It’s time to relax and wait for the Supreme Court to rule

The order set off confusion on all sides of the issue. The plaintiffs, defendants and state officials all expressed their initial confusion about the order. 

In the end, they all reached the same conclusion: The court needed official documentation from the secretary of state declaring whether or not the amendment had met the requirements to be on the ballot or not. 

The language of the court’s order, directing Thurston to “decide the sufficiency” of the amendment, seemed as if the court was abdicating its authority and telling Thurston to make the final decision. But that’s not the case. 

On Thursday, the court entered a new entry into the docket, which is an indication that a ruling could be coming down from the court in the weeks to come. 

A final ruling could come from the court next Thursday at 10 a.m. or the following Thursday. 

The substance of the ruling is anyone’s guess. For what it’s worth, Responsible Growth counsel Steve Lancaster said he still feels good about the case. 

Little Rock lawyer David Couch, who wrote the 2016 medical marijuana amendment, said he thinks the court’s request to Thurston this week could be an indication they are preparing to rule that the Board of Election Commissioners does not have authority to certify ballot titles and that only the Supreme Court has that authority. 

The Board of Election Commissioners was added to the initiative process in 2019 and is responsible for certifying ballot titles based on whether they are misleading. The board struck down Responsible Growth Arkansas’s ballot title because the commissioners said it omitted important things in the amendment. 

A ruling against the board’s role in the process wouldn’t really make a difference as to the substance of the ruling in the Responsible Growth case. Such a ruling could change the initiative process for the next cycle. 

In any event, the case is still in the hands of the court and will be until there is a final ruling in a week or two. Until then, let’s all find that indica gummy and relax.