A Service of UA Little Rock
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Satanic Temple Allowed To Intervene In Ten Commandments Case

Ten Commandments Jason Rapert
Brian Chilson
/
Arkansas Times

A federal judge is allowing the Satanic Temple to join a lawsuit challenging a Ten Commandments monument installed near Arkansas' state Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker on Monday granted the Satanic Temple's request to intervene in the lawsuit seeking to remove the privately funded monument. A 2015 law required the state to allow its construction.

Opponents argue the government has unconstitutionally endorsement religion.

Arkansas lawmakers last year effectively blocked the Satanic Temple's proposed competing statue of Baphomet, a goat-headed, winged creature, by enacting a measure that requires monuments have legislative sponsorship.

The monument was reinstalled in April after the original version was destroyed by a man who crashed his car into it. He was acquitted in May . He also destroyed a Ten Commandments monument outside Oklahoma's state Capitol.

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.