Arkansas Constitution expert breaks down potential impact of Board of Corrections, governor’s office feud

Written By ApurbaDa January 31, 2024 Add Comment

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The tug of war playing out in the courts between Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ administration and the state Board of Corrections has a potential impact far beyond prison management into Arkansans' wallets.

Dean Emeritus and law professor John DiPippa with the UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law cautions that the conflict could reach into the operation of other state commissions. It could even end up costing the state money, as well as slowing down processes in the Natural State, he said.

“I think there are a couple reasons to be concerned,” DiPippa said. “The first is what I call the ‘Good Government’ reason.”

DiPippa explained that the debate between the governor’s office and the board over the constitution’s meaning when it states the board’s powers “should never be diminished.” Here the question is about the government following the rules, he said.

The professor continued that the second reason points to the passage of a ballot initiative in 1942 to remove state boards from political influence. A component of this problem is the constitution does not state what these powers are, specifically, given to boards, only that they should never be diminished — an issue that may lead to the courts having to decide the powers and their limits, he said.

“What you see here is a very important issue, prison reform and sentence reform, being caught up in the debate about who has the ultimate power over that political issue,” he said.

While acknowledging that “politics is everywhere,” he continued that political influence could lead to issues for state operations.

If prison operation moves into a politically-influenced sphere, the potential is for Arkansas to be caught up in lawsuits if prison standards are violated and inmates are susceptible to harm, DiPippa said. Arizona is a case where this happened, embroiling the state in lawsuits, some of which it lost, he said.

Arizona prison lawsuits have cost that state tens of millions of dollars in legal fees and fines. Former Corrections Secretary Joe Profiri had been the deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections prior to his Arkansas appointment by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Taken further, if the decision to politize boards expands, the Board of Education would fall under political influence, in turn leading to “teach this, don’t teach that,” which leads to a less well-rounded education from the state’s universities, in turn a lower value, DiPippa said.

DiPippa used the example of the federal government as to why independent agencies are put in place. The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission are two examples of where they held particular expertise in what would otherwise be overly complex subjects and, in turn, are insulated from day-to-day politics.

from KARK https://ift.tt/GrIUYSH