Judge denies part of Arkansas LEARNS lawsuit, partially sides with plaintiffs

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A judge has denied part of a lawsuit that requests a federal court to block a section of the Arkansas LEARNS Act, while also partly siding with the ones who filed the lawsuit.

In a 50-page ruling, the judge ordered that the Central High School teachers involved in the lawsuit against the state cannot be disciplined or prevented from teaching topics regarding Critical Race Theory.

The lawsuit claims that section 16 of the LEARNS Act is unconstitutionally vague and violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

The state used the section as part of its decision last year not to count pilot AP African American Studies courses toward state graduation requirements.

The state argues that the law isn’t to prohibit certain topics or ideas, but instead looks to prevent teachers from forcing indoctrination on a student and punishing them for not accepting those ideas.

The full article is available at ozarksfirst.com.

(Story by Chris Counts, ozarksfirst.com)