Arkansas Day Care Ass'n, Inc. v. Clinton

577 F. Supp. 388, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11430
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Arkansas
DecidedNovember 22, 1983
DocketLR C 83 192
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 577 F. Supp. 388 (Arkansas Day Care Ass'n, Inc. v. Clinton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arkansas Day Care Ass'n, Inc. v. Clinton, 577 F. Supp. 388, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11430 (E.D. Ark. 1983).

Opinion

ORDER

OVERTON, District Judge.

On February 23, 1983, the Governor of Arkansas signed into law Act 245 of 1983, entitled, “An Act to Provide for Religious Exemptions for Religious Child Care Facilities that are now required to be Licensed Under the Child Care Facility Licensing Act; to Provide Procedures by which Religious Child Care Facilities May be Exempt From the Child Care Facility Licensing and for Other Purposes.” The complaint, filed March 4, 1983, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, challenges the constitutional validity of Act 245 and its predecessors, Act 518 of 1981 and Act 123 of 1973 on three grounds.

First, plaintiffs contend the Acts constitute an establishment of religion prohibited by the First Amendment to the Constitution which is made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. Second, they argue the Acts are impermissibly vague and violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Third, they allege the Acts discriminate against nonexempt child care facilities in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The plaintiffs include Arkansas Day Care Association, Inc., a nonprofit corporation of proprietary day care providers; Betty Caldwell, president of the National Association for the Education of Young People; and Mike and Karen Welch and Timothy and Vicki Martin, parents and next friends of minor children who attended unlicensed day care centers.

The defendants include Governor Bill Clinton, the Arkansas Child Care Facility Review Board and its members.

The Texarkana Baptist Orphanage, a religious child care facility exempt under Act 518 of 1981, was allowed to intervene on August 1, 1983.

All parties moved for summary judgment. An evidentiary hearing was scheduled for August 11, 1983, but the parties elected to stand on the record. The case is ripe for adjudication.

Legislative History

A. Act m of 1969.

In 1969, the Arkansas Legislature enacted the Child Care Facility Licensing Act, codified as Ark.Stat.Ann. § 83-901 et seq. (Repl.1981), which established a system for licensing and regulating “child care facilities” as that term is defined in § 83-902(D). Although the Act initially authorized the Welfare Department to promulgate “rules and regulations setting minimum standards governing the granting, revocation, refusal, and suspension of licenses for a child care facility and the operation of a child care facility,” the Act was amended in 1973 to transfer this rule making authority to the Child Care Facility Review Board [the “Board”]. Ark.Stat.Ann. § 83-911 (Repl. 1981). The Social Services Division of the Department of Human Services [the “Social Services Division”] continued to be the agency charged with responsibility for administering the law. Id.

The 1969 Act explicitly provided that the Board shall adopt such rules and regulations as will:

“... promote the health, safety and welfare of children attending a Child Care Facility, promote safe, comfortable and healthy physical facilities for the children who attend the Child Care Facility; insure adequate supervision of the children by capable, qualified and healthy individuals; insure appropriate educational programs and activities within each Child Care Facility; and insure adequate and healthy food services where food service is offered by the Child Care Facility.”

Ark.Stat.Ann. § 83-904(B) (Repl.1981). Consistent with this broad policy objective, the Board promulgated and published rules and regulations governing the “minimum licensing requirements” for four separate categories of child care facilities: Day Care Centers; Infants and Toddlers in Day Care *391 Centers; Residential Child Care Facilities; and Day Care Family Homes.

The 1969 Act did not contain an exemption for religious child care facilities. Rather, any “person, partnership, corporation, group or association desiring to operate a child care facility” was required to apply for a license from the State. Ark. Stat.Ann. § 83-905 (Repl.1981). Following a review of the application by the Social Services Division or other appropriate State agency to insure that the applying facility met the legal requirements, the applicant was issued a license. Ark.Stat.Ann. § 83-908 (Repl.1981).

B. Act 123 of 1973.

In 1973, the legislature adopted Act 123, codified as Ark.Stat.Ann. § 83-918 (Repl. 1981), which amended the 1969 Act to include an exemption from the licensing requirement for religious child care facilities organized and operating as of July 1, 1969. The express legislative purpose for creating this exemption was to accommodate religious child care facilities in the free exercise of religious beliefs by allowing exemption from licensing where “conformity with said licensing standards violates basic religious tenament [tenets] of the church as it relates to separation of church and state ...” Ark.Stat.Ann. § 83-918 (Repl.1981). Under this statute, a religious child care facility could apply for an exemption by having the “governing body” of the religious child care facility submit a letter to the Board which:

(1) Requests that the facility be exempt from “licensing standards because conformity with said licensing standards violates basic religious tenament [tenets] of the church as it relates to separation of church and state;”
(2) Certifies that the facility “has met fire, safety and health standards of either state or local fire, safety and health inspections;” and
(3) Certifies that the facility is “in substantial compliance with the published standards under which similar nonreligious facilities are required by the state to operate.”

The statute also provided that within one year after the receipt of a properly executed request for exemption, the Social Services Division was authorized to inspect each exempt facility to determine: (1) “whether the premises and care being received by the children therein, and other matters affecting the safety and health of such children, are being provided in accordance with the recognized health and safety standards within the community;” and (2) “whether the institution is in fact in substantial compliance with the rules promulgated for similar [nonexempt] institutions.” If this inspection revealed any evidence of a violation of these standards, including any evidence of child abuse, the Social Services Division, with the consent of the Board, was authorized to bring an action for injunctive relief. Ark.Stat.Ann. § 83-918 (Repl.1981).

In order to discharge its administrative responsibilities under the statutes, the Social Services Division adopted various rules published as part of its “Services Programs Policy Manual” [the “Manual”]. Section 9140 of the Manual set forth the role of the Division in monitoring exempt facilities:

“If the Review Board grants an exemption, a designated Child Care Specialist will inspect the facility within a period of one year. The Child Care Specialist will apply the process of determining whether or not the facility is in substantial compliance with rules promulgated for similar facilities.

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Opinion No.
Arkansas Attorney General Reports, 2003

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577 F. Supp. 388, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arkansas-day-care-assn-inc-v-clinton-ared-1983.