Robert L. Brown (Arkansas judge)

Brown was born in Houston, Texas on June 30, 1941, received a B.A. in 1963 from the University of the South (Sewanee), magna cum laude, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, Justice Brown earned his M.A. with honors in English and Comparative Literature in 1965 from Columbia University, and a J.D. in 1968 from the University of Virginia. He was admitted to the Arkansas Bar Association in 1968. Before serving on the court, he was engaged in the general practice of law. He also was a deputy prosecuting attorney for the Sixth Judicial District in 1971 and 1972, worked in Washington, D.C. as the administrative assistant for Congressman Jim Guy Tucker in 1977 and 1978. He was a legal aide to then-Governor Dale Bumpers from 1972 to 1974, and served as a legislative assistant for him from 1975–77, after Bumpers's election as United States Senator. Brown served as Associate Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1991 through 2012. Currently, Brown is of counsel to the Little Rock, Arkansas, law firm of Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP.[1]

Brown is an Episcopalian and attends St. Margaret's Episcopal Church where he has served on the Vestry and as Senior Warden. He has also been an elected delegate to three national conventions. He is married to Charlotte Banks Brown.

While at the Arkansas Supreme Court, Brown wrote 1,220 majority opinions. Among his most significant opinions are those striking down term limits for United States Senators and Representatives, U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Hill, 316 Ark. 251, 872 S.W.2d 349 (1994), which was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in 1995,[2] and his 2002 opinion holding public school funding for the State of Arkansas unconstitutional, Lake View Sch. Dist. No. 25 v. Huckabee, 351 Ark. 31, 91 S.W.3d 472 (2002), and the subsequent cases enforcing the decision.[3][4][5] In 2011, Justice Brown authored the decision in Arkansas Dept. of Human Services v. Cole, 2011 Ark. 145, 380 S.W.3d 429, which declared that the Arkansas Adoption and Foster Care Act of 2008 placed an unconstitutional burden on the fundamental right of privacy found in the Arkansas Constitution.[6]

During his time as an Associate Justice, Brown served as the court liaison to the Arkansas Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, the Criminal Practice Committee, the Civil Practice Committee, and the Board of Law Examiners. From 2002 to 2004, he served on the Board of the Arkansas Judicial Council. From 2011-2012, he was appointed by the Arkansas Board of Governors and Arkansas Judicial Council as chair of the Task Force to Study Judicial Election Reform. He is a member of the American Bar Foundation and the Arkansas Bar Foundation.

He served on the Board of Trustees of the University of the South (Sewanee) from 1981 to 1989 and on the Board of Regents of the University of the South (Sewanee) from 1989 to 1995. He was president of the Overton Inn of Court from 1999 to 2000. He is a member of the board of directors for the Marie Foundation (To Honor Community Service) and serves on the advisory committee for the Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lecture Series and on the selection committee for the Jefferson Scholars nominations for the University of Virginia. He currently serves on the University of Arkansas Medical Systems Foundation Fund Board and is co-chair of the Advocacy Committee. In 2017, Brown was appointed to the Central Arkansas Library System Board of Trustees.

He was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of the South (Sewanee) in 2006, the Col. Ransick Award for Excellence in the Profession from the Arkansas Bar Association in 2007, and in 2010 the first Community Support Award from the Arkansas Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, which was named in his honor. In 2013, he received an honorary Doctor of Civil Laws degree from the University of the South (Sewanee). In 2014, he received the Friend of Children Award from the Arkansas Advocates for Family and Children.