Arkansas appeals removal order for Capitol Ten Commandments

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin asked a federal appeals court to reverse a ruling that ordered the removal of the Ten Commandments monument on the state Capitol grounds. The monument was constitutional and should be allowed to stand, the First Liberty Institute said in a statement Friday. The nonprofit legal organization, which focuses on religious liberty cases, worked with Griffin’s office to file an appeal last week in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In April, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker blocked a 2015 law that permitted the religious statue to be displayed on the property. She ruled that the Ten Commandments monument promoted and favored Christianity. The Arkansas State Legislature authorized the privately funded monument in 2017, but it was almost immediately destroyed by a driver. A replacement was installed a year later. While Baker ordered the monument to be removed, her decision has not taken effect pending the appeal.

How is the appeal being argued? Baker’s decision ignored Supreme Court precedent, the First Liberty Institute said in a court filing. Additionally, Ten Commandments monuments have been part of a longstanding national tradition. The monuments acknowledge the Ten Commandments’ historical influence on the founding of American law, First Liberty said.

Who sued over Arkansas’ law? The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas represented a group comprising atheists, Wiccans, the Satanic Temple, agnostics, a Rabbi, and others who sued over the law in 2018. They argued the law violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause, which prohibits the government from favoring one religion over others.

Dig deeper: Read my report on the district judge’s order to remove the statue.