Arkansas Can Enforce Critical Race Theory Ban in Classrooms, Appeals Court Rules

The decision ensures that school curriculum will be set by democratically elected officials, said Arkansas attorney general.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivers the Republican response to the State of the Union address by then-President Joe Biden in Little Rock, Ark., on Feb. 7, 2023. Al Drago/Pool/Getty Images

Arkansas can enforce its ban on Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the state’s public schools, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said in a July 16 ruling, while dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims of free speech violation.

In January 2023, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order banning indoctrination and CRT in schools.

CRT is “antithetical to the traditional American values of neutrality, equality, and fairness. It emphasizes skin color as a person’s primary characteristic, thereby resurrecting segregationist values, which America has fought so hard to reject,” the order said.

Last year, Little Rock Central High School teacher Ruthie Walls, two students, and two parents sued Sanders and other officials, claiming a violation of the freedom of speech. A district court sided with the plaintiffs and issued a preliminary injunction against the executive order. Arkansas officials then appealed the injunction.

On July 16, the Eighth Circuit court sided with Arkansas, dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims.

The plaintiffs argued that Sanders’ executive order banning teachers from offering classroom materials and instruction about CRT amounted to a violation of the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause, according to the court document.

However, Arkansas officials argued the Free Speech Clause does not allow students to compel the government to provide certain instruction or classroom materials in public schools.

“We agree with the Arkansas officials,” said the court.

Since students accept that the instruction and materials they are seeking constitute government speech, this is fatal to their case, as the government’s own speech “is not restricted by the Free Speech Clause.”

“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. We therefore vacate the preliminary injunction,” the ruling said.

The court highlighted that its decision on the issue does not minimize the plaintiffs’ concerns about a government exercising its discretion on a public school curriculum, based on ideological interests over educational ones.

However, the Constitution does not give courts the authority to block government actions on “mere policy disagreements,” it added.

Sanders welcomed the ruling, calling it “huge news” in a July 16 post on X.

The court decision is a “big win for common sense, education freedom—and parents who just want our schools to teach kids how to think, not what to think,” she said.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they were disappointed with the ruling.

“It gives us pause and concern about a steady erosion of individual rights and protections in this great country,” attorney Mike Laux said in a statement.

“Nonetheless, major aspects of this lawsuit remain viable, and they will proceed in due course.”

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin called the court decision an “important win” for the rule of law, according to a July 16 statement published by his office.

If the government could be compelled to provide specific classroom materials, “school curriculum would effectively be set by litigious actors and the courts,” he said.

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

The Eighth Circuit court has remanded the case back to the District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, where Griffin plans to “vigorously defend” the government, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.