More than 12 hours after a preliminary injunction of Arkansas Act 573 was issued in federal court, Pine Bluff’s Pastors on Patrol ceremonially posted the first framed copy of the Ten Commandments inside the halls of Pine Bluff High School’s Jack Robey campus Tuesday.
The pastors, who volunteer in the local schools as part of the Pine Bluff Faith Community Coalition Ministerial Alliance, gathered for the symbolic move the morning after Judge Timothy Brooks of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas issued the injunction in a 35-page ruling in the case of seven families against four northwest Arkansas school districts.
“It’s very important for the children to have some kind of morale standard,” said the Rev. Leon Jones, one of the Pastors on Patrol. “We don’t recommend any teachers teaching it, but if the children can see it and read it for themselves, it will get into their minds and hearts. It will change their whole lives. I think they’ll know then they have something that says ‘Thou shalt not’ do certain things, things they come up on, on a regular basis.”
The families of Samantha and Jonathan Stinson, Stephen Caldwell, Joseph Armendariz, Talara and Shane Taylor, Carol Vella, Daniel Rix and Leah Bailey sued the Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville and Siloam Springs school districts on June 11, charging that Act 573 violates civil rights under the First and 14th Amendments. The stay is limited to the four districts, “pending a final disposition of the issues on the merits,” Brooks concluded in the order.
Pastor Jesse Turner emailed late Monday that the Pastors on Patrol would present the poster at the Jack Robey campus, where PBHS students temporarily attend while construction of the high school at its original West 11th Avenue location is ongoing, as well as 34th Avenue Elementary School. He called again for the poster to be presented after getting clearance from a state legislator whom he said got clarification from state Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office that the injunction was not a blanket ruling across the state.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“We wanted to keep our commitment to putting them in the high school,” Turner said.
A request for comment has been made to Griffin’s press representatives, but Turner said he hopes Griffin will decide to appeal the ruling.
When asked about the injunction Monday night, Turner responded, “I was not aware of this. It is unfortunate that our scholars face such discouragement when they need all the encouragement they can get. The judge should have set aside ideological views and considered what truly helps our scholars. Anything that can inspire more positive behavior would benefit our scholars.”
The Ministerial Alliance hosted a meeting with other faith leaders July 28 to plan how the 16-inch by 20-inch framed copies of the Ten Commandments — the directives God gave to Moses in Exodus 20:3-17 — would be delivered in Arkansas K-12 schools and classrooms. Turner said during a July 3 news conference near the Jefferson County Courthouse the Ten Commandments are the basis for positive behavioral intervention and support, a method to improve conduct among students in local schools.
About 800 posters will be framed and delivered to local schools to be placed in each classroom once they are framed, Turner said.
“As the law stands, we’re going to do our part to fulfill the tenets of the law,” said PBHS Principal Ronald Laurent, who helped display one of the posters. “If it changes, we’ll adjust. The Ten Commandments are a part of Judeo-Christian beliefs, so it’s OK.”
District Superintendent Jennifer Barbaree, who did not attend the ceremonial posting at the Robey campus, said following a teacher convocation last month she is a Christian and believes in the Ten Commandments. Asked for her thoughts on Act 573, Barbaree said the district would post the Commandments in each classroom per the law, expressing thanks to the Ministerial Alliance for providing the framed posters.
Act 573 also calls for an 11-by 14-inch display of “In God We Trust,” the national motto found on U.S. currency.
