A Service of UA Little Rock

Judge Orders Limit Of Arkansas Senator's Ten Commandments Deposition

Michael Hibblen

A federal judge is temporarily restricting who can see the video deposition of a legislator who sponsored a measure requiring a Ten Commandments statue at the Arkansas Capitol in a lawsuit challenging the monument.

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a temporary order Wednesday preventing additional copies of state Sen. Jason Rapert's deposition from being made or distributed. An attorney for Rapert, a Republican who sponsored the 2015 law requiring the privately funded monument, had asked that the video only be available to attorneys in the case.

Rapert's attorney had raised concerns that an edited version of the video could be distributed online to embarrass the lawmaker.

The monument was installed at the Capitol last year, less than a year after a man crashed his car into the original statue.

Several organizations are challenging the monument's constitutionality.

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.