State of Justice June 2024: Ethics Updates

Arkansas justices and lower court judge at odds over firearm regulations in courthouses

In March 2023, Circuit Judge Morgan “Chip” Welch delivered a decision prohibiting attorneys from bringing firearms into courthouses and courtrooms. That decision was later overturned by the state supreme court. Following the state supreme court’s decision, Welch later released a decision allowing firearms into courthouses and their public spaces but not individual courtrooms. In his amended decision, however, Welch nicknamed the supreme court’s decision “Lawyer/officer-of-the-court Carry Opinion” and then “LOCO” for shorthand. As a result, the state supreme court released an order reprimanding Welch for his handling of the ruling, claiming it violated the state’s code of conduct and undermined confidence in the judiciary despite his apology after his decision. The supreme court also ordered Welch to attend a course on ethics. This decision comes amidst a consistent uptick of threats and violence against judges and in our courtrooms, which has escalated to the point that federal legislation has been introduced to strengthen protections for state court judges and justices. While both Welch and the state supreme court have escalated the issue, their actions have distracted from a very real threat to our state judiciaries.  

Ken Paxton asks state supreme court to overturn bar sanctions against him following baseless attempts to overthrow 2020 presidential election results 

Following the 2020 presidential election, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn the election results and block Joe Biden’s victory based on the claim of fictitious voter fraud. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the case. The Texas state bar accused Paxton of misconduct due to a misrepresentation of the facts. Paxton challenged the sanctions against him in court, and they were subsequently upheld. Now, Paxton has asked the state supreme court to intervene and dismiss the sanctions and the lower court’s decision upholding the sanctions. Paxton claims he is protected by sovereign immunity—which protects government officials from some lawsuits—despite a lower court ruling that the bar’s lawsuit was brought against him as an individual attorney, not in his official capacity.