Tag Archives: Arkansas

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge on Saturday halted Arkansas’ unprecedented plan to execute several inmates before the end of the month because one of its execution drugs is about to expire. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker granted a preliminary injunction requested by the inmates to block the executions. Arkansas was set to execute the first two of six …

The Associated Press reports: An Arkansas lawmaker dropped her proposal Wednesday prohibiting individuals from using bathrooms in government buildings that do not match their gender at birth after the legislation had faced opposition from the state’s Republican governor and tourism groups. GOP Sen. Linda Collins-Smith withdrew her proposal, which would have required every restroom or changing facility accessible by multiple …

Fayetteville’s NBC affiliate reports: A Fayetteville Baptist Church is attaching controversial pamphlets to people’s homes, voicing their opinions on homosexuality. “I was just offended that they would be going door-to-door in this community with that information. I think most neighbors were pretty offended,” Fayetteville Resident, Joanna McCusker said. Some Fayetteville residents up in arms as flyers addressing the topic of …

Little Rock’s CBS affiliate reports: A bill has been proposed to make marriage only between a man and a woman. Twenty Representatives and one Senator introduced House Bill 2098. Representative Stephen Meeks [photo] is the lead sponsor of the bill. HB2098 would not recognize marriages between two people of the same sex, even if the marriage happened in a different …

The Associated Press reports: The Arkansas Senate on Tuesday endorsed a long-shot effort to push for amending the U.S. Constitution to effectively ban gay marriage and abortion, a move one Republican lawmaker said is needed to overturn rulings from the nation’s highest court. The majority-Republican chamber approved by a 19-9 vote a resolution calling for a federal constitutional convention to …

The local LGBT ordinance battled by former Family Research Council leader and incestuous child molester Josh Duggar has been struck down. Arkansas Online reports: The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a city’s ordinance banning discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, but it stopped short of saying whether a state law aimed at prohibiting such …

The Arkansas Times reports: Treasurer Dennis Milligan today announced he has accepted the resignation of Hunter Hatcher, an Outreach Coordinator for the Treasurer’s office. Hatcher publicly stated on social media that because Donald Trump was taking office, “Gay jokes are back on ya bunch of homos,” and also made derogatory comments (in the form of lame jokes) regarding the role …

Raw Story reports: An Arkansas Republican lawmaker has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges that he personally profited from an elaborate bribery and kickback scheme involving a northwest Arkansas evangelical Christian college. Hemant Mehta at The Friendly Atheist pointed to the rapidly mushrooming scandal which the Arkansas Times said could land state Rep. Michah Neal behind bars for up …

The Associated Press reports: Arkansas’ highest court on Thursday threw out a judge’s ruling that could have allowed married same-sex couples to get the names of both spouses on their children’s birth certificates without a court order, saying it doesn’t violate equal protection “to acknowledge basic biological truths.” The state Supreme Court also issued a rare admonishment to Pulaski County …

NPR reports: Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he’s worked with fellow Republicans to keep a transgender bathroom bill off the agenda of a special session he called to address highway funding. Instead, Hutchinson plans to work with lawmakers on legislation for next year’s lengthier, regular legislative session. During a press conference, Hutchinson said adding the item to the special session has …

An Arkansas preacher has been charged with 70 felony counts of distributing, possessing, and viewing child pornography after a watchdog group tipped off authorities that he’d been trading the images via private messages on Twitter under the username “Candy Man.” Pastor David Reynolds of Cornerstone Bible Fellowship today pleaded not guilty to the charges. Reynolds’ church has issued a statement: …

Back in November I reported that an Arkansas judge had been accused of soliciting sex from male defendants. As it turns out, there’s much more to the story. NBC News reports: An Arkansas judge accused of swapping sex for reduced sentences resigned Monday after a state commission said it discovered thousands of photographs from his computer that depicted nude male …

Arkansas Online reports: A Mineral Springs man accused of mailing threatening letters in January 2015 to seven Arkansas mayors is going back to jail on a federal judge’s order. Maverick Dean Bryan, 55, was released by U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven after a detention hearing March 28 in Texarkana’s downtown federal building. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Harris was so opposed …

Take that, Duggar family. The Associated Press reports: A state judge on Tuesday upheld a northwest Arkansas city’s ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, ruling that it doesn’t conflict with a law aimed at blocking local protections for gays and lesbians. Washington County Circuit Judge Doug Martin ruled that the Fayetteville ordinance ratified by voters last …

So far there have been no surprises, no upsets. Rubio did put up respectable numbers in Virginia, but its looking like he’ll go home empty-handed tonight. Not so, perhaps, for Ted Cruz, who holds a comfortable lead in Texas at this writing. Former Arkansas First Lady Hillary Clinton coasted to an easy win in her former home state, as expected.

Arkansas continues to battle gay families and yesterday the state Supreme Court agreed with them. Reuters reports: The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily blocked a lower court order that allowed same-sex parents throughout the state to be listed as parents on the birth certificates of their children. It let stand the certificates obtained by three lesbian couples who had …

Arkansas Matters reports: A Florida man applied on Monday afternoon to place a “Gay Pride Festivus Pole” at the state Capitol grounds in Little Rock. Executive Director for the Humanity Fund Chaz Stevens said he sent in an Arkansas Secretary of State Temporary Display application around 1 p.m. on Monday. Stevens said that he erected his first Festivus pole in …

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports: A Cross County judge is accused of soliciting sex from offenders in his court in exchange for sentence reductions, the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission said. District Court Judge Joseph Boeckmann will have 30 days to respond to charges filed by the commission, which were released Tuesday. He is also entitled to a hearing in front …

Late last year the voters of Fayetteville, Arkansas repealed a city council-approved and comprehensive LGBT rights bill after a vicious campaign spearheaded by the Duggar family. Today Fayetteville voters rejected hate and by a 53-47 margin approved an imperfect new LGBT rights bill. The Democrat-Gazette reports: In a reversal of a similar special election last year, Fayetteville voters resoundingly ratified …

Thanks in large part to the work of the Duggar family, last December voters in Fayetteville, Arkansas repealed that town’s LGBT rights ordinance. Activists have placed another LGBT right bill on the ballot and last night four of them were booted out a “Protect Fayetteville” rally held at a Baptist church where martyred Oregon bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein spoke …