FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Contact: Jerry Cox, 501-375-7000
Today, the Arkansas Supreme Court ignored the voice of 57% of the voters—nearly 580,000 people—and ruled in favor of a lower court’s opinion striking down Act One, the Arkansas Adoption and Foster Care Act. This good law prevented unmarried, cohabiting couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents.
“This is a classic example of judicial tyranny,” said Family Council Action Committee President Jerry Cox. “We have said all along that Act One was about child welfare, and fifty-seven percent of the voters in 2008 agreed. They declared that the State of Arkansas has an obligation to adoptive and foster children to ensure that they are placed in the best possible homes. The Arkansas Supreme Court has chosen to run roughshod over the people’s will and refused to uphold a good law that protected the children in the state’s care.”
Cox said, “I’d like to personally thank the 75 county coordinators and 2,700 volunteers who helped gather signatures to get Act One on the ballot. They worked hard to gather over 100,000 signatures between January and August of 2008. It is because of their dedication that this good law made it on the ballot and passed in 73 counties. I will be forever grateful to everyone who put time and effort into this worthy initiative.
“Today’s ruling was anti-child,” said Cox. “The ACLU couldn’t defeat this good law in a fair election, so they used the court system against the people of Arkansas. This is the worst decision ever handed down by the Arkansas Supreme Court.”
Family Council Action Committee is a conservative 501(c)(4) organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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