The Arkansas State Constitution currently bans any “person who denies the being of God” from holding a position in any government office or from testifying in court.
Article 19 § 1 of the state's constitution states "No person who denies the beign of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any Court." Arkansas is accompanied by Tennessee and Texas in officially discriminating against atheists.
A resolution to repeal the prohibition is now before the state's General Assembly and has been referred to committee. State Representative Richard Carroll of North Little Rock submitted the bill, HJR1009, on Wednesday that seeks to repeal the prohibition.
Rep. Carroll, a Catholic, is newly elected member of the Green Party and is now the highest-ranking publicly elected members of the Green Party in the United States.