National pickup on an Arkansas Court of Appeals decision early in January that said it was proper that Facebook and MySpace photos of drinking and partying were considered in the Workers Compensation Commission's denial of a claim. MSNBC reports on the case of Zackery Clement, seeking benefits for a back injury.

Wrote Appeals Court Judge David Glover:

We find no abuse of discretion in allowance of the photographs. Clement contended that he was in excruciating pain, but these pictures show him drinking and partying. Certainly these pictures could have an effect on Clement's credibility, albeit a negative effect that Clement might not wish to be demonstrated to the [administrative law judge] ALJ or the Commission.

To speed inquiries about where court proceedings can be found in the Saline County Courthouse, Circuit Clerk Dennis Milligan has installed an airport-style TV monitor. Visitors can consult it to see in which courtroom to find, say, the Webb v. Webb probate case. Saves time for office employees, Milligan figures, and makes the courthouse more accessible to people unfamiliar with the system. Local judges have agreed to provide their calendars for posting on the monitor.

Details:

Kris Baker, a Little Rock lawyer nominated by President Obama for an opening on the federal district court bench in Little Rock, was among a batch of judicial nominees before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Conmittee today. Glenn Sugameli, who helps keep me up on judicial nominations at Judging the Environment, reports no hitches.

Sens. Pryor and Boozman both testified in strong support of Baker. Sen. Jon Kyl asked Baker, as he had an another judicial nominee, if she as a judge could set aside support for Democratic candidates as Hurwitz had done. She said yes and the other nominees agreed.

The record remains open for written questions.

More from Stephens Media.

Hard times mean more people are unable to afford legal services. But hard times also mean a reduction in support for Legal Aid of Arkansas, a Jonesboro-based agency that provides legal assistance in civil cases for those unable to pay in 31 counties.

Offices and staff are going to be cut back and work reorganized to cope, Legal Aid of Arkansas has announced. Its release follows.

The Arkansas Supreme Court knocked down another part of the so-called tort reform law today.

In a Sebastian County case alleging malpractice in treatment of a burn, the court said the legislature had violated the separation of doctrine powers by specifying who could be considered an expert in medical malpractice cases. The law specified that an expert had to be a specialist in the same field as the defendant. The court said that provision also violated the "inherent authority" of the court to protect the rights of litigants.

The court reversed a summary judgment for a Fort Smith hospital and two doctors and sent it back for trial.

Here's the decision. Chief Justice Jim Hannah wrote it and there was no dissent. The opinion said the court had set its own rules for admission of expert testimony. It said the legislature made a procedural, rather than substantive, change in the law, and that was outside the legislature's power.

Occupy the Courts, a movement to protest the Citizens United corporate personhood ruling, plans nationwide demonstrations in 100 cities Friday, Jan. 20, second anniversary of the ruling, as part of a push to amend the law.

At the moment, only Fayetteville is listed as a site of an Arkansas demonstration. The plan there is to meet at noon at the Fayetteville town center and march to the federal courthouse.

• kait8.com
• FATAL WRECK: In Manila.

Here's a copy of the claim. It is filed in behalf of her heirs — four children, her parents and a sister — and makes claims for mental anguish and other damages.

The State Police carries no insurance for accidents and the state can't be sued, but the Claims Commission serves as the conscience of the state in considering awards to people damaged by state actions. Any award approved by the Commission would have to be appropriated by the legislature.

Robert Coleman of Blytheville, attorney for the Freemyer family, said negotiations continue on this claim. A settlement for less than the amount sought is a possibility in any claim. Indications are that the State Police stands ready to agree to a significant award.

This particular case has a number of potential political complications: It involves a cop and they frequently enjoy support for their official actions. But Rhew's case is more complicated. He was fired, twice before it was over, for speeding at more than 100 mph to a non-emergency call 20 miles away without running a siren or warning lights. But the State Police Commission, heavily influenced by the commissioner from Rhew's area, Wallace Fowler, ordered him reinstated though Rhew had plea bargained to a misdemeanor negligent manslaughter charge in Freemyer's death. Rhew resigned from the State Police in September after being arrested in a DWI wreck. A trial on that charge has not been held.

Freemyer's car was struck as she pulled slowly onto Highway 77 in Manila. That put her in the path of Rhew, who had been driving at speeds up to 103 mph, according to his cruiser's on-board data recorder. When he appealed his firing, other troopers said they, too, frequently drove at high speeds without lights and siren and his attorney argued that Freemyer, 52, contributed to the accident by pulling onto the highway. The claim cites Rhew's reckless and negligent actions and the State Police for failing to sufficiently train him and also for failing to sufficiently staff the driver's license center with security. Rhew was heading there because of a report of a person with an outstanding arrest warrant. The claim said local law officers could have been called rather than Rhew, who was 25 miles away.

The Claims Commission has awarded up to $6 million in the case of a child permanently disabled in an injury caused by highway machinery.

• GILBERT BAKER: What made him the voice for corporate-controlled Arkanas judicial elections?

Doug Smith wrote about Brown's effort earlier for the Times.

What interested me about the D-G article was the emergence of Sen. Gilbert Baker as the spokesman of opposition to all Justice Brown proposes. If the article said why Baker was designated as sole spokesman, I missed it.

Could it be that Baker will become the paid figurehead when he's term-limited at the end of this year for a long-rumored organization in the making to take over Arkansas courts for corporate interests, as was done so thoroughly in, for example, Texas? Makes sense. He's been a corporate stooge on anti-union efforts in the past. We'll know in due course.

This is the money (and I do mean money) quote from Baker in the D-G article about Brown's idea of establishing some sort of watchdog agency against improper influence in judicial elections:

“The people don’t like the idea, and if judges want to be thrown out on their ear they will try to eliminate the people’s involvement and eliminate free speech,” he said. “ It’s constitutionally abhorrent, and they know that.”

Can you say Citizens United? The speech and "involvement" Baker wants to protect at all cost is not that of rank and file voters. It is that of corporations with unlimited amounts of money to spend to defeat judges who rule against their pocketbooks. The notion that Arkansas is home to runaway pro-plaintiff verdicts isn't borne out by the evidence. But the corporations prefer to lose none and that's pretty well the system they've purchased in Texas. Why not Arkansas, too? Generally, our state can be bought on the cheap. It's a wonder it hasn't happened already.

Make no mistake, the corporate moneybags don't want strict legal constructionists. They want corporate constructionists. Lawyer after prominent lawyer said the Arkansas Constitution prohibited the cap on punitive damages the Arkansas General Assembly legislated a few years ago. A Lonoke circuit judge — and then the Arkansas Supreme Court — said the Constitution means exactly what it says. For such conservative jurisprudence, Gilbert Baker and his corporate enablers want to throw the bums out.

On this day in 2013 remind me to ask about Gilbert Baker's new employer.

In fairness, I probably should add that, when you talk about "toxic" judicial campaigns it's hard to forget Justice Brown's slashing personal campaign to win a seat on the court against Judge Judith Rogers in 1990. Remember his TV commercials about her office redecoration?

Heartening news from Montana. The state Supreme Court there has upheld the state law that bans direct corporate spending in state and local elections. It's an affront to the odious Citizens United ruling by which the Republicans on the U.S. Supreme Court gave personhood — and essentially greater power — to corporations than it gives to U.S. citizens.

The corporate interests may take this back to the U.S. Supreme Court to see if the Republican justices will trump states' rights in this case. The practice is that these justices are federalists unless they don't like what the federated states are doing on their own time.

Don't hold your breath for Arkansas to follow Montana's example. We've long endorsed corporate contributions to political campaigns — including multiple contributions by the different corporate faces of the same individual using that to evade campaign finance limits.

Free Speech for People has a good rundown on the Montana victory. From Chief Justice Mike McGrath's opinion:

“…Issues of corporate influence, sparse population, dependence upon agriculture and extractive resource development, location as a transportation corridor, and low campaign costs make Montana especially vulnerable to continued efforts of corporate control to the detriment of democracy and the republican form of government. Clearly, Montana has unique and compelling interests to protect through preservation of this statute.”

The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals today affirmed federal Judge Jim Moody's dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the consolidation of the Weiner School District with the Harrisburg School District because Weiner's enrollment fell below the state minimum.

The 8th Circuit, in a brief order, said it upheld Moody for the reasons he'd cited. Moody said the friends of the district couldn't prove the harm they alleged from the merger, including that it threatened rice production in the region and ultimately national security.