Senator Hester's Unconstitutional Support of Tort Reform - Secure Arkansas

Senator Hester’s Unconstitutional Support of Tort Reform

October 28, 2016 Featured, Tort Reform

A friend of Secure Arkansas wrote this well-constructed article and we thought we would pass it on to our reading audience.

Senator Hester (Cave Springs) claims to be conservative, but is he?

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Senator Hester has become an enigma wrapped in a conundrum. He claims to be “pro-life”, but that is only for the unborn; those who have reached old age and are at the mercy of those entrusted with their well-being or perhaps a stay at home mom are not the lives the good senator seems to be concerned with.

I do believe Senator Hester took a sacred oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies “foreign and domestic.” If Senator Hester actually opposes the right to trial by jury — as has been important in the history of our country and the free world since the days of the Magna Carta — in order to protect the healthcare industry from accountability for their actions, has not Senator Hester become a “domestic enemy” to that which he swore to “uphold and defend?”

It is more than obvious that Hester is not familiar with the historical beginning of this country and what those we refer to as our founders believed to be of such critical importance as a trial by jury and our right to keep and bear arms. Thomas Jefferson stated: “The final arbiters of what is and what is not constitutional are the people themselves.” Why would our senator want to take that authority from the people and place in into the hands of politicians and the courts? Who profits if our rights as outlined in the Bill of Rights are taken from us and placed into the hands of politicians? Certainly not the people themselves?

Senator Hester should take the time to educate himself concerning what has been the outcome when the tort reform he embraces has been implemented in other states. While the common thread preached by advocates of tort reform (such as Senator Hester) is the caps implemented by the states which reduce the malpractice insurance rates of physicians and therefore reduces the cost of health care to the people, in reality the exact opposite is true. Statistics show the median annual premium for malpractice insurance in the states with tort reform caps have increased 48.2% while the median annual premium in the states without caps has increased at the lower rate of 35.9%. Yes, insurance rates are higher for physicians in states that have caps imposed through tort reform. Not sure how this could ever equate to lower health care costs.

Senator Hester would have us place a negative on the centuries-old belief in trial by jury and directly oppose the principles of our founders, while laboring under the false belief that government is a better depository of our health, safety, and welfare needs than are the people themselves: more cradle-to-the-grave socialism. Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, and others throughout our history would beg to differ.

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Here’s a link to an Editorial from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Sunday, October 16, 2016:

http://m.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/oct/16/the-state-supreme-court-s-october-surpr/

The following is the connection from Bart Hester's Financial Interest filing with the State of Arkansas showing that he received more than $12,500 per each LLC Company listed below.

Corporation Name	HHJJ, LLC
Fictitious Names
Filing #	800059025
Filing Type	Limited Liability Company
Filed under Act	Domestic LLC; 1003 of 1993
Status	Good Standing
Principal Address
Reg. Agent	THOMAS C. VAUGHAN Jr
Agent Address	CANTRELL WEST BUILDING 11300 CANTRELL ROAD SUITE 201 LITTLE ROCK, AR 72212
Date Filed	05/17/2005
Officers	THOMAS C. VAUGHAN Jr, Incorporator/Organizer MARCIA COOPER , Tax Preparer

Corporation Name	BART HESTER LLC
Fictitious Names
Filing #	800163675
Filing Type	Limited Liability Company
Filed under Act	Domestic LLC; 1003 of 1993
Status	Not Current
Principal Address
Reg. Agent	BART HESTER
Agent Address	9409 GREENBERRY DRIVE BENTONVILLE, AR 72712
Date Filed	09/17/2009
Officers	BART HESTER , Incorporator/Organizer
Foreign Name	N/A
Foreign Address
State of Origin	N/A

Corporation Name	SLINC HOLDINGS LLC
Fictitious Names
Filing #	800187145
Filing Type	Limited Liability Company
Filed under Act	Domestic LLC; 1003 of 1993
Status	Not Current
Principal Address
Reg. Agent	POWELL MCKINNEY
Agent Address	9409 GREENBERRY DR BENTONVILLE, AR 72712
Date Filed	10/18/2010
Officers	POWELL MCKINNEY , Incorporator/Organizer

Corporation Name	264 LEASING, LLC
Fictitious Names
Filing #	800087295
Filing Type	Limited Liability Company
Filed under Act	Domestic LLC; 1003 of 1993
Status	Good Standing
Principal Address
Reg. Agent	BEVERLY GRAHAM
Agent Address	2468 N. 56TH ST. BENTONVILLE AR, AR 72762
Date Filed	06/19/2006
Officers	SEE FILE, Incorporator/Organizer BEVERLY GRAHAM , Tax Preparer

Also, Bart Hester is the Register Agent of Hester Development, LCC:

Corporation Name	HESTER DEVELOPMENT, LLC
Fictitious Names
Filing #	811112053
Filing Type	Limited Liability Company
Filed under Act	Domestic LLC; 1003 of 1993
Status	Good Standing
Principal Address	PO BOX 85 CAVE SPRINGS, AR 72718
Reg. Agent	BART HESTER
Agent Address	105 LILLARD LANE CAVE SPRINGS, AR 72718
Date Filed	08/31/2016
Officers	BART HESTER , Incorporator/Organizer
Foreign Name	N/A
Foreign Address

Lastly, CLICK HERE to see an excel file of who contributed to Bart Hester for years 2012 through 2016.

That info was found at this Arkansas Secretary of State website. At the bottom of the page, be sure to click on Next to see the next page. There are a total of 94 separate entries for Bart Hester.

For further information on this tort reform issue, you can refer to a previous Secure Arkansas article by clicking here. Just remember, it is the Nursing Home industry that wants this unconstitutional tort reform. Tort Reform will block the injured party from obtaining access the courts and from getting justice.

The right to a trial by jury is a Constitutional right guaranteed by the 7th Amendment in the Bill of Rights. The 7th Amendment says:

"In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law."

The Arkansas Constitution contains an even broader right to a jury trial:

“The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, and shall extend to all cases at law, without regard to the amount in controversy…” – Ark. Const. Art. 2, § 7.

"The Supreme Court shall prescribe the rules of pleading, practice and procedure for all courts; provided these rules shall not abridge, enlarge or modify any substantive right and shall preserve the right of trial by jury as declared in this Constitution." – Ark. Const. Amend. 80, § 3.

So, tort reform is good for the insurance industry but bad for consumers.

We can’t help but wonder: why doesn’t Senator Bart Hester want to uphold his Oath of Office to support both the U.S. and Arkansas Constitutions?

As always, you can find our email articles posted on our website: SecureArkansas.com. The Search box is a handy tool. For more information about a topic, just type it into the Search box on our website, and click Enter!

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