On July 7, Arkansas and Missouri became the first two states to ban the use of the pesticide dicamba. In the age-old struggle between farmers and weeds, dicamba is the newest weapon in a farmer’s arsenal. The way a lot of farming works these days is big companies, like Monsanto, genetically modify seeds so that they are resistant to certain pesticides, like dicamba. But the pesticide has ravaged acres of farmland, killing off crops that are not resistant to its fatal chemicals. In response, states are beginning to temporarily ban the use of dicamba. Read on to learn more about dicamba and the legal issues that have cropped up around its use: 

Seeds of the Conflict

Many farmers have begun planting dicamba-resistant seeds, particularly farmers in the Midwest. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, 1.5 million of the roughly 3 million acres of soybeans planted in the state are Monsanto’s dicamba-resistant soybeans.

While nearly half of soybean farms in Arkansas are full of dicamba-resistant seeds, more than half of them are full of seeds that are not resistant to the pesticide. This is where the problem begins. Dicamba began drifting into fields planted with non-resistant seeds, killing off many plants that were not genetically modified to withstand the pesticide. When this started happening many farmers took their complaints to the Arkansas State Plant Board.

The Plant Board is a state run entity whose mission is to provide “information and unbiased enforcement of laws and regulations” that have to do with agriculture in Arkansas. They received enough complaints that the state governments of Missouri and Arkansas had to take action. Both states have banned dicamba use between July 11 and November 7. The Arkansas ruling states:

Many other instances of exposure of non-target crops being exposed to dicamba have been reported and this situation poses a grave threat to the farm economy of Arkansas and therefore the public interest requires taking action to prevent unintentional exposure of non-target crops to dicamba. Therefore, the Board finds that there is imminent peril to the public health, safety and welfare that requires adoption of emergency regulations and that the regulation should take effect upon filing with the Secretary of State.

Missouri released a similar statement that stopped the sale or use of dicamba. Missouri’s ban, which includes any product with dicamba in it, will last longer than Arkansas’, lasting until December 1.

This federal action follows a years-long struggle between farmers and weeds, pesticides and plants–and even farmer and farmer.

What is Dicamba?

Dicamba is not a new pesticide. In fact, it was devised in 1958, cooked up by the chemical company BASF. And it is not the only pesticide that farmers use. Roundup, an incredibly toxic weed killer, was once a favorite of farmers. Seed companies manufactured genetically modified seeds that were “Roundup-ready,” and could withstand the toxic pesticides.

Roundup seemed like a good solution for a while. Rather than losing crops to weeds or having to go out and eliminate every weed by hand, Roundup would do the work for you. It was an easy solution, but it did not last long. Weeds began evolving, and developed resistance to Roundup. Thus, farmers began looking for new pesticides that paired with new genetically modified seeds.  

In the Arkansas government’s Emergency Rule, which temporarily bans the use of dicamba, it recognizes the benefits of pesticides. The rule states:

Pesticides are valuable to the State’s agricultural production and to the protection of man and the environment from insects, rodents, weeds and other forms of life which may be pests; but it is essential to the public health and welfare that they be regulated to prevent adverse effects on human life and the environment.

First Signs of Resistance

It all began with a weed called pigweed, a group of weeds which became resistant to most pesticides. Pigweed also spreads like wildfire. “You get one plant in your field, and that one plant can produce more than a million seeds. Many of the seeds become new plants that can choke your fields,” said Steve Inskeep of NPR. Some farmers would rip it from the ground when they saw it. Others resorted to spraying dicamba.

For the 2016 growing season, Monsanto released a new dicamba spray that was less prone to drifting. Old dicamba sprays would vaporize and spread to other farmers’ land. If it drifted to a farm full of non-resistant seeds, the farmer’s plants would wither and die.

The new drift-averse dicamba spray has not been approved by the EPA and Monsanto told farmers not to use other drift-prone sprays, due to the problems that arose from its use. 

Farmers were fined as much as $1,000 for using the illegal spray before the ban went into effect. A steep price, but when their entire yield is at risk of being killed by a weed, some farmers decided to cut their losses. According to The Progressive Farmer, “The Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that it executed federal search warrants at several southeastern Missouri locations as part of an investigation into alleged misuse or misapplication of dicamba onto herbicide-tolerant soybeans and cotton.”

Drift is nothing new to farmers. Other pesticides have had these problems before. But in the past, farmers would just talk it out to settle the problem. With the onset of dicamba, farmers have taken their complaints to the state. 

Arkansas Bans Dicamba

Some farmers purchased dicamba-resistant seeds, but many others did not. Their crops are starting to die off at alarming rates, and it is believed that dicamba is largely to blame.

Many crops, including soybeans, cotton, and corn, die when they are exposed to dicamba. The leaves of the plants curl and pucker, leaving farmers with a loss on their investment.  

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported:

As of noon Wednesday, the Plant Board, a division of the state Department of Agriculture, had received 551 complaints of damage to soybeans, cotton, vegetables and fruit, up from 25 complaints four weeks ago. The increasing numbers led [Governor Asa] Hutchinson to sign on to a 120-day emergency ban on the sale and use of dicamba.

Terry Walker, the Plant Board’s director, said in an interview with Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the government had a right to protect the farmers who had not bought dicamba-resistant seeds and who were experiencing adverse effects because of other farmers who were using an illegal pesticide.

The Plant Board also requested an increase in fines. Their request was approved. Beginning on August 1, fines for farmers caught using dicamba will rise from $1,000 to $25,000.

A Pesticide Worth Killing For?

The main controversy surrounding dicamba has been the effect the pesticide has on crops. But one case escalated to the point of murder.

In 2016, farmers began noticing an increase in damages to crops that were not dicamba-resistant. More than 200,000 acres of fruits and vegetables, including soybeans, tomatoes, watermelon, and peaches, took a hit. In a year that was already one of the leanest since 2002, this extra damage was not a welcome sight.

Mike Wallace, a farmer in Arkansas, started noticing a decline in his yield. His crops were dying, and it looked like dicamba was to blame. After complaining to the Plant Board, Wallace took matters into his own hands. He called up Allan Curtis Jones, a 26-year-old farmer from Arbyrd, Missouri. The two argued over the phone and eventually met in person. The meeting, according to Modern Farmer, did not go well:

Wallace grabbed Jones by the arm during the argument, Jones pulled out a gun and shot the older man, who was unarmed. Jones’ cousin called 911 and deputies found Wallace dead by the side of the road when they arrived.

Jones was arraigned last November and was released on a $150,000 bail.

Is Dicamba Legal in Other States?

Dicamba is very toxic and thus highly regulated.

The EPA has approved a list of 34 states (including Arkansas and Missouri) where dicamba can be registered to be used on genetically engineered cotton and soybeans. The EPA has also approved a special strain of dicamba, Xtendimax, that can be used on genetically engineered cotton and soybeans.

Xtendimax “is designed to be the industry’s lowest volatility dicamba,” according to its manufacturer, meaning it is less likely to evaporate. The problem with other dicamba formulas was they would evaporate once sprayed, and float to nearby fields, some of which were not planted with dicamba-resistant seeds. This new formula, which still requires farmers to follow a list of precautions in order to ensure they are adhering to safe practices, was designed to combat the drifting problems many farmers were seeing.

Next Steps

For farmers in Arkansas and Missouri, the next steps will be to untangle the complaints, and to closely examine dicamba’s potential problems and opportunities. Bob Scott, professor and weed scientist at the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, recently told CropLife, “Going into the fall, we’re really going to have to look at drift complaints, categorize and narrow them down, and try to figure out what’s going on here to determine whether we can use this technology or not.”

Scott said that some farms that were following the rules were still being investigated because their neighbors reported what looked like dicamba-related damage. That could mean a variety of things. Perhaps the dicamba is drifting farther than farmers previously thought it could. Maybe the approved methods of dicamba use are not as safe as was once thought. Whatever the answer ends up being, a thorough investigation will likely be conducted in the coming months. 

Conclusion

Dicamba has led to a lose-lose situation for farmers in Arkansas and Missouri. The farmers who did not buy genetically modified seeds saw losses because their crops could not withstand the illegal use of dicamba. The farmers who did buy dicamba-resistant seeds are now barred from using the powerful pesticide because of the new Emergency Rule. Their options are limited. Some plausible options are they can either pull weeds by hand, try other pesticides, or hope that the weeds do not kill too many of their crops. For now, farmers in Arkansas and Missouri must resist using dicamba, unless they accept the hefty fine–or worse. 

Anne Grae Martin

Anne Grae Martin is a member of the class of 2017 University of Delaware. She is majoring in English Professional Writing and minoring in French and Spanish. When she’s not writing for Law Street, Anne Grae loves doing yoga, cooking, and correcting her friends’ grammar mistakes. Contact Anne Grae at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Thousands March in LA for President Trump’s Impeachment

Yesterday, thousands of protesters marched on the streets in downtown Los Angeles to demand President Donald Trump’s impeachment. “Down, down, down with Trump–up, up, up with the people,” they chanted. Similar protests are scheduled to take place in other cities in California and the United States. “Every day when I wake up, something is more terrible than it was yesterday,” one protester, John Meranda, said. Before the demonstration started, counter-protesters gathered outside the LAPD headquarters.

One anti-Trump demonstrator screaming at pro-Trump folks, including, “You’re a fraud! You’re a fraud! You’re a fraud!” pic.twitter.com/OpDwnd9xnp

— Laura J. Nelson (@laura_nelson) July 2, 2017

Democratic Representative Brad Sherman spoke from the stage at a rally close to LA’s City Hall, and urged other congressmen to begin an impeachment process. “We have to act now to protect our country from abuse of power and impulsive, ignorant incompetence,” he said. Even though many lawmakers have talked about impeachment, Sherman has actually taken action by drafting articles of impeachment in which he accuses Trump of trying to disrupt the investigation into Michael Flynn.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: July 3, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

An Arkansas man has been arrested for allegedly driving his car into a Ten Commandments monument at the state Capitol early Wednesday morning. Interestingly, this is the second time that Michael Tate Reed, 32, has been arrested for driving into a religious monument. The last time was in 2014, when he ran over another Ten Commandments display at the Oklahoma State Capitol. That time he said Satan made him do it and he reportedly threatened to kill President Obama.

But Reed seems to be non-partisan–he also recently threatened President Trump on social media. He had also planned for the event by creating a GoFundMe page, with which he hoped to raise enough money to replace his car. Around 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Reed drove his car straight into the statue, while shouting, “Oh my goodness, Freedom!” He also streamed the incident on Facebook Live.

Before the crash, he said in the Facebook video that he was back at it with “white plans,” but it’s unclear what he meant by that. He also said that he is a Christian but added, “one thing I do not support is the violation of our constitutional right to have the freedom that’s guaranteed to us, that guarantees us the separation of church and state, because no one religion should the government represent.” Finally, he asked people who support his cause to use the hashtag #Checkmate on social media.

NEW: Man accused of knocking over 10 Commandments statue at AR Capitol did the same thing in OK, 3 years ago:https://t.co/3F8dJsNdur #arpx pic.twitter.com/YtdpH2j292

— Emma Pettit (@EmmaJanePettit) June 28, 2017

The monument crumbled and Reed was taken to the hospital and then to jail. The stone statue had only been up for a day, but Republican State Senator Jason Rapert was confident a new monument would be up soon. He sponsored a law that took effect in 2015, which allowed private citizens to fund the religious monument and put it outside the Capitol. Opponents of that bill said that escaping a government-established religion was one of the things the colonists fled when they first set foot in America.

The crash sparked both criticism and support on social media. Some hailed him as a hero and patriot for standing up for the constitution, while others said the opposite. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee did not exactly support what happened.

Some idiot in my home state broke all 10 commandments at the same time. He wasn’t Moses and it wasn’t Mt. Sinai. https://t.co/r8hXrJ32JZ

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) June 28, 2017

But others definitely did.

some idiot legislator thought it was okay to place a religious statue in a place where governing occurs, despite separation of church and st https://t.co/1CmKRwVTZg

— John Hornor (@johnhornor) June 28, 2017

Reed was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder back in 2015. Later that year, he sent a letter to the Tulsa World describing why he had destroyed the monument at the state’s Capitol. He wrote that he got his inspiration from Dracula movies, that he thought he was the incarnation of a British occult leader called Aleister Crowley, and that a killer virus in the shape of Michael Jackson’s spirit had infected meat. He said that at the time of the 2014 crash he was also trying to get in touch with Satan’s high priestess, Gwyneth Paltrow.

After the earlier incident, many Republican lawmakers tried to paint what happened as politically motivated or an act of violence or terrorism, but Reed’s family insisted it was his illness. He was released from a mental health facility after doctors found a combination of medicines that seemed to work for him. It’s not clear what prompted Wednesday’s crash, but hopefully, he will get proper care.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Are there more racists in the world, or have they just gotten ballsier? I asked myself this question as yet another cellphone video went viral. This one captured a white woman racially abusing two women inside of an Arkansas Walmart.

Eva Hicks posted a video of the confrontation to her Facebook profile Monday, in which a white woman in a teal shirt tells Hicks to “go back to Mexico.” Hicks, a Latina, tells the woman she was trying to reach the medicine on the shelf behind the woman’s cart and that she said “excuse me.”

The woman continues on a xenophobic rant, before another shopper tells the woman to “stop being ignorant.” The white woman replies, “A n****r is calling me ignorant?”

Latino woman needs medicine, says “excuse me” @WalMart to get it. White woman tells her to leave America then calls another woman “nigger” pic.twitter.com/l7j5YBTlWP

— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) May 23, 2017

The video went viral on Twitter after activist and New York Daily News writer Shaun King tagged the company in a tweet demanding that the woman be banned “from this store for life.”

Walmart is currently trying to identify the woman, and says she will be banned from all of its stores, according to NBC News.

@ShaunKing @Walmart @ShaunKing, we agree that this cannot be tolerated and are continuing to look into the matter. Below is our official statement: pic.twitter.com/BkKKVDrjE6

— Walmart Newsroom (@WalmartNewsroom) May 23, 2017

The incident is merely the latest in a string of xenophobic rants caught on tape in recent months.

On Monday, a video surfaced of a white woman in Virginia calling a Hispanic man a “sp*c” and telling him to “take his f*cking a** back to Mexico.”  Last weekend, a white man in a wheelchair at a Reno airport was filmed calling another passenger a “sp*c” and a “piece of sh*t” for speaking Spanish to his mother. The list goes on and on.

So back to my question–are there more racists in the world, or have they just gotten ballsier?

The presidential election certainly fanned racism and Islamophobia throughout the country; many of these incidents feature President Donald Trump’s signature campaign slogans–like “build the wall.” But it could also just be that we’re getting better at capturing and sharing racist incidents.

People are quick to take out a cellphone and hit record to these capture brazen racists and upload the videos to social media. From there they are easily liked and shared, garnering millions of views and hundreds of thousands of responses.

The Southern Poverty Law Center catalogued 1,094 bias-related incidents in the month following the election. While this number has reduced drastically in the subsequent months, it is nonetheless heartbreaking.

Also, did anyone else notice that many of these confrontations appear to take place in store checkout lines? It could be just a coincidence, or indicate a trend of where people are feeling their most brazen.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post White Lady’s Racist Walmart Tirade is Nothing New appeared first on Law Street.

Monday was supposed to be the first day in a string of executions in Arkansas, as the state’s supply of the sedative midazolam, which is used in the lethal injection, expires at the end of the month. That is why Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson ordered eight executions to take place over 11 days, before the current stash of midazolam expires. But a succession of lawsuits has stopped the executions from happening.

This is the latest development in a messy legal fight as Arkansas is pushing to execute eight prisoners in almost as many days. Last month, the eight prisoners filed a lawsuit in which they called the state’s rush to kill them “reckless and unconstitutional.” They also cited the use of midazolam as a problem, as many other states have stopped using the drug after a couple of botched executions that led to slow and painful deaths.

At the end of last week, pharmaceutical companies Fresenius Kabi USA and West-Ward Pharmaceuticals Corp. filed a friend of the court brief in the prisoners’ lawsuit. Fresenius Kabi said it believes that the state of Arkansas acquired potassium chloride, the second ingredient in the three-drug lethal injection, from the company, and that it did so under false pretenses.

Arkansas fights in multiple courts to carry out two of eight planned executions Monday. https://t.co/ueFxXfktba

— AP Central U.S. (@APCentralRegion) April 17, 2017

On Friday, Arkansas Judge Wendell Griffen halted the use of the third of the three execution drugs, vecuronium bromide. The manufacturer of this drug, McKesson Corporation, also claimed that the state bought it under false pretenses, by using the medical license of an Arkansas physician. Although Griffen’s ruling was not based on the executions legality, it made the carrying out of the executions impossible. And then over the weekend, federal Judge Kristine Baker halted all of the executions, citing the prisoners’ lawsuit.

“The threat of irreparable harm to the plaintiffs is significant: If midazolam does not adequately anesthetize plaintiffs, or if their executions are ‘botched,’ they will suffer severe pain before they die,” she wrote. But on Monday, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned her ruling, saying the evidence that the executions would “cause severe pain and needless suffering” was insufficient.

To complicate matters, Judge Griffen was barred on Monday from hearing any death penalty cases in the state as it was revealed that he attended an anti-death penalty rally right after issuing the halt of the lethal injection on Friday. Griffen not only attended the demonstration, he also lay down on a cot and bound himself with a rope, making it look like he was a death row inmate on a gurney, awaiting execution. The protest took place outside Gov. Hutchinson’s house. Death penalty advocates were outraged and many Republican lawmakers called it judicial misconduct.

Judge rules against #Arkansas #executions. Judge attends anti-#deathpenalty rally. Judge barred from such cases. https://t.co/SodtMofgaj pic.twitter.com/hDLKFp553A

— AP Central U.S. (@APCentralRegion) April 17, 2017

The hurried pace of carrying out eight executions over 11 days is unprecedented in modern times, and Arkansas hasn’t performed an execution since 2005. But Hutchinson has been eager to get going, citing justice for the families of the victims the inmates have killed. And after all the legal back and forth, it looked like the state could go on with the plans. But then in a last minute development, the Arkansas Supreme Court granted a delay in the execution of one of the prisoners, Don Davis, after his attorney sought a stay on Monday. The court also stayed the execution of Bruce Ward.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge asked the U.S. Supreme Court late Monday evening to overrule that decision. The court declined to hear the case. However, late Monday the Arkansas Supreme Court also overruled the restraining order by Griffen on the use of vecuronium bromide, which means the lethal injections are free to use again. But the state is also facing a different problem: it can’t seem to find enough witnesses for the executions. The law requires at least six civilian witnesses at each execution.

So for now, all the prisoners are still alive. But since Baker’s stay of the executions was overruled, there is nothing that stops the state from going through with the executions, as long as there are enough witnesses. On Thursday, two inmates, Ledell Lee and Stacey Johnson, are scheduled for execution.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Eight inmates in Arkansas, all men convicted of murder, are scheduled to be executed over 10 days next month. But there’s a big problem: the state can’t find enough witnesses for the executions. State law requires a minimum of six witnesses be present for an execution. In addition to the struggle to procure enough witnesses, the executions, scheduled between April 17 and 27, face another hurdle: the inmates filed a federal complaint on Monday, claiming the 10-day execution spree is “cruel and unusual.”

According to a local newspaper, the state is desperately seeking volunteers to attend the executions. And Wendy Kelly, the director of the Department of Correction, is personally seeking volunteers. In fact, last Tuesday, Kelly reportedly fished for volunteers during a keynote address at the Little Rock Rotary Club.

“You seem to be a group that does not have felony backgrounds and are over 21,” Kelly said, according to The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “So if you’re interested in serving in that area, in this serious role, just call my office.”

Arkansas law dictates all executions must include “a number of respectable citizens numbering not fewer than six nor more than twelve whose presence is necessary to verify that the execution was conducted in the manner required by law.” But finding enough citizens willing to sit-in on the executions has been a challenge.

Last month, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson ordered the executions; four of the men are black, four are white. All were convicted of murder. The rationale for squeezing all eight executions in 10 days: Arkansas’s stock of midazolam, a sedative used in the three-drug lethal injection, expires at the end of April. Midazolam is difficult to acquire, and due its precarious legality, replenishing the state’s supply is not a guarantee.

Aside from the witness recruiting effort, the executions could be stalled because of the inmates’ federal complaint. John Williams, a federal public defender who represents three of the inmates, said the complaint “challenges the execution schedule.” He added: “It’s an unprecedented act and we think the pace of the schedule puts our clients at unnecessary risk.” The judge could dismiss the complaint outright, or issue a preliminary injunction, which would likely delay the executions.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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If you’ve ever been at a college football game and thought, “Man this football game is fun, but it would be even more fun if some people in this stadium were packing heat!” then you probably were not very happy with the Arkansas Senate yesterday.

After a good dose of public outrage and some lawmakers speaking out about its dangers, a new Arkansas concealed carry expansion measure has now been watered down by an exemption passed by a 22-10 vote in the Senate. The exemption removes college sports events from the expansion.

Signed into law by Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday, the new measure would have allowed anyone with a concealed handgun license and eight hours of active shooter training to conceal carry in a publicly-owned building like a state college campus or the state capitol. Private establishments like bars and places of worship would also be included, although those establishments still have the right to prohibit guns from their premises. News of this measure expanding gun rights to college sports venues angered and alarmed many, leading the Senate to pass the exemption for college sports venues less than a day after the law was passed.

Among those who were confused by the very logic of the law was University of Arkansas defensive back Kevin Richardson II:

I’m curious as to why… https://t.co/Ynpo3lGUeL

— Kevin Richardson II (@K_Rich30) March 23, 2017

Speaking to USA Today Sports, Democratic Rep. Greg Leading, who represents the district that includes one of the University of Arkansas campuses, said “Most concealed-carry permit holders are responsible people. That said, accidents happen. People like to have a good time before, during and after football games in the South. People drink. People get emotional. If you’re not allowed to bring an umbrella into a stadium, why should you be allowed to introduce guns into the equation?” To add to Rep. Leading’s point, outside food is prohibited from most stadiums, and, on the very same day the new measure was approved, the SEC implemented a league-wide “clear bag policy” that encourages fans to bring only clear and smaller bags to SEC football games.

As the AP points out, the state of Arkansas is no stranger to supporting and expanding gun rights. In 2013, the state passed a law that allowed faculty and staff to carry concealed weapons on college campuses, given that those schools agreed to allow guns on campus, which none of them ended up doing. Governor Hutchinson is also, as the AP points out, a former chair of a National Rifle Association task force whose mission was to push for armed faculty at Arkansas public schools in response to the Newtown shooting. That shooting happened, of course, in Connecticut–over a thousand miles away from Arkansas.

This exemption is expected to pass in the Arkansas House floor sometime within the next week.

This Arkansas law comes at a time where multiple states with Republican governors are moving to pass some version of concealed carry expansion. This week, North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed into law a bill that institutes Constitutional Carry throughout the state and Ohio’s new gun laws that allow for people to carry a concealed weapon into places like day care facilities and non-secure areas of airports went into effect.

Austin Elias-De Jesus

Austin is an editorial intern at Law Street Media. He is a junior at The George Washington University majoring in Political Communication. You can usually find him reading somewhere. If you can’t find him reading, he’s probably taking a walk. Contact Austin at Staff@Lawstreetmedia.com.

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An Arkansas judge resigned from his position on Saturday when accusations were revealed that he had arranged deals for female defendants in exchange for sexual favors. The judge, Timothy Parker, sent a letter to the Arkansas governor, Asa Hutchinson, announcing his choice to step down. He also wrote that he realized he could never serve as a judge again.

The news was made public on Tuesday by the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, which is investigating Parker. According to the commission, he has repeatedly denied the accusations, but resigned in order to avoid being formally charged with a violation of judicial conduct. He was also worried about how the dispute would affect his family, but said that his term would expire soon anyway.

Arkansas judge resigns after allegations that helped female defendants in exchange for sexual favors https://t.co/Oe1v2lCm1g

— NYT National News (@NYTNational) January 5, 2017

In a letter describing the allegations, the commission wrote that Parker had a pattern of “personal relationships with many female litigants” and made deals such as releasing them from jail without bail, or constructing bond conditions that were favorable for the women. The commission said there are video statements from more than a dozen women, recordings of conversations, and text messages as evidence against him.

There are also other allegations against Parker that say he often showed up without notice at the county jail to release friends of his without bail and would give them a ride home in his own car. This part, the commission said, he admitted to. Parker is also facing criminal charges for the accusations. David Sachar, director of the commission, said:

Bonds would be set, or release of the women on their own recognizance was ordered by going to the jail or via telephone. The bonds or release of these women or their family or friends were done by their request in exchange for sexual favors.

But Parker kept denying his guilt, and when asked by the Associated Press why he didn’t contest the accusations, he answered, “I have young children and I don’t want them exposed to that kind of crap.”

This is not the first time this has happened in the state. In October another Arkansas judge, O. Joseph Boeckmann, was arrested for giving male defendants lighter sentences in exchange for sexual favors, which he called “community service.” The defendants had committed light crimes like traffic or misdemeanor offenses. Boeckmann made at least nine men, between 16 and 22 years old, collect trash from the ground and bring it to his home, where he snapped compromising photos of them and asked them to perform sexual favors. He later threatened or bribed them to make them keep quiet, and focused on vulnerable defendants who couldn’t afford to pay their fines.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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In the beginning of 2013, the Arkansas General Assembly introduced a bill titled the “Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act” in an attempt to ban women from aborting a fetus 12 weeks or older. After several years of this law being contested in court, it has finally received the final nail in the coffin. The Supreme Court rejected the pleas to overturn lower court decisions by announcing this Tuesday that it would not be hearing oral arguments for Beck v. Edwards.

The  “Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act” became a law on March 6, 2013, even after being vetoed by then Governor Mike Beebe, and has faced controversy ever since. Around a month after the bill became a law, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU began the fight against the law by filing suit in a district court, claiming that this ban on abortion infringed on patients’ constitutional rights to privacy. The district court ultimately sided with the Plaintiffs, ruling that the ban on abortion after 12 weeks was an unconstitutional violation of a woman’s privacy. Arkansas appealed this case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in May of 2014, but didn’t have much luck. The court affirmed the ruling of the previous court in its opinion, stating,

This case underscores the importance of the parties, particularly the state, developing the record in a meaningful way so as to present a real opportunity for the court to examine viability, case by case, as viability steadily moves back towards conception.

In this case, Arkansas legislators are making the claim that a fetus is viable at 12 weeks, so therefore the cutoff for abortion legality needs to be at or before that benchmark. Overall, one of the biggest points of contention in the overall argument about abortion is the question of when a fetus becomes viable. But, what is viability? Justice Harry Blackman defined this term in his opinion on the well-known 1973 Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade: “potentially able to live outside the mother’s womb, albeit with artificial aid.” Now, people have been bickering for decades over what this actually means; however, most states have stuck to the norm–also laid out in Roe v. Wade–of a fetus becoming viable somewhere around 28 weeks.

Both the District Court and the Court of Appeals cited a lack of scientific evidence on the part of the State when it comes to proving that viability of a fetus starts at 12 weeks. The plaintiffs, on the other hand, provided ample evidence–in the form of doctor testimony– to support the fact that a fetus at 12 weeks cannot survive outside its mother’s womb.

In a final attempt to keep this law in place, the state of Arkansas filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately for the Arkansas legislature, the Supreme Court only accepts around 0.8% of the cases it receives each year, and it just decided this Tuesday that it will not be hearing Beck v. Edwards, effectively striking down the Arkansas ban on abortions past 12 weeks, for good.

So what does this mean for the future of abortion rights? We can all rest easy knowing that a woman’s constitutional right to privacy won’t be violated by the Arkansas abortion law anytime soon, since the final decision from the Court of Appeals stands, banning the ban for good. In addition, although SCOTUS didn’t want to hear Beck v. Edwards, it does have a new abortion focused case coming up this March. Arguments for Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole are set to begin March 2nd, so a verdict on whether or not the Supreme Court will uphold women’s rights is rapidly approaching.

Alexandra Simone

Alex Simone is an Editorial Senior Fellow at Law Street and a student at The George Washington University, studying Political Science. She is passionate about law and government, but also enjoys the finer things in life like watching crime dramas and enjoying a nice DC brunch. Contact Alex at ASimone@LawStreetmedia.com

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As we continue our research into the dumbest laws of the United States, let’s have a look now at Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky.

I’ve heard of the cliché of throwing tomatoes at comedians who are bombing to the worst degree on stage, but never of throwing eggs at public speakers–an act that is strictly prohibited in Kentucky and punishable by a year in prison. Kentucky seems to have a thing for eggs and birds as the state has also banned dying a duckling blue and offering it for sale unless more than six are for sale at the same time. Really makes you wonder how that law came to fruition…

In Tennessee, you can’t mooch off of your parents’ Netflix account or any one else’s for that matter because it is illegal to share your password. And with regard to technology, you cannot post images online that cause “emotional distress” without “legitimate purpose.”

Tennessee also has a number of strict laws pertaining to minors. For example, students cannot hold hands in school. From what I’ve seen of the public displays put on by students today, hand holding should really be the least concern. It is also illegal to dare a minor to purchase beer, and a misdemeanor to tattoo a minor. So if you have a hankering to open a tattoo parlor in Tennessee, be sure to check ID!

Moving on to Louisiana. For starters, don’t even try to steal an alligator, because if you succeed you can land in jail for ten years. Not worth it if you ask me! Stealing crawfish is also a crime in the state.

A ten-year prison sentence looks like nothing when you compare it to the punishment for urinating in the city’s water supply. Doing so could put you behind bars for 20 years. Speaking of bodily fluids, “rituals that involve the ingestion of blood, urine, or fecal matter” are also illegal. The aforementioned are just a couple of the crimes that result in prison time in Louisiana. A false promise can lead to a year, and every time a prisoner tries to hurt him or herself he or she could serve an additional two years.

Boxing and wresting are taken very seriously in Louisiana. There, fake wrestling matches are prohibited and it is illegal for spectators to mock one of the contestants participating in a boxing match.

“AR-kan-sas?” “Ar-KAN-sas?” You better know how to pronounce the name of this state before heading there, as it is illegal to pronounce it incorrectly. In Little Rock, sandwich shops specifically like their peace and quiet. It is illegal to honk one’s horn at one after nine at night. Also in Little Rock, you cannot suddenly stop your car at a McDonald’s fast food joint.

Some dumb Arkansas laws that appeared on the Internet but could not be validated include that dogs cannot bark after six in the evening, and that it is unlawful to walk one’s cow down Main Street in Little Rock after 1:00 PM on Sundays.

Oh, the fun just doesn’t stop with these laws! Keep your eyes open for the next installment!

Marisa Mostek

Marisa Mostek loves globetrotting and writing, so she is living the dream by writing while living abroad in Japan and working as an English teacher. Marisa received her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder and a certificate in journalism from UCLA. Contact Marisa at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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