Latest 'constitutional rights sanctuary' proposal dies in Sebastian County

FORT SMITH -- Sebastian County's Quorum Court took no action on a proposed "constitutional rights sanctuary" proposal Tuesday.

County Judge David Hudson said after the meeting District 3 Justice of the Peace Shawn Looper made a motion to adopt the ordinance, but it failed for lack of a second and did not come up for a vote.

The purpose of constitutional rights sanctuary ordinances is to protect "the state and federal constitutional rights" of Sebastian County residents, according to the proposal. It states certain actions it describes as "unlawful acts" will be invalid and not recognized by Sebastian County, rendering them null and void and of no effect in the county. The proposed ordinance defines such acts as any federal, state, or local act, law, order, rule, or regulation that restricts an individual's constitutional rights.

The meeting was plagued by technical difficulties. Those who decided to watch or participate in the meeting via Zoom had great difficulty hearing and/or understanding what was said at the meeting location, the Greenwood High School Safe Shelter. This included justices of the peace Jackie Davis, James Butler, Valeria J. Robinson, Rhonda Royal, Linda Willsey Murry, and Karla Reedy.

Hudson said because of the problems, he double-checked the justices of the peace could hear him and Looper's motion, with them confirming they did.

"That difficulty [hearing] got worse, and so we adjourned the May meeting and didn't do any other business," Hudson said. "But I had a discussion either using the telephone or using the microphone in the meeting to confirm that the six members of the Quorum Court that were online understood the motion and didn't want to second it. So based on that procedure, we considered that the ordinance failed."

Hudson said he would talk to the justices of the peace to come up with a Quorum Court meeting within another few days. Despite Tuesday's technical issues, he said the constitutional rights sanctuary ordinance will not be discussed at the upcoming meeting unless somebody puts it on the agenda.

Looper said Wednesday the main reason why he made the motion to adopt the ordinance was he wanted it to be brought to a vote so discussion about it could take place.

"I know some of the other members had concerns about it, and so my hope was to bring it to a vote and have that discussion, and then if we needed to tweak certain things in the ordinance, then they could be done at that time," Looper said.

Scott County became the first Arkansas county to pass a "Bill of Rights Ordinance" on Jan. 21, with the county declaring it wouldn't enforce any laws it deems unconstitutional, including laws restricting guns.

According to the ordinance, "Scott County has the right to be free of the commanding hand of the state and federal government and has the right to refuse to cooperate with state and federal government officials in response to unconstitutional state and federal government measures, and to proclaim a Bill of Rights sanctuary for law-abiding citizens in their cities and county."

This is part of a "Second Amendment sanctuary" trend that took root in western states and particularly in Virginia, where more than 100 cities and counties have passed some sort of Second Amendment sanctuary resolution. It's in response to "sanctuary cities," where local police limit how much they enforce federal immigration laws.

In a memo that was included in the meeting packet, Sebastian County Prosecutor Dan Shue said he received a response from Mike Rainwater, an attorney for the Association of Arkansas Counties Risk Management Fund, regarding a letter he sent Feb. 21. According to him, Rainwater raises "many areas of concern" pertaining to the passage of the ordinance.

"I would likewise echo those concerns expressed by Mr. Rainwater with particular attention being paid to the ramifications for the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office in defense of civil lawsuits and search and seizure issues in criminal cases," Shue wrote. "I did follow-up his email with a phone call to Mr. Rainwater and he also expressed uneasiness about Sebastian County's duty to cooperate in the defense of potential claims, if the proposed ordinance is passed."

Rainwater offered his analysis of a proposed second amendment sanctuary ordinance for Benton County. Among his criticisms were the ordinance, similarly to the one proposed for Sebastian County, defines "any act forbidding the possession in any location ... of a firearm ... by citizens ... eighteen and over," as an unlawful act. According to him, this means any and every 12th grader who is 18 years old can have a gun at any public school at any time.

"The proposed ordinance forbids 'any act ordering the confiscation of firearms ... from citizens' which would mean, literally, that court orders can be ignored and that search warrants could not be issued for the seizure of firearms of any citizen," Rainwater wrote.

Information for this article was contributed by Reporter Bill Bowden of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

NW News on 05/21/2020

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