By Kennedy Neely Since the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, many states are dealing with increased demands to remove statues honoring Confederate Soldiers. In particular, the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas has been facing a debate centered around the relocation of a Confederate statue on private property downtown. Because the statue is […]
property rights
New Protections for Property Rights in Arkansas: Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform
By Aaron Newell Civil asset forfeiture reform has been on the minds of Arkansas legislators, as well as policymakers around the country. The US Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion in Timbs v Indiana, ruled that the excessive fines clause of the US Constitution applied to state laws, and in particular civil asset forfeiture laws. […]
Civil Asset Forfeiture in Arkansas May Change after US Supreme Court Ruling, But the State Could Do More to Protect Arkansans
Most people don’t realize that police officers can seize and keep the property of individuals even if that person is never convicted of a crime. It’s called “civil asset forfeiture,” and a new US Supreme Court decision is putting stricter limits on it. ACRE’s database of seizures was started as Maleka Momand’s ACRE Research Fellow […]
Up for Grabs: Potential for Abuse in Blight Condemnations
By Ashley Wofford “Blight condemnations” might sound like a reasonable measure to ensure community members are safe and that property that is seriously dilapidated isn’t just left to rot. But there is a danger that government officials could abuse Arkansas’s overly broad definition of blight. Furthermore, the threat of eminent domain laws being used this […]
Blurring the Lines of Public Use: Pipeline Takings
By Ashley Wofford In my blog posts “How to Reform Eminent Domain Law” and “Fair Market Value Compensation: is this the right standard” I began to look at the issues Ilya Somin addresses in his new ACRE policy brief “Ripe for Reform: Eminent Domain Law in Arkansas.” In this post, I will look into a […]
Fair Market Value Compensation: Is this the right standard?
By Ashley Wofford In my previous post, I gave an overview of ACRE’s most recent eminent domain policy brief by George Mason Professor of Law, Ilya Somin: “Ripe for Reform: Eminent Domain Law in Arkansas.” The first aspect of Arkansas eminent domain law that Somin points out as having a potential for abuse is fair […]
How to Reform Eminent Domain in Arkansas
By Ashley Wofford It’s been thirteen years since the Supreme Court handed down its controversial ruling in Kelo v. City of New London (2005) that unleashed a wave of eminent domain reform in state legislatures across the country. Ilya Somin, Professor of Law at George Mason University teamed up with ACRE to look back at […]
Civil Asset Forfeiture Needs More Accountability
By Caleb Taylor Angela Erickson, a former senior research analyst at the Institute for Justice (IJ), visited UCA in September to speak about civil asset forfeiture. Erickson is a co-author of Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture (2nd ed.) in which Arkansas receives a D-. Her work has been cited by the Obama White […]
Civil Asset Forfeiture in Arkansas
By Maleka Momand Would you believe me if I told you a police officer could pull you over on the highway, take your cash, phone, and other valuables, and keep them without charging you for a crime? To most people, this scenario sounds like highway robbery, but it is a daily occurrence in Arkansas. Civil asset forfeiture is […]