Court Opinion

ID: 9684357
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:54:34.595253+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:00:53.591896
License: Public Domain

Conley Byrd, Justice, concurring. While I must agree that there is some merit to the minority’s criticism of the “same or similar locality” rule, I find that it has become firmly established as part of the law of this State. The rule did not come into our law as the result of an incorrect interpretation of the Constitution of this State or the United States as was the situation in Parish v. Pitts, 244 Ark. 1239, 429 S.W. 2d 45 (1968), and therefore it is subject to change by the General Assembly. In that situation under Article 2, § 12 of the Constitution of Arkansas this court is prohibited from suspending or setting aside the law with respect to the “same or similar locality” rule. Article 2, § 12 provides: “No power of suspending or setting aside the law or laws of the State shall ever be exercised except by the General Assembly.” For the reasons stated, I concur in the majority opinion.