Court Opinion

ID: 9635240
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 13:43:08.936402+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:09:21.765615
License: Public Domain

Lavenski R. Smith, Justice, dissenting. I join the dissent of Justice IMBER. The majority and concurring opinions state several sound, persuasive reasons for the people not to vote for proposed amendment 4. However, I am unconvinced that either states one compelling reason under our precedents for the people not to be able to vote on the amendment. As the majority points out, the amendment would make substantial changes in the operation of Arkansas’s government. But it does not hide nor misstate those changes. They are evident in the extensive ballot title and in the amendment’s text. A reader of average intelligence can readily discern that amendment 4 does much more than eliminate sales tax on used cars and other used goods. The discretion to accept or reject these changes should lie with the people and not with this court. Dissent.