Supreme Court Justice Robert L. Brown announced Wednesday the he will retire on January 1, 2013. On September 8 the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette quoted Brown as saying that for now people from all different legal philosophies are “OK with the court as it now exists.” I know lots of people who would disagree.
Perhaps Justice Brown should ask 494,323 Arkansans who voted for term limits if they are “OK” with his decision to strike down the portion of their term limits law that applies to the people we elect to federal office. Maybe Justice Brown should ask the taxpayers if they are “OK” with his Lakeview decisions that forced the legislature to have us all dump hundreds of millions more dollars into a public education system that many of us don’t believe is “adequate or equitable” enough for our own kids to attend. Maybe Justice Brown should ask the 586,248 Arkansas voters who approved the Arkansas Adoption and Foster Care Act at the ballot box in 2008 if they agree with his decision to strike it down in 2011.
Those of us who care about the future of Arkansas need to gear up for the turnover that could be coming in the next four or five years on the Arkansas Supreme Court. We need to be ready to let the justices know that “the court as it now exists” is no longer in line with the values of Arkansans.
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