Admire or despise him, Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen strikes me as one who puts abundant heart and soul into his convictions. He's a rare and fearless individual in today's nation with its share of timid sheeple.
His successful complaint against six members of the Arkansas Supreme Court is strong indication of that dogged dedication. The Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission recently made history when it agreed with Griffen by bringing charges of violating judicial canons against six of the high court's seven members.
That act alone should assure us this jurist (and pastor at Little Rock's New Millennium Baptist Church) is certainly no force to take lightly.
When I met Griffen years ago, accompanied by mutual friend Fayetteville attorney Jim Rose, he seemed enthusiastic about meeting everyone in the room. When he said he regularly read my thoughts and opinions, I responded in typical fashion: "So you're the one! I've been looking for you for years!" He laughed.
Griffen's complaint stemmed from his April 14, 2017 order temporarily stopping our state's plan to conduct executions. Then he participated later that day in a protest outside the Governor's Mansion by being strapped to a gurney, as reported in a recent news story by John Moritz from which I glean further details.
Griffen's order demanding Arkansas stop using one of the three drugs required for lethal injection was filed on a Friday afternoon. The following morning, state Attorney General Leslie Rutledge asked the Supreme Court to invalidate Griffen's order and remove him from the case, saying he couldn't be considered impartial when it came to matters involving the death penalty.
Saturday afternoon, the clerk of the Supreme Court emailed Griffen's office to advise he had until Monday at 9 a.m. to respond to Rutledge. The deadline passed without Griffen's response, according to the commission's allegations.
By 10:30 a.m. that Monday, the Supreme Court stripped Griffen of authority to hear cases involving the death penalty. In a separate opinion Chief Justice Dan Kemp said he'd only have removed Griffen from cases pending at the time. Later that day, the Supremes quickly reminded the judge who was boss by overturning his order.
Within days our state conducted its first execution in more than a decade. So the Supremes had spoken and that was that. Well, except they weren't dealing with a judge willing to sulk meekly into chambers and privately lick his public wounds. Certainly not The Wendell Griffen. Instead, the judge filed the complaint over the way he'd been treated in this matter with the judicial discipline commission, thus confirming my own just-concocted adage: "Well-behaved judges seldom make history."
The commission's special counsel, J. Brent Standridge, said it was reasonable to assume Griffen would not have received the Supreme's email at his chamber's address over a weekend, nor could the judge, within reason, have been expected to offer a meaningful response to the state's petition.
"Further," Standridge added, "Judge Griffen was never given notice of, and the opportunity to be heard on, the Supreme Court's ultimate action--the removal of Judge Griffen from all death penalty and execution protocol cases pending and in the future."
The committee's decision to charge the justices with violating judicial canons "shows that Judge Griffen's complaints clearly have merit," Griffen's attorney, Michael Laux, told Mortiz. "So there are many implications created here, and we are cautiously optimistic as we continue to digest the decision which ... has many moving parts."
David Sachar, the executive director of the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, said it was the first time in the commission's 30-year history that official charges of ethical misconduct had been brought against even one member of the state's highest court, let alone six.
Chief Justice Kemp, one of the six charged, had no initial comment. Nor did the others charged: Justices Robin Wynne, Courtney Goodson, Josephine "Jo" Hart, Karen Baker and Rhonda Wood. The only justice not charged by the commission Thursday was Justice Shawn Womack. Griffen's complaint against Womack remains pending, according to Sachar, who recused from the case and said he didn't know why Womack's case remained pending.
The six justices were allowed 30 days to respond to the allegations. They are entitled to a hearing before the commission if the charges stand. If found to have violated judicial canons, the justices could face a broad range of punishments, Moritz wrote, including admonishment or reprimand to as much as possible recommendation for suspension or removal from the bench. Somehow, I can't see that happening. Any such recommendation and appeals must be reviewed by the Supreme Court. However, considering the unusual circumstances in this matter, that would require replacing the justices with a panel of special justices appointed by the governor.
Yes, my friends, it's become a truism that when choosing to take on Judge Wendell Griffen, one is best served by packing many meals and a comfy cot.
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Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial on 10/02/2018