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Disorder in the Court (Editorial)

Editorial
1 min read

THIS IS AN OPINION

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The drama at the Arkansas Supreme Court continued immediately after the holidays, and no one in the state is better for it.

To briefly recap: Chief Justice Karen Baker, who became the state’s first elected female chief justice upon her swearing in on Jan. 1, sought to fire 10 employees on Jan. 3. Five state Supreme Court justices prevented the terminations, noting that some of them appeared to be retaliatory because the workers had pending complaints against Baker.

Last week, the employees returned to work and Baker accused her fellow justices of improperly holding a business meeting. We wouldn’t be surprised at further embarrassing developments at the court after this editorial goes to press.

The firings fracas follows a vote by the Supreme Court to implement new rules restricting access to Justice Building offices for Supreme Court justices after Baker entered the office of a top court official when he wasn’t there. That in turn followed disputes over an Arkansas Business Freedom of Information Act request that pitted various justices against each other.

The immediate issue is who has authority over court administration, including hirings and firings. The bigger issue is that infighting at the state’s highest court threatens the confidence that Arkansas’ citizens should have in the judicial system.

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