St. Louis, Mo. — The National Education Association (NEA) and the Arkansas Education Association (AEA) have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, urging the court to affirm the district court’s injunction blocking Arkansas Act 573, a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public-school classroom across the state. The Associations are represented in this matter by Democracy Forward and the National Education Association.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas previously granted a preliminary injunction blocking Act 573 from taking effect, finding for a group of seven multifaith Arkansas families. The state of Arkansas appealed the district court decision, which is now being litigated before the Eighth Circuit.
In their brief, the education associations argue that Act 573 violates the First Amendment and places teachers in an impossible position, forcing them to navigate religious questions and classroom disputes in ways that risk violating both the Establishment Clause, which prohibits the government from endorsing, promoting, or coercing religious belief, and the Free Exercise Clause, which protects individuals’ rights to practice their faith and safeguards parents’ right to direct their children’s religious upbringing.
For decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that public school classrooms are uniquely sensitive environments in which students are captive audiences and particularly susceptible to subtle religious coercion. The brief argues that Act 573 disregards that reality and invites precisely the harms the First Amendment was designed to prevent.
“The First Amendment makes clear that Arkansas cannot mandate the display of overtly religious doctrine in every classroom,” said Bradley Girard, Senior Counsel at Democracy Forward. “Public school educators are not theologians, and they should not be forced into daily religious debates that risk coercion or interference with families’ religious beliefs. We are honored to represent educators and education associations for speaking out against government-mandated religion.”
“Public schools should be a place where all students feel safe, welcome and seen. Arkansas’s Ten Commandments mandate does the opposite. It doesn’t help students succeed, it invites division and places educators in an untenable position,” said National Education Association President Becky Pringle. “Public school educators are committed to serving students from all faiths and backgrounds. Forcing the display of a specific religious text in every classroom undermines that commitment and risks entangling educators in religious disputes that have no place in public education. The law protects both religious freedom and public schools, and we urge the court to uphold those protections.”
The brief explains that while the state argues the law does not require teachers to “teach” the Ten Commandments, the reality of classroom life makes that claim untenable. Students will naturally ask questions about the religious text displayed in their classrooms. Teachers responding to those questions will face a constitutional minefield: they cannot appear to endorse religious doctrine, pressure students into belief, favor one faith over another, or undermine parents’ religious teachings.
The associations also emphasize the practical consequences of Act 573. Teachers trained to lecture in math, science, music, and history should not be expected to navigate complex theological discussions.
The case is Stinson et al. v. Fayetteville School District et al., and the legal team at Democracy Forward in this case includes Bradley Girard, Corenza Jean, and Catherine Carroll.
Read the filing here.
