Arkansas Limiting Non-Economic Damages in Civil Medical Care Cases Amendment (2016)
| Arkansas Limiting Non-Economic Damages in Civil Medical Care Cases Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2016 | |
| Topic Healthcare | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
| Not on Ballot |
|---|
 |
| This measure was not put on an election ballot |
The Limiting Non-Economic Damages in Civil Medical Care Cases Amendment was an initiated constitutional amendment proposed for the Arkansas ballot on November 8, 2016.
The measure would have placed a limit on the monetary damages that a person could receive as a result of a civil suit against medical providers.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The approved ballot title was as follows:[1]
| “ | An amendment to the Arkansas Constitution providing that the Arkansas General Assembly shall enact laws which specify a maximum dollar amount award of non-economic damages in a civil action for medical injury brought against a health-care provider, as well as laws which specify a maximum ratio of punitive damages to compensatory damages in a civil action for medical injury brought against a health-care provider; defining "health-care provider," "medical injury," and "action for medical injury" for these purposes; providing that the General Assembly may, after these laws are enacted, amend either or both of them by a two-thirds vote of each house; and providing that this amendment does not supersede or amend the right to trial by jury.[2] | ” |
Full text
The full text of the Attorney General's opinion can be found here.
Support
Arguments in favor
Chase Duggar, a primary backer of the measure, said,[3]
| “ | [Passage] will ensure that medical professionals are able to focus on patient care at a lower cost to the patient and without having to worry about the unreasonable threat of nearly limitless liability for the work they do everyday. ... It will head off conflicts of interest between attorneys and clients by ensuring that the lion's share of any medical-injury recovery will go to injured parties, not to pay legal bills.[2] | ” |
Opposition
If you know of any opposition to this measure, please contact editor@ballotpedia.org.
Path to the ballot
Supporters of the measure had until July 8, 2016 to submit 84,859 signatures. Signatures were not submitted by the July 8, 2016, deadline.
State profile
| Demographic data for Arkansas | ||
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 2,977,853 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 52,035 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 78% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 15.5% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 1.4% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.6% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.1% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 6.9% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 84.8% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 21.1% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $41,371 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 22.9% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Arkansas. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Arkansas
Arkansas voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Arkansas, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.[4]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Arkansas had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Arkansas coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Arkansas
- United States congressional delegations from Arkansas
- Public policy in Arkansas
- Endorsers in Arkansas
- Arkansas fact checks
- More...
See also
- Arkansas 2016 ballot measures
- 2016 ballot measures
- Arkansas Legislature
- List of Arkansas ballot measures
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Arkansas Attorney General, "Opinion No. 2016-029," accessed April 5, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Arkansas Online, "AG approves ballot bid on lawsuits," April 21, 2016
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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