Arkansas

RandySF

(80,781 posts) Fri Dec 12, 2025, 01:52 PM Dec 12

Arkansas Legislature can amend voter-approved constitutional amendments, Supreme Court rules

Arkansas lawmakers have the power to change constitutional amendments approved by voters, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The unanimous opinion overturns a 74-year-old decision that said the Legislature could not amend or repeal a citizen-initiated amendment to the state constitution.

The court’s decision also reverses a 2023 Pulaski County Circuit Court ruling that struck down more than two dozen changes that lawmakers had made to Amendment 98, the 2016 citizen-led measure that legalized medical marijuana in Arkansas with some restrictions. Since 2016, the Legislature has passed laws further restricting the medical marijuana industry, including outlawing the sale of combustible marijuana, requiring child-proof packaging, limiting the THC content of edibles and prohibiting advertising.

Two medical marijuana license holders — Good Day Farms and Capital City Medicinals — challenged the Legislature’s authority to pass restrictive laws that amended the amendment.

https://arkansasadvocate.com/2025/12/11/arkansas-legislature-can-amend-voter-approved-constitutional-amendments-supreme-court-rules/

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Arkansas Legislature can amend voter-approved constitutional amendments, Supreme Court rules (Original Post) RandySF Dec 12 OP

What is the purpose for citizen amendments if the legislature (in that state) can overturn the will of the people? in2herbs Dec 12 #1

This points toward the ridiculous conclusion... appmanga Dec 12 #2

in2herbs

(4,154 posts)

1. What is the purpose for citizen amendments if the legislature (in that state) can overturn the will of the people?

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Fri Dec 12, 2025, 03:47 PM

Dec 12

Where is the voice of the people in any of this?

appmanga

(1,367 posts)

2. This points toward the ridiculous conclusion...

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Fri Dec 12, 2025, 03:54 PM

Dec 12

...that if the voters ever voted in an amendment that voter-approved constitutional amendment can't be changed, that amendment could be changed by the legislature to say the opposite. This is total ratfuckery, and the people of Arkansas should make it a voting issue against any legislator who went against their will.

ETA: after reading the story (which I should have done first; welcome to the Internet), the state constitution allows this if two-thirds of both houses voted to do so. This should still be a voting issue, but that standard is more fair than what I had assumed existed.

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