LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — The Arkansas Board of Corrections’ lawsuit against the Sanders’ administration has its first hearing in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Thursday.
In response to the government infighting, Arkansas Democrats have condemned Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her administration for its effort to gain direct control of Arkansas’ corrections system – potentially violating the state’s constitution.
The lawsuit, filed Dec. 14, was the first litigation in the escalating battle over control of Arkansas’ corrections system.
The day after the board’s filing, Attorney General Tim Griffin filed his own lawsuit against the board, arguing it illegally hired a private attorney to represent it in its lawsuit. The board’s lawsuit asserts that recent legislation signed by the governor illegally diminishes the power it is ensured under the Arkansas Constitution.
All of the legal experts that I talk to and read say that the attorney general and the governor don’t have a leg to stand on in this argument,” said Grant Tennille, chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas. “The constitution is extremely clear.”
The question of how to handle overcrowding in Arkansas’ prisons is the crux of the ongoing legal feud. Complicating matters is the fact that the Corrections Board, like all state bodies, is supposed to be represented by the attorney general.
I think that the Board of Corrections has a decent claim to say ‘wait a minute, what are you doing? You’re our attorney and now you’re suing us?’ That’s not right,'” Tennille said. “None of it is doing anything to address the problem that everybody knows exists—and that is that we’ve got too many people in prison.”
In response to the DPA, the governor’s office had this to say:
While the Democrat Party of Arkansas makes excuses for President Biden’s failed policies, Governor Sanders continues to fight for Arkansans, cutting taxes to give families relief from Bidenflation, cracking down on violent crime, and implementing the most transformational education and workforce reforms in the nation so every Arkansan has the opportunity to succeed right here at home.”
The Republican Party of Arkansas made clear it is standing by the governor and her effort to reform Arkansas’ corrections system and said the following:
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a Governor of action and isn’t going to stand by as convicted criminals and those awaiting trial flood our overcrowded jails. Arkansans don’t look to Democratic Party press releases for their policy positions.”
After a Pulaski County judge threatened to dismiss the attorney general’s lawsuit against the Corrections Board, Griffin said he intends to appeal his case to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
