Bitter, expensive fight for Arkansas court seat to drag on
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A bitter and expensive fight for an Arkansas Supreme Court seat that drew more than $1 million in outside spending and a flurry of attack
ads will drag on for another six months, with an incumbent justice heading into a runoff in November against an attorney backed by an
out-of-state Republican group.
Justice Courtney Goodson and David Sterling, the chief counsel for the state Department of Human Services, advanced to a runoff in the
November election for the state's highest court in Tuesday's non-partisan judicial election. The two were the top candidates in a three-
person race for Goodson's seat, with Appeals Court Judge Kenneth Hixson finishing third.
Goodson had faced a barrage of attack ads and mailers from the Judicial Crisis Network, a Washington group that had targeted her during
her unsuccessful bid for chief justice two years ago. The group, which doesn't disclose its donors, spent more than $935,000 on TV ads
bashing Goodson and Hixson, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, which tracks judicial campaign spending.
"Today was a huge victory for honest people who are fed up with the lies dark money is spreading about me," Goodson told The
Associated Press Tuesday night.
The ads led to a court fight over whether they should be broadcast and Goodson said she planned to continue that legal battle. Days
before the primary, a state judge ordered Little Rock area TV stations to stop airing one ad, while another judge said the spot could
resume running in northwest Arkansas. Goodson has filed a similar lawsuit aimed at halting the lawsuits in the Fort Smith area. Some
media and free speech advocates have opposed Goodson's lawsuits, saying judges should not decide what is broadcast during elections.
The ad that sparked the court fight criticizes Goodson over gifts received from donors and a pay raise the court requested last year. An
Associated Press Fact Check of the ad found that some of its claims are misleading. The Judicial Crisis Network continued its criticism of
Goodson Wednesday.
"The citizens of Arkansas want and deserve integrity on the state's Supreme Court - Justice Goodson can't run from her record of pay
increases, favoritism and residing in a swamp of conflicts of interest," Carrie Severino, the group's chief counsel and policy director, said
in a statement.
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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.