Arkansas wins lawsuit against removing CRT from public schools

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Arkansas’s ban on teaching critical race theory in public school classrooms.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders originally signed the ban into law, along with a package of new education legislation, in March 2023.

In March 2024, two teachers and two students filed suit against the ban, arguing it amounted to a restriction of their First Amendment rights. A preliminary injunction was granted in the case, which the state appealed. 

In the July 16 ruling, the three-judge panel roundly rejected the students’ argument and vacated the preliminary injunction, allowing the ban to proceed. 

“Since the Free Speech Clause does not give the students the right to compel the government to say something it does not wish to, they cannot show a likelihood of success,” the judges wrote. “Just as ordinary citizens cannot require the government to express a certain viewpoint or maintain a prior message, students cannot oblige the government to maintain a particular curriculum or offer certain materials in that curriculum based on the Free Speech Clause.” 

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin lauded the decision as a win for parents and voters in the state who were fighting to keep their children’s curriculum out of the hands of unelected bureaucrats. 

“With its ruling today, the 8th Circuit continues to ensure that the responsibility of setting the curriculum is in the hands of democratically elected officials who, by nature, are responsive to voters,” he said. 

Mike Laux, an attorney for the students, expressed apprehension and vowed to continue pushing his clients’ case forward where possible. 

“It gives us pause and concern about a steady erosion of individual rights and protections in this great country. Nonetheless, major aspects of this lawsuit remain viable, and they will proceed in due course.”