Federal Judge Sides With Humanists on Monumental 10 Commandments Victory in Arkansas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2026

Contact: Court Beyer, cbeyer@americanhumanist.org

WASHINGTON – The American Humanist Association and its co-plaintiffs have secured a major First Amendment victory after a federal court has ruled that Arkansas’ Ten Commandments monument at the State Capitol is unconstitutional and must be removed.

In a sweeping decision issued late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker struck down the state law mandating the monument and ordered that it be taken down, concluding that both the law and the display violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The ruling marks the culmination of nearly eight years of litigation brought by the American Humanist Association (AHA), The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers, and a diverse group of Arkansas plaintiffs, alongside a parallel challenge by the ACLU of Arkansas. Separately, the Satanic Temple and its members had brought First Amendment and Equal Protection claims.

“Based on the undisputed record evidence,” the court held, “the Display Act and the Ten Commandments Monument violate the Establishment Clause.” The court further found that the state’s actions failed to avoid “excessive government entanglement with religion” and that the monument was “discriminatory and coercive.”

Arkansas lawmakers passed the Display Act in 2015, spearheaded by then-State Sen. Jason Rapert, to install a privately funded Ten Commandments monument on Capitol grounds. The monument was first installed in 2017, destroyed a day later, and replaced in 2018. Lawsuits followed immediately, challenging the display as an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion.

The court agreed, emphasizing both the inherently religious nature of the Ten Commandments and the state’s clear preference for Christianity. Evidence showed that Arkansas officials rejected requests from non-Christian groups seeking equal access to place their own monuments, reinforcing the court’s conclusion that the state engaged in unconstitutional religious favoritism.

The decision distinguishes Arkansas’ display from monuments upheld in other contexts, noting that this stand-alone religious monument does not reflect a broader historical tradition but instead advances a specific religious message.

“We celebrate this monumental victory for true religious freedom,” said American Humanist Association Legal Director Amitai Heller. “State capitals should be welcoming to all citizens, and this ruling rightfully rejects this effort to promote one specific set of religious beliefs above all others – including the right to not believe at all. This decision affirms the First Amendment’s bedrock constitutional principle of church-state separation, which ensures these very freedoms.”

“The state of Arkansas has no business telling citizens which gods to worship — or whether to worship at all. The First Commandment is a direct violation of the First Amendment,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “We are delighted the court recognizes that placing a biblical monument at the seat of government violates one of our most fundamental constitutional protections.”

FFRF Senior Counsel Sam Grover adds, “This ruling reaffirms that the government must remain neutral when it comes to religion. That neutrality is essential to protecting the rights of all citizens, regardless of their beliefs.”

The plaintiffs in the case reflect a broad cross-section of Arkansans. Anne Orsi is an agnostic atheist. Eugene Levy is a rabbi. Gale Stewart is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.. Teresa Gryder is a Wiccan. All of them have the necessity and occasion to visit the Capitol grounds regularly, and come into contact with the biblical monolith.

The order to remove the monument is stayed pending appeal.

Attorney Gerry Schulze of Little Rock, alongside attorneys from the AHA and FFRF, represented the plaintiffs.

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The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

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FFRF: Supreme Court conversion therapy ruling will harm children

Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Chiles v. Salazar unfortunately has handed another victory to litigants who continue to use our courts to mold the law to reflect their religious beliefs.

A Christian therapist, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, orchestrated a legal challenge to a Colorado law that banned licensed medical professionals from performing conversion therapy on children. Conversion therapy is the widely condemned practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity/expression to conform to heterosexual and cisgender norms. In a 8-1 decision, the court ruled against Colorado’s law.

Justice Neil Gorsuch authored the court’s opinion, which held that the conversion therapy regulation in Colorado restricted the speech of the therapist and is therefore subject to the highest First Amendment scrutiny.

“This is a disappointing decision, which likely will lead to further harm to children,” says Freedom From Religion Foundation Legal Director Patrick Elliott. “This case continues the trend of the Supreme Court favoring religious litigants under the guise of free speech.”

In its friend-of-the-court brief, FFRF argued that this case was yet another example of the Supreme Court improperly allowing religious litigants to use hypothetical and even insincere legal injuries in support of lawsuits designed to strike down laws based on nothing more than religious or ideological objections. This has been an alarming trend in recent years, and religious parties are now regularly obtaining sweeping legal precedents that are weaponizing their faith against vulnerable groups, especially the LGBTQ+ community.

Last term, the Supreme Court concluded that gender-affirming care like puberty blockers and hormone therapy can be regulated (and even banned completely) because they include more traditional health care like medication and needles. However, since conversion therapy is accomplished through talking, the court found it is not traditional health care, but “speech,” which cannot be regulated in the same way.

Although the court acknowledged that laws can regulate conduct in ways only incidentally having an impact on speech, the majority concluded that “all Ms. Chiles does is speak — and, as far as she is concerned, speech is all Colorado seeks to regulate.” As a result, the majority held that the law must be subject to strict scrutiny — a legal standard that is nearly impossible to meet.

“This conclusion is both preposterous and dangerous,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Health care, whether it involves physical procedures or mental health therapy, should be regulated based on its safety and efficacy, not religious ideology or preference.”

The lone dissenter in the Chiles decision, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, agrees. As she notes, “Chiles is not speaking in the ether; she is providing therapy to minors as a licensed health care professional.” Jackson points out that Colorado’s law “treats the talk-therapy form of conversion therapy as a prohibited medical treatment” and “all that Colorado’s law proscribes is the provision of such therapy to minors.” Jackson explains that “states can regulate the medical treatments health care professionals provide to patients without running afoul of the First Amendment, even if the regulation applies to and restricts speech based on its content.” Her dissent ends with a warning about what the majority opinion could mean:

Ultimately, because the majority plays with fire in this case, I fear that the people of this country will get burned. Before now, licensed medical professionals had to adhere to standards when treating patients: They could neither do nor say whatever they want. Largely due to such state regulation, Americans have been privileged to enjoy a long and successful tradition of high-quality medical care. … To put it bluntly, the court could be ushering in an era of unprofessional and unsafe medical care administered by effectively unsupervised health care providers. 

As Jacky Chu, a medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine and a public health student at UC Berkeley, writes, “Scientific consensus is clear: Conversion therapy efforts are not only ineffective, they significantly increase a person’s risk for depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal ideation.” As a result, every major mental health and medical association has condemned the practice. Following the Chiles decision, however, conversion therapy might not only continue, it could do so virtually unchecked by any standard of care.

The Supreme Court has done a major disservice in its decision today to the counseling profession — and to the American population at large.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is the largest national association of freethinkers, representing atheists, agnostics, and others who form their opinions about religion based on reason, rather than faith, tradition, or authority. Founded nationally in 1978 as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit, FFRF has more than 41,000 members nationwide, with members in every state and the District of Columbia. 

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FFRF: Utah’s bible mandate targets young students with religious agenda

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is castigating a newly enacted Utah law that will require public school students — beginning as early as third grade — to study bible passages as part of the state’s social studies curriculum.

Under HB312, signed into law last week by Gov. Spencer Cox, Utah public schools must incorporate selected bible passages referenced or “alluded to” in U.S. historical documents into required classroom instruction for students in grades three through 12. The law directs the state to embed these passages into core social studies standards, with implementation set for the 2028–29 school year.

“Our Constitution, not the bible, is the foundation of American law,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The Constitution makes no mention of a god or religion, much less any ‘allusions’ to the bible. Its principles are what students should be studying, such as why the First Amendment bars religious tests for public office and government establishment of religion.”

Gaylor called the new law a “mischief-making Christian nationalist piece of legislation intended to prey on the youngest captive audience of school children by deliberately giving them the false impression that our country is based on religion. It is an affront to the history of the secular roots of our nation.”

The law requires instruction to “focus … on religious texts’ literary forms, historical context, and documented influence on American civic thought and the state’s founding history rather than on theological or doctrinal questions.” But FFRF warns that requiring teachers to present and interpret biblical passages, particularly to students as young as third graders, will inevitably blur the line between education and religious endorsement.

The law risks creating confusion, division and constitutional violations in classrooms. Teachers will be placed in the untenable position of presenting religious texts in a way that puts the focus on the bible, instead of U.S. history. Students and families who are not religious may feel marginalized or coerced. Utah is home to a religiously diverse population, including millions of residents who are atheist, agnostic or religiously unaffiliated, as well as adherents of non-Christian and non-Mormon faiths.

“This law mandates the inclusion of religious scripture in public school instruction — and it does so in an unprecedented way,” says FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott. “We are not aware of another state requiring bible instruction through statute this broadly and in this level of detail.”

The standards will not be implemented until 2028, but FFRF will be closely monitoring its rollout.

FFRF is urging Utah parents with concerns about this curriculum to contact the organization.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 41,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including hundreds of members in Utah and a chapter in Salt Lake City. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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American Humanists React to SCOTUS Decision on Conversion Therapy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2026

Contact: Court Beyer, cbeyer@americanhumanist.org

WASHINGTON – The following is a statement from American Humanist Association Executive Director Fish Stark in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s majority decision to reject Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ minors:

“The Court’s decision is completely divorced from reality. The documented psychological consequences of conversion therapy are severe. Words exchanged in the context of a psychological relationship land with the weight of professional authority – and this is especially true for patients who are minors. Telling a gay teenager that their identity is something to be ‘fixed’ is not a neutral opinion – it is harmful pseudoscience.”

Amitai Heller, Legal Director at the American Humanist Association, added the following:

“Today’s decision sacrifices the health and well being of children on the altar of religious bigotry and homophobia in the medical profession. We must acknowledge that children are independent human beings with rights of their own. At a minimum, this must include the right to evidence-based, compassionate care without the imposition of a provider’s religious or bigoted viewpoint.”

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The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

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FFRF and Coalition Seeks to Block Religious Public Charter School Wilberforce Academy

The Wilberforce Academy of Knoxville Tennessee is attempting to run a religious public charter school funded by taxpayers that would provide an “explicitly biblical and Christian education.” The school filed the lawsuit The Wilberforce Academy of Knoxville v. Knox County Board of Education in order to force the Board of Education to fund their religious school.

On January 27, 2026, FFRF and a coalition filed a motion to intervene as an interested party in this case. This was on behalf of Knox County taxpayers who are all parents of current or former Knox County public school students. The court determined that these taxpayers had a legal right to participate in the lawsuit.

The intervenors, including two faith leaders, intervened in a lawsuit on the side of the defendants, the Knox County Board of Education and its members. They oppose a public charter school that will indoctrinate students into one religion. Additionally, they want to ensure that public schools remain secular and open to all. 

This lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The intervenors are represented by the ACLU, the ACLU of Tennessee, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, The Education Law Center, Morrison Foerster, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and FFRF. Senior Litigation Counsel Sam Grover and Legal Fellow Kyle J. Steinberg are serving as attorneys for the proposed intervenors. 

• Motion to Intervene
  • Press Release
• Order Granting Intervention 
  • Press Release

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Would you like to be a judge in FFRF’s 2026 student essay contests? Here’s how!

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is seeking volunteers to help judge this year’s FFRF essay scholarship contests.

FFRF proudly hosts five student essay competitions a year — four of which are judged by volunteer FFRF members and staff. We are looking for judges who have experience that make them particularly suited to assessing student essays.

Do you have a special background and interest in encouraging freethinking students? Do you enjoy reading the winning essays in issues of Freethought Today? This background can include degrees in English or writing, being a teacher (or retired teacher), writing instructor or tutor, etc. — or just other life experiences and freethought activism. For the graduate competition, it can be helpful, although it’s not a prerequisite, to have judges with advanced degrees or who have taught at the college level.

Required: Being able to read and score essays online (remotely). Judging takes place in the summer. You can indicate which competition(s) you are most interested in helping to judge. Volunteer judges will be identified and thanked by name in Freethought Today and in FFRF’s Year in Review.

Each competition typically hands out about $16,000 in total prizes, with 10 awards ranging from $3,500 for first place to $300 for 10th place, and additional $200 honorable mentions at FFRF’s discretion.

You may contact Lisa Treu with any questions at ltreu@ffrf.org. To apply: ffrf.us/essayjudge

“FFRF is honored to continue paying forward the generosity of our donors by rewarding the dedication coming from the next generation of freethinkers,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says. “If you’re as passionate as we are to elevate the voices of talented students, please consider being a judge for one or more of our essay contests!”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With more than 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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Freethought TV launches on Apple TV and iPhone, reaching millions of new viewers

Freethought TV, the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s free secular streaming channel, is now available to more than 150 million iPhone users and 30 million Apple TV owners across the United States. The highly anticipated debut on Apple’s platforms marks a major milestone for Freethought TV, which proudly offers “Free content for free minds.”

“Every time we’ve announced a new platform that carries Freethought TV, the response has often been, ‘Yeah, but when’s it going to be available on Apple?’” says Dan Barker, co-president of FFRF. “Well, that day is finally here — and we couldn’t be more excited. This expansion means our programming, which upholds the separation of religion and government while celebrating freethinkers, can now reach nearly everyone.”

Designed for smart TVs, streaming devices and mobile platforms, Freethought TV delivers a robust lineup of original and archival programming. New series include “Secular Spotlight” and “Freethought Radio In Studio,” alongside full seasons of flagship shows such as “Freethought Matters” and “Ask an Atheist.” The platform also features speeches from FFRF national conventions, showcasing prominent celebrities, authors and activists, as well as musical performances and seasonal specials.

In a major content expansion, FFRF has recently migrated its entire archive of more than 600 videos to Freethought TV, creating a comprehensive hub for secular media and commentary.

Looking ahead, FFRF plans to offer live coverage of key events, including the Congressional Reason Reception — widely recognized as the freethought community’s counterweight to the National Prayer Breakfast.

The Freethought TV app is easy to install and includes user-friendly features such as closed captioning and customizable watchlists. For more information or to download the app, visit: freethoughttv.ffrf.org/

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 42,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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FFRF stops Minn. school bus driver from distributing religious messages to students

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has ensured that contracted bus drivers in Minnesota’s Milaca Public Schools system will no longer hand out to students religious messages attached to candy canes.

A concerned parent of a Milaca Elementary School student reported that on Dec. 22, 2025, their child’s school bus driver gave students “WWJD” (What Would Jesus Do) bracelets and a piece of paper with a candy cane tied to it. The paper had a religious message, with the candy cane making the letter “J”:
Jesus is my Savior who gave his life for me. Because of Him each of us can ever more be free. Jesus is the greatest gift the world has ever seen. So I’ll talk of Him at Christmas time, and all the days in between.

The parent expressed their frustration to FFRF about school bus drivers passing out religious messages and bracelets to students, because they are not raising their children to believe in religion. The parent was upset that “their kids might be treated poorly because they do not have the same religious beliefs as others.” 

FFRF was ready to fight on behalf of the nonreligious family to keep divisive religion out of our public school system. 

“In this case, the district violated parents’ trust by allowing a school bus driver to distribute religious messages and bracelets to students while acting in their official role as a school employee,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to Superintendent Dave Wedin. “This not only violates students’ First Amendment rights, it violates parents’ constitutional rights to direct their children’s religious or nonreligious upbringing.” 

The distribution of “WWJD” bracelets and a message saying “Jesus is my savior” gave the impression that the district favored religion over nonreligion and Christianity over all other faiths. Furthermore, religious distributions in school settings, including on the school bus, coercively encourage students to take, read and reflect upon the religious message. Students (such as the child of the parent who approached FFRF) who see other students taking the religious items at the encouragement of an authority figure will no doubt feel pressured to take the items to conform. This needlessly marginalizes students who do not believe in Christianity, including members of minority faiths and those who are nonreligious. As much as 38 percent of the American population is non-Christian, including the 29 percent of Minnesotans who are religiously unaffiliated and another 7 percent who belong to non-Christian faiths. Additionally, more than half of Generation Z (those born after 1996) is non-Christian, including 43 percent who are nonreligious. 

Due to FFRF’s intervention, the district has thankfully worked to correct the issue.

An email from Superintendent Wedin reported that the district had conducted an internal investigation to prevent further incidents.

“By working [with the contracted bus company], we were able to identify the individual involved,” Wedin wrote. “The company has addressed the matter appropriately with the driver to prevent any future occurrences.” Wedin also reported a proactive effort of speaking with other contracted transportation providers to reiterate the district’s secular expectations.

FFRF is pleased to resolve another state/church violation, making certain that public school students of all religions and no religions feel equally welcome.

“FFRF knows that students’ rights must be protected year-round; children cannot have religion forced onto them just because of a particular annual observance,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Religion in public schools creates walls between children and emphasizes differences. Religious indoctrination is a matter that must be left to personal conscience and parental guidance.” 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 800 members and two chapters in Minnesota. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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FFRF slams Texas Lt. Gov. Patrick’s ‘religious liberty’ committee 

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s newly created Senate Select Committee on Religious Liberty is a thinly veiled effort to advance a Christian nationalist agenda.

Patrick announced the formation of the committee on March 23, claiming that it will “educate Texans” about their so-called “God-given religious liberty rights” and ensure those rights are not infringed. All committee members except one are Republican and all appear to be affiliated with conservative Christianity.

“Just like President Trump’s so-called Religious Liberty Commission, which Patrick chairs, this committee isn’t about protecting religious liberty — it’s about undermining true religious freedom,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Religious freedom under our secular Constitution means the right not just to believe, but to disbelieve. It does not mean the right to impose your religion on others or to claim exemptions from laws that protect public health and civil rights because of your religion.”

The committee’s mandate raises concerns about its purpose. With a leadership structure closely aligned with Patrick’s political priorities, the body appears designed to promote a predetermined ideological outcome rather than conduct a balanced or meaningful review.

FFRF warns that Patrick’s framing of religious liberty as “God-given”  reveals that he appears to be unaware that the Constitution itself is godless and its only references to religion are exclusionary, such as barring any religious test for public office. Sovereignty is invested not in a deity but in “We the People,” and our democracy runs by consent of the governed — not whatever deity Patrick subscribes to.

FFRF notes that similar efforts across the country have been used to justify discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals, undermine reproductive rights and erode the all-American principle of separation between church and state.

FFRF emphasizes that Texas is home to a religiously diverse population, including millions of residents who are atheist, agnostic or religiously unaffiliated, as well as adherents of minority faiths. Any government project that elevates one religious perspective over others marginalizes large segments of the population.

“There can be no religious freedom without the freedom to dissent,” adds Gaylor. “When religion enters government, watch out!”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation will monitor the committee’s actions and oppose any efforts that threaten the constitutional rights of Texans.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including 1,800 members and a chapter in Texas. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

Read this press release online.

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FFRF successfully halted the teaching of creationism at a Colorado public charter school. (April 2026)

Colorado —

FFRF successfully halted the teaching of creationism in the science curriculum at a Colorado public charter school.

FFRF wrote to the CEO of James Irwin Charter Schools after a concerned parent reported that James Irwin Charter Middle School in Colorado Springs was planning to include “intelligent design” and “creationist theory” alongside evolution in its eighth-grade science curriculum. According to an email sent to parents by the school’s science lead, the evolution unit proposed to “teach Intelligent Design and evolution” and “present a creationist theory and an evolutionist theory regarding natural selection, adaptation and evolution.”

FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district explaining that teaching creationism or intelligent design in public school science classes violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

“Promoting creationism, intelligent design or any of its offshoots in public schools is unlawful because creationism is based solely on religion, not scientific fact,” her letter stated. FFRF noted that the Supreme Court and federal courts have consistently rejected attempts to introduce religious doctrine into public school science classes, including the landmark ruling in Edwards v. Aguillard (1987) and the federal decision in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (2005), which struck down policies promoting creationism and intelligent design.

FFRF’s intervention had the desired result. Following its letter, the school system investigated the matter and scrapped the pseudoscience portion of the curriculum.

“Please know that this practice has ceased,” CEO Rob Daugherty wrote in a response to FFRF. “Intelligent design will not be taught in the middle school or in any other James Irwin Charter School as part of a science curriculum.”

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