Arkansas Supreme Court
Arkansas Supreme Court reverses ruling that struck state law banning mask mandates
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a lower court’s decision to strike down Arkansas’ prohibition on government mask mandates. Thursday’s order tossed Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox’s 2021 ruling on procedural grounds, and it did not contemplate the merits of the arguments in the case. Fox’s ruling had struck down Act 1002 of […]
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders reverses predecessor’s position on mask mandates
The Arkansas governor’s office asserts that it is unconstitutional for public entities to require people to wear masks as a COVID-19 prevention measure, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Wednesday, just over a week after taking office. Sanders’ predecessor, fellow Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, signed a 2021 law prohibiting state and local governments, including public school […]
Arkansas Supreme Court stops revocation of medical marijuana cultivation permit for now
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday granted a Fort Smith medical marijuana cultivator’s request to pause the state’s decision to revoke its growing license. The court agreed to expedite its review of an appeal from River Valley Relief Cultivation after a Pulaski County circuit judge ruled that its license should be stripped and regulators took […]
Nonpartisan state Supreme Court race features candidate heavily favored by Republicans
The Nov. 8 runoff for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 2 between Associate Justice Robin Wynne and Faulkner County Circuit Judge Chris Carnahan is billed as nonpartisan. Candidates aren’t nominated by political parties and can’t claim party endorsements or seek party contributions, according to the Arkansas Judicial Code of Conduct. But there’s a seeming loophole: Candidates […]
Voters will decide recreational marijuana amendment, Arkansas high court rules
The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday that voters can decide in November whether to make recreational marijuana legal in the state. In a 20-page decision written by Justice Robin Wynne, the high court concluded 5-2 “that the ballot title at issue is complete enough to convey an intelligible idea of the scope and import of […]