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Jim Gunter
Jim Gunter was an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court. He was elected to his first eight-year term on the court in the state's Nonpartisan popular elections in 2004. He retired at the end of his term in January 2013.[1][2][3][4]
Education
Justice Gunter earned his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University and his J.D. from the University of Houston.[1]
Professional career
Justice Gunter began his legal career in 1973 as a private practice lawyer for the offices of John L. Wilson. He then became a founding partner with Wilson at the firm Wilson and Gunter beginning in 1974. The two later added on a third partner to create Wilson, Gunter and Walker in 1975. From 1977 to 1982 he was a Prosecuting Attorney with Arkansas's 8th Judicial District. From 1983 until 1991, he served as Chancellor for the 8th Judicial District. Beginning in 1991, Judge Gunter served as a circuit and chancery judge. In 1999 he became a circuit judge with the 8th Judicial District North where he served until his 2004 election to the Arkansas Supreme Court.[1]
Awards and associations
Associations
- Past President, Arkansas Judicial Council
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Arkansas Bar Association
- Member, Southwest Arkansas Bar Association
- Member, Hempstead County Bar Association
- Member, Arkansas Supreme Court Civil Rules Committee
- Member, Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Child Support
- Chair, Criminal Detention Facility
- Member, Education Committee, Arkansas Judicial College
- Member, Calvary Baptist Church
- Past President, Lions World Services for the Blind
- Member, Habitat for Humanity
- Chair, Criminal Detention Facility Board
- Chair, Arkansas Judicial College, Education Committee
- Member, Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee
- Member, Calvary Baptist Church, Hope, Arkansas
- Assistant Scoutmaster, Boy Scouts of America
- Member, Hope Lions Club
- District Governor, Lions of Arkansas
- Past President, Lions World Services for the Blind
Elections
2004
| Arkansas Supreme Court, Associate Justice, Position 4 2004 General election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
Jim Gunter 
|
110,250 | 37.8% | ||
| Collins Kilgore | 91,897 | 31.5% | ||
| Paul Danielson | 89,741 | 30.8% | ||
- Click here for 2004 General Election Results from the Arkansas Secretary of State.
Noteworthy cases
Arkansas Death Penalty
Justice Jim Gunter authored the 2009 ruling that upheld the Arkansas Death Penalty in the case Arkansas Department of Correction v. Frank Williams, Jr. (08-1031). The ruling overturned a lower court's stay of execution based on Act 1296 which sought to ensure that injections were lethal, quick and as pain free as possible. The ruling included a section that highlighted the Arkansas Department of Correction's sovereign immunity and that the directive in question that first held off the execution was not a "rule" as defined by the Administrative Procedures Act.[5]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Gunter received a campaign finance score of -0.4, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was less liberal than the average score of -0.48 that justices received in Arkansas.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[6]
See also
External links
- Arkansas Supreme Court
- Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission, Press Release, January 16, 2009
- The StandDown Texas Project, "Arkansas State Supreme Court Upholds Lethal Injection Law," October 29, 2009
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Official biography of Justice Gunter
- ↑ American Judicature Society: Arkansas judges
- ↑ Beaumont Enterprise, "Arkansas Supreme Court justice plans to retire," May 19, 2011
- ↑ Press Release "Associate Justice Jim Gunter will not seek re-election" May 19, 2011
- ↑ Arkansas Supreme Court Opinion #08-1031
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas
State courts:
Arkansas Supreme Court • Arkansas Court of Appeals • Arkansas Circuit Courts • Arkansas District Courts • Arkansas City Courts
State resources:
Courts in Arkansas • Arkansas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Arkansas
