Arkansas lawyer Jennifer Standerfer reached a settlement after her arrest for carrying ballot petitions at a state bar meeting in June 2024. The $200,000 settlement, involving the Arkansas Bar Association, the city of Hot Springs, and its police department, acknowledges her constitutional right under the First Amendment. Standerfer had not sought signatures but offered petitions to attendees. Two proposed measures aimed to enhance public access to government information. A video of her arrest showed her refusal to leave despite police instructions, leading to wider scrutiny of her rights.
Standerfer had argued that the First Amendment protected her. She had carried the petitions into the Hot Springs Convention Center, at first in a small wagon with a sign and on a second day by clipboards.
A joint statement by the parties said they 'regret the fact of Ms. Standerfer's arrest,' and they acknowledge that the lawyer had a constitutional right to carry the petitions.
Collection
[
|
...
]