DARRELL JOHNSON & A. JAN THOMAS, JR., BANKRUPTCY TRUSTEE IN THE MATTER OF DARRELL W. JOHNSON AND JANET K. JOHNSON, DEBTORS, PETITIONERS, VS. ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, INC.; CONSOLIDATED ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTORS, INC., D/B/A KEATHLEY-PATTERSON ELECTRIC; & JOHN DOES 1-5, RESPONDENTS, 2009 Ark. 241

Summary

Petitioners, worker, wife, and bankruptcy trustee, argued that the nonparty-fault provision of the Civil Justice Reform Act of 2003 (CJRA), Ark. Code Ann. §§ 16-55-201 to 16-55-220 (Supp. 2003), codified at Ark. Code Ann. § 16-55-202, was unconstitutional because it violated the Arkansas Constitution. The supreme court found that the provision was unconstitutional and conflicted with Ark. Const. art. 4, § 2 and Ark. Const. amend. 80, § 3. Rules regarding pleading, practice, and procedure were solely the responsibility of the supreme court. The nonparty-fault provision bypassed the rules of pleading, practice and procedure by setting up a procedure to determine the fault of a nonparty and mandating the consideration of that nonparty's fault in an effort to reduce a plaintiff's recovery. Ark. Code Ann. § 16-55-202 violated separation of powers as well as Ark. Const. amend. 80, § 3. The medical-costs provision, Ark. Code Ann. § 16-55-212(b) (Supp. 2003), also violated separation of powers...