Federal judge says Arkansas Capitol Ten Commandments Monument is religious, not secular
By Adam Roberts
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LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (KHBS, KHOG) — A federal judge has ruled that the Ten Commandments Monument at the Arkansas State Capitol violates the U.S. Constitution.
The state first installed a monument in June 2017, but a driver destroyed it. He was sent to a mental health hospital.
A new monument was installed in April 2018.
The judge ruled on Tuesday that the monument violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
She found that the monument’s purpose and nature is religious, not secular. It cited statements made by Sen. Jason Rapert, who was the primary sponsor of the bill that established the monument.
The state has claimed the monument was erected to honor the Ten Commandments’ historic nature. The judge found that this monument doesn’t do that.
“Nothing in the Display Act requires that the State of Arkansas provide any explanation about the purpose of the Ten Commandments Monument or the manner in which the Ten Commandments provide the basic principles of the American system of government, although the legislative findings in the enacted Display Act include a finding that the Ten Commandments are one of many sources influencing the development of what has become modern law,” the judge wrote in her opinion.
Other groups proposed their own monuments. They included the Satanic Temple, which wanted to install a permanent Baphomet monument. That proposal was rejected.
The judge ordered that the monument be removed from the state capitol. However, put that order on hold to give the state a change to appeal.
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