DISCLAIMER: The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
181382P.pdf 07/01/2019 Mark Moore v. John Thurston
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 18-1382
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Little Rock
[PUBLISHED] [Wollman, Author, with Loken and Stras, Circuit Judges]
Civil case - Election law. In action challenging Arkansas's ballot access
requirements for independent candidates, in particular, the date by which
they must file their petitions, the district court determined that the
March 1 petition filing deadline was not narrowly drawn to serve the
state's compelling interest in timely certifying signatures and entered
injunctive relief permitting plaintiff to file by May 1. The State
appeals. However, the Arkansas state legislature recently amended the
challenged statute to accord with the petition filing date sought by
plaintiff; as a result, no controversy remains, and the appeal is
dismissed as moot; however, the district court's judgment will not be
vacated, as the public interest is served by allowing the judgment to
stand; independent candidates and voters have repeatedly - and
successfully - challenged Arkansas's ballot-access requirements, and the
public interest is best served by a substantial body of judicial
precedents limiting the burden that those requirements may place on
candidates' and voters' First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Judge
Stras, concurring in part and dissenting in part.