The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that state law barred local governments from enacting ordinances banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but justices did not address the law’s constitutionality. Rutledge cited an Arkansas law forbidding cities and counties from extending nondiscrimination protections beyond those classes identified at the state level. Fayetteville and several other cities then passed ordinances in response to state law. Left undecided was whether the underlying state law passed constitutional muster. The ACLU filed a brief in support of the Fayetteville ordinance.

Source: Huffington Post February 23, 2017 20:15 UTC