Court Opinion

ID: 9679823
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:09:33.300974+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:21.484306
License: Public Domain

Minor W. Millwee, Justice (concurring). I fully agree with what is said in the supplemental opinion. As one of the four judges who joined in the two separate orders for a poll to ascertain the sentiment of Arkansas lawyers on the question of integration, I feel constrained to add a few words. It has been my conviction from the beginning that the matter of integration should be determined in accord with the will and wishes of a majority of the legal profession. So I proudly bear up under the censure of my dissenting brethren for my belief that the matter should be resolved by the hallowed democratic principle of majority rule. This court follows that principle in passing on matters which involve grave questions including the right to life itself. Our legislatures, state and national, pursue it in making the laws under which we must all live. In my humble opinion, the adherence by some governments to the reverse of that great American principle is the fountain head of many of the ills that beset mankind today. I entertain no strong feelings for, nor pet prejudice against, integration. Perhaps I am too naive, but it simply had not occurred to me that I should drop the role of judge, assume that of an advocate and be guided by personal feelings in a matter of such vital concern to the lawyers of Arkansas. Nor do I concur in the strange concept that an election is meaningless insofar as the will of the majority is concerned unless everybody eligible to do so sees fit to east a ballot. This idea seems to find more favor in certain foreign jurisdictions where every voter is forced to' cast a ballot — and only one way. Under our democratic system, we accept as decisive the verdict of a majority of those who, being afforded full opportunity to do so, voluntarily cast their ballot upon an issue. I am still of the opinion that Amendment 28 to the State Constitution imposes upon us both a power and a duty to act in the premises. To me it seems fundamental that such action should be resolved solely in compliance with the will of the bar and in total disregard of any bias of this bench. It is clear from the poll last taken that a majority of the lawyers of Arkansas do not favor integration at this time. I gladly and respectfully accede to and proclaim their wishes.