Opinion ID: 1634748
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Violation of this State's Law of the Land

Text: For his second point on appeal, Appellant argues that the prohibition of Rule 5-2 violates his right of due process under Article 2, §§ 8 and 21, of the Arkansas Constitution. While this argument mirrors Appellant's previous one, he further avers that under section 21, the due-process right is predicated on the law of the land. According to Appellant, this is a reference to the law applicable at the time of the section's adoption. Arguing for an expanded interpretation of law of the land, Appellant avers that the phrase must refer to the entire body of law known to govern individual rights at the time of adoption of the state constitution; thus, judges are not authorized to act beyond the powers accorded by the Judicial Article. Appellant states that the Judicial Article does not allow this court to abrogate the common law, which he argues, is precisely what this court has done in the application of Rule 5-2(d). Appellant concludes his argument on this point by stating that his right to rely on the entire body of available Arkansas law in advancing his sufficiency argument is protected by section 21's reference to law of the land. Appellant's argument on this point mirrors the discussion set forth in Anastasoff, 223 F.3d 898. Thus, for Appellant to prevail on this theory, this court must agree that the judicial power does not encompass the ability of this court to set forth a rule regarding the reliance on unpublished opinions. At the time of this rule's enactment, this court's judicial power was derived from Article 7, § 4, of the Arkansas Constitution. That section was repealed by Amendment 80, but this amendment still grants this court the power to set forth rules governing all courts. Moreover, it is well settled that this court possesses the inherent authority to make procedural rules. State v. Sypult, 304 Ark. 5, 800 S.W.2d 402 (1990); Ricarte v. State, 290 Ark. 100, 717 S.W.2d 488 (1986). See also Standridge v. Standridge, 304 Ark. 364, 803 S.W.2d 496 (1991). As previously stated, this court's rule prohibiting citation to unpublished opinions does not impede Appellant's ability to pursue an appeal of his conviction. The Ninth Circuit stated in Hart, 266 F.3d 1155, that the federal judicial power clause has never before been construed to limit courts in the manner in which they conduct their business. The same may be said for our state's judicial article. Accordingly, there is no due-process violation under this state's constitution.