Court Opinion

ID: 9678195
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:13:51.617595+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:02.439131
License: Public Domain

Carol Dalby, Special Justice, concurring. I agree with the court’s decision to recall the mandate and stay the issuance of the mandate until December 1, 2006, so that the constitutional deficiencies are corrected. I write separately on the issue of jurisdiction. In the court’s opinion delivered June 9, 2005, Lake View Sch. Dist. No. 25 v. Huckabee, 362 Ark. 520, 210 S.W.3d 28 (2005), I, along with two other justices, dissented with the majority in part based upon this court’s lack of jurisdiction to recall the mandate issued in Lake View Sch. Dist. No. 25 v. Huckabee, 358 Ark. 137, 189 S.W.3d 1 (2004). I lost on that point. The majority ruled that jurisdiction exists. This is the rule of law of this case and I recognize that holding and accept that rule. This court has jurisdiction as previously held; therefore, I see neither reason nor justification to continue dissenting on this point. I am bound by the holdings of the court in its previous decisions. The majority opinion sets forth in clear and concise terms that our state is still operating under an unconstitutional public school funding system and that this court is part of the state. As part of the state, it is this court’s solemn duty and trust to the people of Arkansas to stay engaged in the endeavor to bring about a constitutional system. Our constitution demands it. There is upon the horizon the goal of a general, suitable, and efficient system of free public schools for all children of our state. Ark. Const, art. 14, § 1. That goal will one day be attained and upon attainment a mighty shout of rejoicing will be heard by and for the real victors of this struggle — our children. The echoes of all the combined efforts to reach this goal will be heard and felt throughout the valleys, the forests, the mountains, and the most hidden and tucked away places of our state for generations to come.