Arkansas Supreme Court Associate Justice Nicholas Bronni has accused Chief Justice Karen Baker of spreading untruths during a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee.
On Thursday, Baker made a customary appearance in front of the committee. She addressed recent tension at the Supreme Court between her and her colleagues. She told committee members that issues stemmed from newly appointed Justice Bronni recusing “from all our criminal cases.”
In a letter to Rep. Carol Dalby, the chairwoman of the committee, Bronni called this statement “not accurate.” This comes amid other dubious comments made during Baker’s Thursday's testimony, and ongoing tension over how Baker is legally allowed to conduct her duties on the court.
In January, the Supreme Court held a contentious business meeting where Baker reasserted her claim that she has the right to fire employees of the Administrative Office of the Courts. The state constitution explicitly gives this power to the full court.
Immediately after taking office, Baker had tried to fire 10 AOC employees, but was overruled by her colleagues. At the business meeting, Baker told Bronni she was “not prepared to answer” questions about the legal interpretation of her duties.
Baker alluded to issues within the court Thursday after being asked by Rep. Matthew Shepherd to explain.
“We're off to a little bit of a rough start,” she said. “But I think we're going to get that all worked out.”
She attributed this problem to “not being able to get cases out since early December” due to Bronni recusing himself from “every criminal case.”
On Friday, Bronni wrote a letter disputing this comment.
“As the chief justice is aware,” he said, “I have not recused from ‘all our criminal cases’ and the court continues to move forward in criminal cases with my participation.”
Bronni, formerly the state solicitor general, goes on to say that he has only recused from cases he was directly involved in.
Bronni claims he asked the chief justice to correct her statements. He said they created “unnecessary confusion,” and “threaten to cast doubt on the fairness of the judicial system.”
Baker on Thursday also reiterated a claim that she has the right to hire and fire court staff.
“There's differences of opinion over whether I have the same authority that chief justices have always had in Arkansas,” she said. “I am unwilling to accept that I don't have the same authority to hire the Administrative Office of the Courts executive director.”
Little Rock Public Radio obtained the minutes from a 2017 Judicial Council meeting where the current AOC director, Marty Sullivan was hired. They show his hiring was done by the full court on the recommendation of then-Chief Justice John Dan Kemp. The chief justice did not make the hiring decision alone.
Attempts to fire Sullivan came after Baker was seen entering Sullivan’s office without permission. Arkansas Business later reported she left the office “disheveled.”
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