Tag Archives: Arkansas

After hearing a marriage equality case, yesterday an Arkansas state judge said that he’ll issue his ruling in two weeks. Colin Jorgensen, an assistant attorney general arguing for the state, said Amendment 83, the anti-gay marriage measure, does not conflict with the state Constitution. Jorgenson said that at no point in the state’s history has an amendment been knocked down …

An Arkansas state judge will hear marriage equality arguments today. More than three dozen people are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging Arkansas’ voter-approved ban on gay marriage. Circuit Judge Chris Piazza is to preside over the hearing at 1 p.m. Thursday in Little Rock. Late last year, Piazza refused to grant a motion by the state that sought …

Clip recap: Michigan’s marriage ban is unconstitutional. Oklahoma couples fight back in court against an anti-gay group making misleading claims about children. A pro-equality ruling is delayed, pending appeal. But another is put in place as of now. We have some important hearings coming up very soon. And pro-equality Republicans hang on to their seats in a tight election.

JMG reader Will points us to the website Asshole Of The Day, which quotes Talking Points Memo about GOP Arkansas state Rep. Josh Miller: More than a decade ago, Arkansas Rep. Josh Miller (R) was in a catastrophic car accident that broke his neck and left him paralyzed. Medicare and Medicaid paid the $1 million bill for his hospitalization and …

Clip recap: “We have a major setback this week in Australia, but there’s still a glimmer of hope. Marriage equality hearings are coming up in two unlikely states: Arkansas and Texas. An Oregon ballot measure passes a major hurdle, and organizers launch a new public outreach campaign on the east coast.”

Another great win today by the ACLU: The Arkansas Supreme Court today reversed a lower court child custody order that prohibited a parent from having overnight visitation with his child in the presence of his long-term domestic partner. The ruling ends a widespread practice in Arkansas custody cases of courts automatically barring parents from living with an unmarried partner regardless …

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel yesterday approved the wording for a petition drive to place marriage equality to a public vote in 2016. In September he also approved the wording for a separate initiative that would repeal the state’s constitutional ban. The new petition does both. McDaniel’s office certified the wording of the proposed constitutional amendment submitted by the Arkansas …

After rejecting two earlier versions, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDonald has approved the wording of a ballot measure that would repeal that state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Even if successful, however, that repeal would only be the first step. The proposal from Christina Harrison with Arkansans for Equality would repeal a constitutional amendment that prohibits same-sex marriage in the state. …

Arkansas television reports that a local school district won’t let three siblings return to classes until their foster parents provide documentation proving that the children are not HIV+. “The actions taken by the Superintendent of Pea Ridge School District are appalling and is reminiscent of times past and the case of Ryan White,” says Tom Masseau, Executive Director of the …

For the second time, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has rejected a proposed ballot measure that would repeal that state’s ban on same-sex marriage. McDaniel decided Monday that Arkansans for Equality’s proposed measure to repeal Amendment 83 was problematic over the ballot initiative’s language. Aaron Sadler, spokesman for the Office of Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, provided The Christian Post with …

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has rejected the wording of a proposed ballot measure that would repeal that state’s 2004 constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The attorney general said the proposal by Arkansans for Equality contained misleading tendencies and a failure to include any mention of the proposal’s effect on the state’s current law, Amendment 83, which was approved with …

And now, Arkansas. Several LGBT couples have taken a stand against Arkansas Amendment 83, saying that the amendment denies them the benefits and privileges given to married heterosexual couples. The lawsuit filed against the state of Arkansas declares that while the US Supreme Court recognized marriage as one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ the Arkansas Constitution prevents gay …

The New York Times is wondering what Ken Mehlman’s legacy will be regarding LGBT rights. Mr. Mehlman, 46, remains the hyper-intense, guarded strategist he was in his Bush days, with the same habit of looking past people instead of meeting their eyes. He shuns most interviews and still deflects personal questions, as he did back when rumors about his sexuality …

In two weeks Little Rock National Airport officially becomes Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport in the first such re-naming for a former president and first lady.   There’s already a new nickname. “Locals are calling it the Hillbilly Airport,” one insider tells Confidenti@l. “And project managers certainly don’t want an airport named after our President called Hillbilly. In the South. …

“We need to let those who will come in the future to represent us [know] that we are serious. The 2nd amendment means nothing unless those in power believe you would have no problem simply walking up and shooting them if they got too far out of line and stopped responding as representatives. It seems that we are unable to …

“If slavery were so God-awful, why didn’t Jesus or Paul condemn it, why was it in the Constitution and why wasn’t there a war before 1861? The South has always stood by the Constitution and limited government. When one attacks the Confederate Battle Flag, he is certainly denouncing these principles of government as well as Christianity.” –  GOP Arkansas state …

“The maintenance of civil order in society rests on the foundation of family discipline. Therefore, a child who disrespects his parents must be permanently removed from society in a way that gives an example to all other children of the importance of respect for parents. The death penalty for rebellious children is not something to be taken lightly. The guidelines …

When it happened last year, Cindy Jacobs said that God was expressing his disgust over the repeal of DADT. This turkey says the dead birds are “the word of God” letting us know that the End Times are truly upon us.

An atheist group seeking to place its message on city buses has won its lawsuit against an Arkansas public transit agency. The agency had demanded payment on a $3M insurance policy in case rampaging Christians decided to vandalize its vehicles in response to the ads. Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled that the Central Arkansas Transit Authority and its advertising agency …