six Knox County taxpayers dedicated to supporting public education and the separation of church and state who oppose Wilberforce Academy’s effort to force the county to authorize and fund it as a religious public charter school. The taxpayers, public school parents and faith and community leaders, object to their tax dollars funding a public charter school that will indoctrinate students into one religion, in violation of Tennessee and federal law and our nation’s longstanding commitment to the separation of church and state. They want to ensure that public schools remain secular and open to all.