Appeals court reinstates Arkansas ban on teaching Critical Race Theory

Written By Apo July 16, 2025 Add Comment

SAINT PAUL, Minn. (KNWA/KFTA) — A federal appeals court has lifted an injunction imposed by a lower court previously stopping the state from enforcing a ban on the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Arkansas.

In May 2024, U.S. District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky ruled that Little Rock Central High School teachers involved in a lawsuit against the state cannot be disciplined or prevented from teaching topics regarding Critical Race Theory.

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

On Wednesday, Judge L. Steven Grasz of the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 14-page filing that students wanting to be taught Critical Race Theory cannot pressure public school districts to teach it because government entities cannot be forced to provide classroom materials or instruction it does not want to provide.

Judges James B. Loken and Raymond Gruender joined Grasz in ruling that the two teachers and students who filed the lawsuit against the state were unlikely to succeed with their free speech claim, and the injunction was therefore not appropriate.

"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," Grasz wrote in his ruling.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders applauded the ruling in a post on X on Wednesday.

"Huge news out of the 8th Circuit! Arkansas is now CLEARED to enforce its ban on Critical Race Theory and keep woke indoctrination out of schools," Sanders said in the post. "Big win for common sense, education freedom — and parents who just want our schools to teach kids how to think, not what to think."

Sen. Tom Cotton said in a post on X that the ruling was "a big victory for Arkansas students and their parents."

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