Robert L. Brown

Robert Laidlaw Brown (born June 30, 1941) served as an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Biography 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.

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.

Significant opinions 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, 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. 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.

Other opinions Gatzke v. Weiss, 375 Ark. 207, 289 S.W.3d 455 (2008) (holding that article 19, section 16 of the Arkansas Constitution applies only to county-funded contracts, and statutes permitting certain state-funded contracts to be funded without competitive bidding were not unconstitutional). Griffen v. Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, 355 Ark. 38, 130 S.W.3d 524 (2003) (holding that judicial conduct canon prohibiting judge from appearing at public hearing before legislative body or official except on matters concerning law, legal system, or administration of justice, except when acting pro se in a matter involving judge or judge's interests was unconstitutionally vague, and canon violated first amendment rights of judge). Linder v. Linder, 348 Ark. 322, 72 S.W.3d 841 (2002) (holding Arkansas's Grandparent Visitation Act unconstitutional as applied). ConAgra, Inc. v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 342 Ark. 672, 30 S.W.3d 725 (2000) (holding that former employer's information regarding pricing, pricing programs, cost of goods sold, profit margins, and marketing strategies was not a "trade secret" where former employer had failed to restrict dissemination of pricing information by its customers and failed to have in place any protection against postemployment revelation of confidential information). Arkansas Democrat-Gazette v. Zimmerman, 341 Ark. 771, 20 S.W.3d 301 (2000) (holding gag order prohibiting media from photographing juveniles and their families in public places around courthouse constituted a prior restraint on the media). Jackson v. Cadillac Cowboy, Inc., 337 Ark. 24, 986 S.W.2d 410 (1999) (holding evidence of alcohol sale by a licensed vendor to an intoxicated person is evidence of negligence). Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. American Drugs, Inc., 319 Ark. 214, 891 S.W.2d 30 (1995) (holding store's regular sale of items below cost to bring people into store was not evidence of store's intent to destroy competition).