US court rules Arkansas can keep classroom ban on critical race theory

​​​​​​​By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - A federal appeals court cleared the way Thursday for Arkansas state officials to enforce their ban on teachers instructing students on critical race theory in the classroom as the case plays out in court.

The three-judge panel on the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the First Amendment, which enshrines free speech protections in the US, does not grant students the right to demand instruction on a particular topic. The appellate court lifted a lower court's preliminary injunction, allowing the ban to take effect.

"Students do not possess a supercharged right to receive information in public schools that alters these principles," the panel wrote in a 14-page ruling, referring to the role of free and fair elections in shaping government policy.

"Just as ordinary citizens cannot require the government to express a certain viewpoint or maintain a prior message, students cannot oblige the government to maintain a particular curriculum or offer certain materials in that curriculum based on the Free Speech Clause," they added.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) suggests that racism and other prejudices are social constructs embedded in legal systems and laws, rather than being the product of individual biases.

It is not typically taught in K-12 education, where the case in question emanates from, but state officials have kept the definition of CRT within the LEARNS Act, the law that is being challenged, vague amid a wider national Republican push to restrict how race is taught.

State Attorney General Tim Griffin lauded the ruling, saying it is "an important win for the LEARNS Act and for the rule of law."

"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," Griffin added.