A lawsuit filed by Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Courtney Goodson against the national Republican State Leadership Committee was moved to federal court in Little Rock Friday morning.
Goodson is suing the group in an effort to stop the committee from airing negative attacks ads against her in the final week of her re-lection campaign.
John Tull, a local attorney and freedom of the press advocate, entered on behalf of the committee Friday morning and quickly filed notice that the case was being moved from Pulaski County Circuit Court to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. In his notice, Tull noted that the Republican State Leadership Committee was incorporated in Virginia and headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Reached at his office, Tull declined to comment Friday morning.
Goodson’s attorney, Lauren Hoover, said “the process remains the same, we’ll be asking for a hearing expeditiously.”
The case was assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Billy Roy Wilson, and to U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerome T. Kearney.
At the Pulaski County Circuit Court, four judges had recused from hearing Goodson’s case, including Judge Wendell Griffen. The case had been most recently assigned to Judge Chris Piazza, who ruled in favor of Goodson in a similar lawsuit she filed ahead of the May primary elections.