In a one-sentence letter, Supreme Court Justice Barbara Webb said today she would recuse from the lawsuit challenging Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s spending of office money on advertising that helps her politically and intervening in lawsuits around the country, including some in which Arkansas has no interest, direct or indirect.
She gave no reason. Her husband, Doyle Webb, the former state Republican chairman, worked for a time on Rutledge’s staff as an advisor on legislative redistricting. He resigned the post and is now running for lieutenant governor.
When Webb took office last year she served notice in several cases that acknowledged her husband’s then-job in the office but said she wouldn’t recuse because his work would be separate from criminal and civil litigation.
The Rutledge case is currently before the court for an intermediate appeal of a lower court’s refusal to dismiss the lawsuit.
The governor appoints special justices to fill vacant seats on the court.