Arkansas HB 1228, also known as the Conscience Protection Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, is a law in the state of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

that aims to increase "judicial scrutiny" in cases involving religious beliefs. Opponents of the law say that it will allow for lawful discrimination of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

people. The law was passed by the Arkansas Senate on March 31, 2015. The next day, Governor Asa Hutchinson announced he would not sign the bill as written, instructing the legislature to make changes to its language. The final version was passed and signed into law as Act 975.

Background

Politifact PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times'' ...

reports that "Conservatives in Indiana and elsewhere see the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as a vehicle for fighting back against the legalization of same-sex marriage." In 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered a halt to the issuing of same-sex marriage licenses, Kansas rescinded an LGBT anti-discrimination order, and Arkansas prohibited anti-discrimination codes being enacted by cities and local governments. The bill was sponsored by Republican state representative

Bob Ballinger Bob Ballinger (born January 31, 1974) is an American attorney and politician. He served in the Arkansas General Assembly from 2013 to 2023. Early life and education Ballinger was born in Bremerton, Washington and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He ...

and Republican state Senator

Bart Hester Bart Franklin Hester (born December 9, 1977) is an American politician serving as a member of the Arkansas Senate from the 1st district. Elected in November 2012, he assumed office on January 14, 2013. Early life and education A native of Conwa ...

Reaction

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

, and

Acxiom Acxiom (pronounced "ax-ee-um") is a Conway, Arkansas-based database marketing company. The company collects, analyzes and sells customer and business information used for targeted advertising campaigns. The company was formed in 2018 when Acxiom ...

have publicly criticized the law, which is similar to

Indiana SB 101 Indiana Senate Bill 101, titled the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), is a law in the U.S. state of Indiana, which allows individuals and companies to assert as a defense in legal proceedings that their exercise of religion has been, o ...

, a law passed in Indiana a few days earlier. Walmart CEO

Doug McMillon Carl Douglas McMillon (born October 17, 1966) is an American businessman, and the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Walmart Inc. He sits on the retailer's board of directors. Having first joined the company as a summer associate i ...

called on Governor Hutchinson to veto the legislation. Hundreds of protesters rallied at Arkansas' Capitol to oppose the bill. The law inspired the "End Hate" installation series by Arkansas artist V. L. Cox, which was installed on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol and subsequently traveled the nation.

Similar bills in other states

A similar bill in Georgia has stalled, with constituents expressing concern to Georgia lawmakers about the financial impacts of such a bill. A meeting on the bill was cancelled. Supporters of the bill have stated that the bill would be "gutted" by the inclusion of anti-discrimination clause. The convention industry in Georgia has stated that a $15 million business could be at risk of boycotts. After the ''

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. ''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.'', 573 U.S. 682 (2014), is a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision in United States corporate law by the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court allow ...

'' decision, the definition of religious beliefs has expanded from the beliefs of individual employees to the practices of

closely held A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

for-profit corporations. Georgia State Rep. Stacey Evans, R-Smryna, proposed an amendment to change references of "persons" to "individuals," which would have eliminated corporations from the protection of the bill. State Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, noted that such a move would negate the "closely held corporation" protection granted last year by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Hobby Lobby case. The amendment was rejected. Texas SJR 10 and HJR 55 plan to introduce a similar bill that changes the language from "substantially burden" to "burden". The Texas Business Association voted to oppose the bills. Molly White introduced a bill that would expressly grant private businesses the right to “refuse to provide goods or services to any person based on a sincerely held religious belief or on conscientious grounds.” A similar bill in North Carolina has stalled, with commentators predicting a backlash similar to Indiana's.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Full text of HB 1228Full text of Act 975
LGBT rights in Arkansas Legal history of Arkansas 2015 in American law 2015 in Arkansas 2015 in LGBT history 2015 in religion Religion in Arkansas