Arkansas Supreme Court strikes down pro-LGBT city ordinance
February 23, 2017 at 9:24 pm EST | by Chris Johnson
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a pro-LGBT ordinance enacted in the state’s third largest city as an act of defiance over a state law barring municipalities from passing such measures.
In the 10-page unanimous decision, Associate Justice Josephine Linker Hart determined the pro-LGBT ordinance enacted by Fayetteville “creates a nonuniform nondiscrimination law and obligation in the City of Fayetteville that does not exist under state law.”
“This necessarily creates a nonuniform non-discrimination law and obligation in the City of Fayetteville that does not exist under state law,” the decision says. “It is clear from the statutory language and the Ordinance’s language that there is a direct inconsistency between state and municipal law and that the Ordinance is an obstacle to the objectives and purposes set forth in the General Assembly’s Act and therefore it cannot stand.”
The decision reverses the decision of a lower district court, which that upheld the ordinance despite state law, and remands the case for further action.
https://www.washingtonblade.com/2017/02/23/arkansas-court-strikes-lgbt-ordinance/
http://opinions.aoc.arkansas.gov/WebLink8/0/doc/360993/Electronic.aspx
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