Here are excerpts from recent editorials in Arkansas newspapers:
Southwest Times Record. May 21, 2017.
The nation recently honored law enforcement officers. The week serves as recognition for what our local departments have done for us, but it also serves as a reminder of the ultimate sacrifice some officers make in the line of duty.
It hits hard when we hear about officers around the country who lose their lines while working to protect and serve. It hits even harder when the officers are members of our own community.
Late last summer, the Fort Smith area lost Sebastian County Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Cooper during a standoff near Hackett. Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells and Greenwood Police dog Kina were also shot and injured.
The incident claimed the life of a man dedicated to his job, someone who worked to keep us safe. We all know the risks of a position in law enforcement, but it’s still shocking when someone’s life ends because they’re doing their job.
On the day Cooper died, Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck said, “This is a perfect example of the ultimate sacrifice that was paid to keep our community safe.”
The 10th annual Safe Kids Fair held May 19 in Fort Smith has been renamed the “Bill Cooper Safe Kids Fair” to honor Cooper. It’s a fitting tribute to a man who was committed to helping children and keeping them safe.
Unfortunately, Cooper is not the only law enforcement officer we’ve lost in recent years.
Lt. Kevin Mainhart with the Yell County Sheriff’s Department was shot to death this month during a traffic stop. Mainhart, 46, had retired from the West Memphis Police Department after more than 20 years before he was hired by Yell County, where he supervised a team of deputies.
A 42-year-old man was arrested in Mainhart’s death and two other killings.
U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., paid tribute to Arkansas officers who will have their names added this year to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Boozman recognized fallen officers from the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office, the Arkansas Department of Correction, the McCrory Police Department, as well as Mainhart, on the Senate floor during remarks observing Peace Officers Memorial Day and National Police Week.
“These Arkansans represent the selfless sacrifice that our law enforcement personnel embody. It is a true testament to the life that they chose to serve the community,” Boozman said.
Mainhart lost his life just a few days before National Law Enforcement Week. We are grateful that Boozman took the time to honor him in the Senate.
“I offer my condolences and my gratitude to his family, friends and the law enforcement community as they cope with this unspeakable tragedy. Our law enforcement officers are true heroes,” Boozman said.
Others who have lost their lives in the line of duty still live on in our memories. A couple who come to mind are Sebastian County Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Terry Johnson, who died in an automobile accident while on duty in March 2013, and Fort Smith Police Department officer Daniel Martinez, who was shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance in March 2007.
We were reminded recently, too, of the still-unsolved death of David Jackson, a former Sebastian County Sheriff’s deputy who was shot and killed in his driveway in September 2014. A reward for information in his killing recently was increased; we hope this spurs on someone to come forward.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation that designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day. The memorial service for River Valley law enforcement agencies was a lovely way to honor our local law enforcement.
“Today, we remember our true heroes, for they served and they paid the ultimate sacrifice for a purpose far greater than anything we can imagine,” Fort Smith Police Chief Nathaniel Clark said during the ceremony at the Sebastian County Courthouse.
Today, we say thank you to them. You’ll never hear enough appreciation for what you do, but we speak from the heart when we express our gratitude.
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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. May 21, 2017.
In its quest to rewrite the state’s constitution in its own image, Arkansas’ bar association is working up a horse-choker of a constitutional amendment that would further clog that already over-amended document. The obvious aim of this omnibus amendment is to convert this state’s constitution from that of a representative democracy to a government of the lawyers, by the lawyers and for the lawyers. It would, among many other things, keep the Legislature from meaningful tort reform and make it much harder to override a governor’s veto.
Happily, the state’s voters should also have before them next year a constitutional amendment that takes a diametrically different and more wholesome approach: It would limit the damages that plaintiffs could receive in civil lawsuits, curb attorneys’ fees and grant the Legislature the authority to write the rules that govern how the state’s Supreme Court operates. The state’s voters next year can choose all or none of those options. For here, as the state’s motto proclaims, Regnat Populus, or The People Rule - not their lawyers.
To cite a familiar figure in these disputes - attorney Scott Trotter of Little Rock - voters next year should have ringside seats at this battle of the establishments. He ought to know, since he wrote the proposal being championed by the state’s bar. And in the other corner there’s Randy Zook, who heads the state’s Chamber of Commerce: “Meaningful tort reform has been denied for far too long,” he said. As each side comes out swinging, may the best establishment win.
This bout was supposed to have been decided way back in 2003, when the Ledge put a million-dollar limit on punitive as opposed to actual damages for those who went to court seeking compensation for their maltreatment. But that limit has been gradually lowered over the years by the workings of time, the plaintiffs’ bar and the state’s Supreme Court, all of which have taken their toll. Now a rematch is scheduled for next year, and the stakes are impressive. In one corner are a group of nursing-home owners and health care providers who have raised a kitty to finance their campaign while even more money been raised by their opponents, mainly lawyers of course.
Something tells us this fight between the lawyers and the people is going to have as many repeat performances as Zale vs. Graziano back in boxing’s heyday. Call it the People vs. the Lawyers, and it should be one heckuva series of fights in the years ahead. The gate receipts, now known as campaign expenditures, should set records every year as this battle of the titans rages on in the future.
Also under the lawyers’ proposal, the Ledge would need a two-thirds’ vote to override a governor’s veto instead of the simple majority it takes now. Surplus funds would no longer be distributed by individual legislators who could be held responsible for how the money is spent for good purposes or bad.
Happily, only three proposed constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot by the Legislature at each general election in the fall of the year, though any self-serving group - like the bar can try out their favorite proposition before the people if they can collect enough signatures or have enough paid canvassers. And what happens when the voters choose to pass more than one proposed constitutional amendment on the same subject? The one with the most votes becomes law.
There is a term of art that sums up the best course to adopt when considering this lawyers’ proposal. It’s not in Latin or legalese but plain New Yorkese: Fuhgeddaboutit.
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Texarkana Gazette. May 23, 2017.
Forty years ago - Feb. 3, 1977 - Lt. Ed Worrell and Officer James Clark of the Texarkana, Arkansas, Police Department responded to a reported burglary at the Howard Discount Center on State Line Avenue.
The break-in was still in progress when Worrell and Clark arrived, so they got out of their vehicles to check out the situation.
From the bank parking lot next door, a 15-year-old named John Lohbauer was standing lookout. He was armed with a high-powered rifle. And he opened fire, striking both officers.
Clark would recover. But Worrell, shot in the back. was pronounced dead an hour later at the hospital. He left a pregnant wife and two children.
Two teens inside the store were arrested. Lohbauer fled but was picked up a short time later. The three were passing through Texarkana after running away from their homes in Illinois on a lark and broke into Howard’s to steal ammunition for the weapons they carried. What started out as a burglary ended up with two police officers shot, one fatally.
A few months later, in August, Lohbauer pleaded guilty to murder, burglary and first-degree battery. He got life for the murder of Worrell and 20 years on each of the other two counts. His two accomplices took a plea deal that November and received 40-year sentences.
Lohbauer is still in prison. He has twice applied for clemency and twice been denied. Now, thanks to a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that minors sentenced to life must have the opportunity for parole, he has a chance at release. Lohbauer has applied for parole.
In our view, John Lohbauer is exactly where he needs to be.
Yes, he was a juvenile. But he took the life of a police officer. He tried to take the life of another. Some may be willing to say his youth should be considered, that this was all a mistake and he should have a chance at a productive life.
We disagree. Worrell didn’t have that chance. His children and unborn child certainly didn’t have a life with their father or his wife with her husband after that day in 1977.
There must be consequences. The judge sentenced Lohbauer to life plus 40 years. He has served nearly those 40 years. Now he can start doing life.
If you oppose Lohbauer’s parole, we urge you to write the Arkansas Parole Board at Two Union Plaza, 105 W. Capitol Ave. No. 500, Little Rock, AR 72201. Be sure to reference John C. Lohbauer by name and inmate number, 070497.
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