A split Arkansas Supreme Court upheld a circuit court judge's rejection of a bid by the state to toss a lawsuit that seeks to halt the Educational Freedom Account program.

Justice Shawn A. Womack wrote Thursday's majority opinion dismissing the state's appeal, with special Justice Bud Cummins joining. Chief Justice Karen Baker, joined by special justices Barbara Halsey and Cory Cox, dissented. Justices Rhonda Wood, Cody Hiland and Nicholas Bronni did not participate.

In his opinion, Womack rejected arguments by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin's office that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the state was shielded by sovereign immunity.

Griffin's office represents the defendants in the case, who are Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Arkansas Department of Education, the Arkansa

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