The federal judge tasked with presiding over the LEARNS Act lawsuit has updated the disclosure he made last week that his family plans to file for a school voucher created by the act, saying the family will not seek a voucher this year but intends to do so later.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky disclosed last Friday his family will seek a school choice voucher but said he did not think that required to him to recuse himself from presiding over the lawsuit. On Thursday, Rudofsky updated the disclosure.
"To keep the parties up-to-date, it now appears that my family will not be applying for an Education Freedom Account this year, but (at least presently) we have the intent to do so in future years," Rudofsky wrote.
Rudofsky also granted an extension to allow the parties to file a motion asking the judge to recuse himself from the case. In his March 29 disclosure, Rudofsky gave the parties seven days to file a motion asking for the judge to rescue from the case. On Thursday, Rudofsky gave the parties until April 12 to file a recusal motion after Austin Porter Jr., an attorney for the plaintiffs, asked the court for additional time.
The lawsuit seeks to stop implementation of the LEARNS Act, after it was used as justification to revoke AP African American studies from the state's course code. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, claims the LEARNS Act violates the First Amendment by regulating free speech in classrooms, and that it violates the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.
At the center of the lawsuit is Section 16 of the LEARNS Act that calls for the Arkansas Department of Education to review classroom materials that "would indoctrinate students with ideologies, such as Critical Race Theory." The law calls for the secretary of education to "amend, annul, or alter the rules, policies, materials, or communications that are considered prohibited indoctrination and that conflict with the principle of equal protection under the law."
The LEARNS Act was used as justification to revoke AP African American studies from the course code listing, which means students who take the class cannot receive credit that goes toward their core graduation requirements or receive state aid to help pay for the end of year exam.
The lawsuit is being brought by Ruthie Walls, who teaches AP African American Studies at Little Rock Central High School. Other plaintiffs include Walls' students and their parents: Sadie Annabella and Jennifer Reynolds; and Gisele and Chandra Williams Davis. The defendants are Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Education Secretary Jacob Oliva, who are represented by the Arkansas attorney general's office.
Attorney General Tim Griffin said in a statement earlier this week he does not believe Rudofsky should recuse himself from the case as the lawsuit does not challenge the part of the LEARNS Act the federal judge said his family will seek to participate in.
Rudofsky was nominated to the federal bench in 2019 by President Donald Trump. Before becoming a federal judge, Rudofsky worked as Arkansas' solicitor general and as an attorney for Walmart.
The case was originally assigned to Chief U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker, but she recused herself without stating a reason.
Judges are assigned cases through a random selection process, according to the website for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.