Court Opinion

ID: 9643119
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 20:20:00.496277+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:57.629099
License: Public Domain

Robert L. Brown, Justice, dissenting. I disagree that the new act applies to the facts of this case. The Emergency Clause attached to Act 796 of 1993 reads: It is hereby found and determined by the General Assembly that the Workers’ Compensation Law is in immediate need of substantial revision; that this act accomplishes immediate revision; and that this act shall go into effect as soon as is practical which is determined to be July 1, 1993; and that unless this emergency clause is adopted, this act will not go into effect until after July 1, 1993. Therefore, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this act being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety shall be in full force and effect from and after July 1, 1993. Furthermore, the provisions of this act shall apply only to injuries which occur after July 1, 1993. (Emphasis added.) The effective date of Act 796 was July 1, 1993. The injury to Tamara Tackett occurred on January 8, 1993. I can only read the term “injuries” in the Emergency Clause to refer to Ms. Tackett’s injury caused by the car accident while working at Crain Automotive. That is the common meaning given to the term throughout the Workers’ Compensation Code. See, e.g., Ark. Code Ann. §§ 11-9-102(5), ll-9-702(a)(l)(B) (Supp. 1993). The Act by its own language does not apply to this fact situation. I respectfully dissent.