Judge Chip Welch Campaigns For Supreme Court In Hope

Judge Morgan “Chip” Welch is running for the Arkansas Supreme Court and he visited Hope last week.  Judge Welch says he was moved to run because there was an increasing move to politicize the Supreme Court.  He cited the example of the campaign several years ago that “swirled” around the campaign of Issue 1 where the issue was billed as a limitation on personal injury damages but turned out to be a changing of power between the Supreme Court and the Legislature.  Judge Welch said it became clear to him that there was a move afoot to take away the rulemaking authority of the Supreme Court, to take away the power of the Supreme Court as a coequal branch of government, and to tinker with the checks and balances that are in the Arkansas Constitution by politicizing the Court and handing that power to the Legislature.  He said Amendment 80, passed about 20 years ago, declared that judges run as non-partisan candidates.  He said it is necessary to have an entity that can make a credible determination.  Judge Welch said he has met with various local political organizations around the state and he has pledged to not decide a case on someone’s political beliefs but upon the merits of the case.