In recent developments in the lawsuit filed by attorney Joey McCutchen on behalf of Little Rock resident Jay Clark against the City of Little Rock, the Arkansas Attorney General has filed a brief in support of the constitutionality of the Arkansas Monument Protection Act.
This Act, enacted in 2021, plays a vital role in protecting our Arkansas history and heritage. The Act was passed overwhelmingly in the Arkansas House (72-16) and Senate (27-5) with an emergency clause.
By way of background, on January 10, 2023, attorney Joey McCutchen filed suit against the City of Little Rock challenging the City's decision to secretly remove the Capitol Guards Monument from the American Civil War memorial in MacArthur Park.
The removal of the Monument was in direct violation of the Arkansas Historical Monument Protection Act, which requires a waiver from the Arkansas History Commission before a historical monument can be removed. The lawsuit asserts that the City of Little Rock breached a settlement agreement with the Arkansas Historical Preservation Program, which mandated the monument’s reinstallation by December 31, 2022. (See Paragraph 5 of the Settlement Agreement)
The lawsuit further asserts that Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott acted beyond his legal power and authority when he made the decision to remove the Monument without approval from the Little Rock Board of Directors.
On July 15, 2024, the Arkansas Attorney General filed a Motion to Intervene in the case and a legal brief affirming the constitutionality of the Arkansas Monument Protection Act. The Brief was filed in response to the City of Little Rock’s unfounded claims that the Act constitutes an unconstitutional taking of property.
The Attorney General’s Brief accurately points out that the City does not have any ownership interest in the Monument yet has “allege[d] unbound dominion and control over the display and subsequent storage of the Monument.”
As the brief accurately argues, the Monument is public property, was displayed on public property, and the City had no right to remove the Monument, or to confine it to a storage building indefinitely.
McCutchen said, “The City of Little Rock and Mayor Frank Scott have repeatedly thumbed their nose at the law by unlawfully removing the Monument, breaching the contract with the Arkansas Historical Preservation Program, and Mayor Scott acting unilaterally to remove the Monument in the cover of darkness without approval from the Little Rock Board of Directors. And now the City unbelievably seeks to have the Arkansas Monument Protection Act declared unconstitutional thereby doing away with the protections created by the Act to safeguard all historical monuments like the Capitol Guards Monument and The Little Rock Nine Monument.”
The case is set for trial on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at 9:00am in the Pulaski County Circuit Court.
See attached Brief of the Arkansas Attorney General and Amended Complaint.
