Supreme Court orders Justice Hudson case dismissed, refers her to Judicial Discipline Commission

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Tuesday (Sept. 24) ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit by Justice Courtney Hudson that sought to shield the release of emails from an office she supervised.

It also referred her to the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, saying she potentially violated the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct and the Arkansas Rules of Professional Conduct through “flagrant breaches of confidentiality and the public trust.”

The opinion does not list the justices who voted in the majority. It states that Hudson and Justice Karen Baker would be writing dissents, and it does not list any recusals. Talk Business & Politics will update this story when the dissents are released.

The remaining justices are Chief Justice Dan Kemp and Associate Justices Rhonda Wood, Barbara Webb, Shawn Womack and Cody Hiland. The five earlier had supported the emails’ release.

Wood and Baker face each other in the runoff for chief justice in the Nov. 5 election.

The order states that it comes under the Arkansas Supreme Court’s superintending authority as stated by the Arkansas Constitution. It vacates an order granting preliminary injunctive relief to Hudson by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Patricia Ann James and dismissed Hudson’s civil lawsuit with prejudice.

The order stems from a Freedom of Information Act request by Arkansas Business Senior Editor Mark Friedman for all communications sent after Jan. 1, 2023 between various individuals. Those include communications between Hudson and former Office of Professional Conduct Director Lisa Ballard, as well as those between Ballard and Allison Hatfield, Ballard and Anne Laidlaw, Ballard and Doug Smith, and Ballard and Linda Napper.

Hudson supervised the Office of Professional Conduct. Ballard represented Hudson in her 2019 divorce from John Goodson, as reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. She left the office in May. Hatfield, Laidlaw and Smith are attorneys, and Napper is a political consultant.

Friedman has not disclosed why he made the request.

The justices then held a confidential vote where five justices voted to authorize the release of emails from Ballard to Hudson because the Supreme Court governs the Office of Professional Conduct. Hudson’s communications are subject to an FOIA exemption.

According to the order, Hudson on Sept. 6 filed suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court seeking to prohibit the release of the emails. That day, Judge James entered an ex parte restraining order.

On Sept. 18, Hudson filed a brief that included two confidential, unredacted and unsealed emails from Kemp to the six associate justices concerning the court’s confidential vote on the FOIA matter. The circuit court held a hearing that day and, five days later, granted Hudson’s request for a preliminary injunction.

“Here, an inferior court has purported to indirectly stay an administrative action of the supreme court by issuing an injunction against employees and entities under the control of this court,” the order states. “The pleadings and exhibits contain information on their face that should have put the circuit court on notice that this matter involved an internal administrative issue over which the circuit court has no jurisdiction. To allow a circuit court to stay enforcement of the supreme court’s decisions would usurp the supreme court’s authority guaranteed by the Arkansas Constitution. It would also allow any dissenting justice to halt the administration of the supreme court by seeking additional review whenever he or she disagrees with an internal court decision.”

As a result, the Supreme Court ordered that the Sept. 23 preliminary injunctive relief order be vacated and dismissed the complaint.

“Because this case implicates potential violations of the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct and the Arkansas Rules of Professional Conduct, particularly the flagrant breaches of confidentiality and the public trust, we refer Justice Hudson to the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission for investigation,” the order states.

It further refers Hudson’s attorney, Justin Zachary of Denton, Zachary & Norwood PLLC, to the Office of Professional Conduct for investigation.