Group promoting FOIA amendment drops lawsuit against AG Griffin
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The group advocating for the Freedom of Information Act to be voted into the Arkansas Constitution dropped its lawsuit against Attorney General Tim Griffin on January 30.
Arkansas Citizens for Transparency originally filed the lawsuit on January 23 after Griffin rejected one of the group’s ballot proposal submissions.
Arkansas Attorney General certifies multiple Freedom of Information Act ballot measures
Since the lawsuit was filed, Griffin has certified multiple ballot measures issued by the group, and canvassers are now able to begin gathering signatures.
Attorney General Tim Griffin certifies final element of Arkansas FOIA ballot package
Nate Bell, co-founder of ACT, said the group dropped the lawsuit to focus on collecting signatures and fundraising.
“The committee voted today to focus our efforts on collecting signatures and fundraising. I’m confident that we would have prevailed, but the clock is running on signature deadline. The amendment and act as certified are not our preferred language, but they accomplish our key goals of establishing open government as a constitutionally protected right, making it more difficult for the legislature to reduce transparency and sanctioning those who violate our right to know,” Bell said.
Attorney General Tim Griffin responded to the group dropping its lawsuit in a statement:
The petitioners’ decision to abandon their suit against my office is a triumph for the rule of law and the taxpayer. The case was fatally flawed from inception and destined to fail, as my office’s motion to dismiss made clear. Continuing the case would have squandered taxpayer dollars, clogged up the judicial system and generally just wasted everyone’s time. The real winner is the law and our 80-year-old ballot review process. I am thankful and honored to work with brilliant, experienced staff who day after day demonstrate professionalism and grit.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin
ACT will have to collect 90,704 signatures for each of the ballot measures that were certified and turned in to Griffin’s office for certification by July 5.
Once the signatures are certified, the measure may appear on the November ballot.
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