Supreme Court Kills Tort Reform

At 10 a.m. this morning, the Arkansas Supreme Court blocked Issue 1 (tort reform) from being considered by Arkansas voters.

On behalf the staff and leadership of the AMS, we owe a great deal of gratitude to the many Arkansas physicians, clinics, specialty societies and county societies who, along with AMS funds, raised over $800,000 to support Issue 1 at the ballot box. We will not stop working to bring about needed reform to our judicial system.

The statement below was issued by Arkansans for Jobs and Justice, the coalition to support Issue 1. This coalition has worked extremely hard and spent nearly $3 million dollars to bring the message to Arkansas voters. Once again, the Arkansas Supreme Court has found a way to protect their profession from a vote of the people of our state.

-David Wroten, AMS EVP

Statement from Arkansas Jobs and Justice on Supreme Court Decision to Not Allow Votes on Issue 1 to be Counted

Arkansans for Jobs and Justice, the diverse coalition of advocates for common-sense lawsuit reform, issued this statement following the decision today by the Arkansas Supreme Court to not count the votes on Issue 1:
“Today, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the tort reform measure known as Issue 1 was improperly referred by the Arkansas legislature and the people’s votes will not be counted. This very ruling demonstrates the need for the reforms contained in Issue 1 that seek to restore the balance among our branches of government. Six members of the Court have once again reinforced, and indeed protected, their position as the ultimate and unchecked authority in Arkansas government. This kind of power demonstrated by the Court is without limits and has been wielded in an arbitrary fashion. There needs to be a continuing dialogue over whether such a situation is good for Arkansas and how we can improve our civil justice system to help our state compete to benefit all three million Arkansans.”