On December 30, 2008, plaintiffs Sheila Cole amongst others filed a lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court against the Arkansas Department of Human Services and others seeking to declare the statute unconstitutional.

On April 16, 2010, Judge Chris Piazza of Pulaski County Circuit Court struck down Act 1, ruling that it violated the Arkansas state constitutions' guarantee of right to privacy.

Piazza cited Jegley v. Picado, a case decided by the Arkansas Supreme Court in 2002, which struck down the state's law prohibiting unmarried couples from sexual intercourse based on the right to privacy.

On May 16, the judge entered the final order striking down Act 1, but stayed his ruling pending appeal.

Justice Robert L. Brown wrote the majority opinion, concluding that under the act, “the exercise of one’s fundamental right to engage in private, consensual sexual activity is conditioned on foregoing the privilege of adopting or fostering children.