Eugene Hunt is not a name many Black Arkansans have been taught about in Arkansas schools. But they should. Without the precedent-setting court decree that bears his name, Arkansas would probably still be in the dark ages regarding Black judges on the bench. 

Today, Hunt, 77, is still a successful private practice attorney in Pine Bluff with an impressive resume. In 2008 Gov. Mike Beebe appointed Hunt to the District 7 Court of Appeals seat to fill the unexpired term of U.S. District Judge Brian Miller, who was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush. 

Hunt ran for the seat later that year but was defeated by Judge Waymond Brown, who still holds the post today. A University of Arkansas Law School graduate, Hunt also previously served as a Special Circuit Judge and Special Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court. From 1990 to 2001, he served as Director of the Child Support Enforcement Unit in Jefferson County. 

Hunt has also been a board director since 2009 for Simmons First National Corp., the Pine Bluff-based publicly traded regional bank with operations in six states and assets totaling $27.5 billion. Despite Hunt’s impressive legal and professional accomplishments , his legacy will likely be tied to his role as lead plaintiff in the 1990 lawsuit Hunt v. State of Arkansas.. Hunt’s lawsuit was filed just ahead of the 1992 Supreme Court decision that extended the Voting Rights Act to state judicial elections; a federal court ruled that the method of electing judges in Arkansas discriminated against Blacks. The state agreed in the Hunt Decree to create judicial sub districts in which most voters were Black. 

In practice, the 31-year-old federal court decision approved four other judicial circuits, creating 10 judgeships in 21 counties, five in the 6th Judicial Circuit. The agreement requires the five Hunt Decree judges in the PerryPulaski county circuit to be elected from 37 predominately black precincts out of 136 Pulaski County precincts, which comprise the southern and eastern portions of Pulaski County. 

But Arkie Byrd of Mays, Byrd & O’Guinn law firm in Little Rock says there is still much work to be done before Arkansas has equal representation in the judicial branch of government. In 2019, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), with co-counsel Byrd, Mays & O’Guinn and Shearman & Sterling LLP filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Black voters challenging the method of electing judges to the Arkansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. 

According to the lawsuit, Black voters have been denied equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect candidates of their choice for decades, in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The lawsuit is filed for individual Black voters, including longtime Pulaski County Judge Marion Humphrey, Former Arkansas Court of Appeals Judge Olly Neal and local community activist Ryan Davis. Two local non-profit organizations Christian Ministerial Alliance and Arkansas Community Institute are also plaintiffs in the case.

“Judges matter. Black voters in Arkansas have been consistently denied fairness and the opportunity to elect judges of their choice to the Arkansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals,” said Natasha Merle, Senior Counsel at LDF. She noted that Black residents comprise nearly 16% of Arkansas’ population, are geographically concentrated within the state, and consistently vote together in contested elections. But the methods for electing judges to the state’s two highest courts deprive Black voters of a fair opportunity to elect their candidates. As a result, no Black candidate has ever been elected to the Arkansas Supreme Court. 

“This case is about finally providing an opportunity for Black voters in Arkansas to elect our preferred judges,” said the retired Humphrey, who served as a Pulaski County judge for more than 20 years. “We simply have not had that opportunity and changes to the process of electing the state’s highest judges will contribute significantly to providing justice and fairness under the law.”

In the 1990s, LDF also was a part of the Hunt Decree lawsuit. The legal group also won a lawsuit in 2017 against Louisiana state officials, where at-large voting prevented Black voters from having a fair opportunity to elect candidates of their choice to a state court. 

“The unfortunate reality is that, in Arkansas, Black voters have consistently been blocked from electing their candidates of choice to the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals,” said Byrd, a partner with the prestigious Little Rock-based law firm. “We seek to fundamentally change that reality with this lawsuit, just as we did for the state’s trial courts. For over 35 years the Little Rock law firm of Mays, Byrd & O’Guinn has been committed to enhancing equity and opportunity in our state’s judiciary. We are proud to continue that commitment into the 21st century by serving as local counsel in this newest litigation.