Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin issued a statement after a federal district judge issued a declaratory judgment and permanent injunction in the case Greene v. Griffin, ruling that a state law requirement regarding appointments to the Arkansas Ethics Commission is unconstitutional.
According to Griffin, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas ruled that the statutory requirement mandating at least one commission member be of a minority race amounts to an unconstitutional racial quota and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Griffin said the court’s ruling followed a joint motion he filed with the plaintiff requesting the permanent injunction.
The attorney general said he first objected to the requirement last summer, when he declined to make an appointment to the commission based on race.
Griffin stated that appointments to government boards and commissions should be based on qualifications rather than racial criteria, and that the injunction ensures Arkansans of all races will receive equal consideration for future appointments.
The permanent injunction blocks enforcement of the racial requirement in state statute moving forward.
A copy of the court’s order is available here.
