On February 2, 2023, The Arkansas Supreme Court at the last minute, due to icy road conditions, held a hearing over Zoom instead of in-person.
The hearing was an appeal filed by attorney and law professor Robert Steinbuch for his client, attorney Chris Corbett.
The appeal concerns a state law
that bans firearms from courthouses, except for bailiffs and other
“officers of the court." Steinbuch argues that definition includes
attorneys who are "officers of the court" under state law.
About twenty minutes after the hearing began, Justice Hudson pulled out her Karen Card and scolded Steinbuch and Corbit for not having a coat on and put the hearing on hold until the were "properly attired".
Hudson made a snippy comment that since Steinbuch had mentioned at the start of the hearing he had students watching, she said "we need to take a highlighter to a couple of large missteps you have taken procedurally with the court this morning".
We could not find any written requirements that attorney's and their clients had to be dressed in a suit to appear before the Arkansas Supreme Court.
Several times during the hearing Hudson appeared to be spitting into a cup.
Was she chewing tobacco or dipping snuff?
Hudson has a history of questionable ethical behavior.
Here are a couple of examples we can highlight.
Hudson took at least two vacations, one on 2011 and another in 2012 that were gifted to her and her ex-husband by an attorney.
Those vacations cost around $62,000.00 and were highly questionable for her to accept.
And there was this little snafu for her as well.
When married to that now ex-husband, the FBI had them under investigation.
Hudson and her ex have ties to convicted felon and corrupt politician Jeremy Hutchinson.
Hudson has no problems accepting gifts that state law prohibit but gets her panties in a wad when folks have to scramble to get ready for a Zoom hearing in their own home and are not wearing a suit coat.
If that was really an issue, Justice Hudson could and should have addressed that at the start of the hearing.
If you watch the full hearing, there is a question Justice Hudson posed to Professor Steinbuch. Steinbuch responded saying " a better question would be..." and that is what set her off and precipitated her later outburst.
We wonder what would have happened if Steinbuch and Corbit would have been sitting at their tables in their homes wearing those shirts and ties while wearing no pants and that was observable when they stood up to go get jackets?