The Problem is the False Doctrine of Judicial Supremacy

A good school is about to be closed down just because it falls under an arbitrary number of students. Should the number be changed? We can't figure out what the heck Jim Keet really thinks about it, but Gov. Beebe says no. The stated reason? He is afraid the courts would take up Lakeview again.

That's exactly the problem. The state court usurped the authority of the legislative branch with the Lakeview case. Two of the seven justices wrote that, and they were correct. But the legislature seems more worried about obtaining pork than defending the fundamental precepts of constitutional government. Part of the problem was they would have to stand up to a state print media that is determined to consolidate and centralize education, whether the parents think its a good idea or not.

Were I the Governor, and could get the legislature to buck up, I would push for a repeal of the arbitrary number and HOPE the court tried to jump back in it. I'd hate to leave the battle with the courts lying where we left off- with the courts asserting that they had the right to determine what an "adequate" level of school funding is (the power of the purse strings rightly belongs to the legislature). The legislature laid down supine for the judicial branch last time. A return to Lakeview would give them a chance to redeem themselves for the feckless spectacle we saw from them last time. The legislature should repeal the limit, and if the court tries to bench legislate, I'd tell 'em they would get no enforcement of that extra-constitutional ruling from me. Then I'd go around the state campaigning for the opponent of whichever of the usurpers was up for election next.


Too bad for the small schools I'm not the Governor, but I suspect Mayor Frank Gilbert, the Constitution Party's candidate for Governor, would do pretty much the same thing. To get him on the ballot, download the petition on this site, get some friends to sign it, then mail it in by July the 9th.