Today, CCL filed a reply brief on behalf of all justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court in support of their petition for a writ of mandamus in Griffen v. The Supreme Court of Arkansas. The case asserts that a trial judge's civil rights were violated by an order of recusal issued by the Supreme Court. CCL represents the Court and three of its justices.

      The U.S. District Court dismissed the Arkansas Supreme Court from the action on CCL's motion, but maintained the lawsuit against the justices in their official capacity. A petition for a writ of mandamus was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, arguing that the case should not be permitted to go forward. In reply, the state trial judge argued that the recusal order amounted to an administrative personnel action against him, but today's brief demonstrated that the Supreme Court order had all the earmarkings of a judicial decision, immune from collateral attack in federal court and that recusal does not diminish or otherwise adversely affect a judge's office.