"[1] The ACLU then sued the board in the Circuit Court of Pulaski County on behalf of William Wagner, Matthew Lee Howard, and Anne Shelley—three adults who wanted to serve as foster parents but were rejected under the policy.

[2] Howard was a teacher who was already raising two children with his same-sex partner of nineteen years, Shelley was a lesbian who wanted to serve as a foster parent, and Wagner was a married heterosexual whose gay son sometimes lived at his home.

[4] In 2007 the Arkansas House Judiciary Committee voted to reject SB 959, "a bill that would have banned gay people and most unmarried heterosexual couples who live together from adopting or serving as foster parents.

"[5] The bill would have been an end-run on the Supreme Court decision in Howard, as it would have had the same effect while side-stepping the separation of powers problem.

The ACLU filed suit in state court on behalf of several Arkansas families challenging Act 1 as unconstitutional.