Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Courtney Goodson is weighing whether to file a lawsuit against the purveyors of attack ads that have dominated her re-election bid, the justice's attorney said Monday.
Lauren Hoover, who represents Goodson in another ongoing legal battle against the broadcaster Tegna -- the owner of Little Rock's KTHV-TV, Channel 11 -- said the justice was considering her options in response to a series of mailers that have gone out in the weeks before Election Day. The general election and judicial runoff is Nov. 6.
The ads bear similar allegations against the justice that have been aired in TV spots sponsored by a different group.
On Friday, the nonprofit Arkansas Judicial Campaign Conduct and Education Committee issued a cease-and-desist letter to the Republican State Leadership Committee, the Washington, D.C., political group that paid for the mailers. The judicial campaign committee, however, has no authority over election ads.
In its response to the judicial campaign committee, the Republican State Leadership Committee sent a letter calling the group a "sham" and added "no one should take [the judicial campaign committee] seriously."
[2018 ELECTION: Full Democrat-Gazette coverage of Arkansas races]
The Republican State Leadership Committee refused to pull its mailer, which bears the title, "The Scandalous Insiders." The mailer accuses Goodson of "living a lavish lifestyle that is bankrolled by trial attorneys." In its response to the judicial campaign committee, the leadership committee said that nothing in the mailer is untrue.
Goodson was the subject of similar allegations in TV ads during the first round of voting in the Supreme Court election this spring. Those ads were paid for by the Judicial Crisis Network.
All the ads point to gifts disclosed by Goodson in Statement of Financial Interest reports filed with the Arkansas secretary of state's office. Goodson has said the ads mislead voters because she has recused from all cases involving attorneys who gave her gifts.
Goodson filed suit against a host of TV stations and cable companies airing the Judicial Crisis Network ads in the spring, after the Judicial Campaign Conduct and Education Committee issued a similar cease-and-desist letter.
In a pair of split decisions, circuit judges ordered the ads off the air in Pulaski County, while allowing them to run in Northwest Arkansas. The Pulaski County decision is on appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court by Tegna.
"It's the same old mess, the same old garbage," said Hoover, Goodson's attorney. "Whether its a mailer or a TV ad, we're still going to fight against these groups."
Goodson's opponent in the runoff, Department of Human Services attorney David Sterling, said Monday that the dispute between Goodson and the out-of-state advertisers was a "sideshow."
Sterling has denied any involvement in the outside advertisements. He said last week that he "wouldn't say the things they're saying," though he has refused to denounce the ads or call for them to be taken off the air.
TV ads have yet to air in the runoff attacking Goodson, though the Republican State Leadership Committee did announce a "six-figure" ad buy supporting Sterling last week.
Metro on 10/23/2018