Brill takes oath to be chief justice

Legal scholar left with ‘ sense of awe’ after swearing- in

At 9: 30 a. m. Tuesday, the state got a new chief justice.

Howard Brill began the job of the state’s top jurist, as well as court administrator, after being sworn into office by fellow Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Paul Danielson at an informal gathering at the court building.

Brill, appointed to the position last week by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to fulfill the rest of the term of former Chief Justice Jim Hannah, said the weight of the appointment began to set in during the oath.

“I almost stumbled over the oath,” Brill said. “I’ve served as the dean of a law school. I’ve had administrative responsibilities for athletics, but in none of those positions did I take an oath under the Constitution … there’s a sense of awe and responsibility that comes with taking that oath.”

Brill, 72, is an Illinois native and Duke graduate who has spent the past 40 years teaching law at the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville.

Though he has never been elected to the bench, Brill has established himself as an expert in judicial ethics and integrity and literally wrote the book — Arkansas Professional and Judicial Ethics — on the topic that is taught in the state’s law programs.

On Tuesday, Brill spent the morning meeting with other justices, appeals court judges, and other court employees while figuring out the administrative details of the job.

Brill walks into a court set to resume oral arguments lat-

er this month after a summer break that came without a decision in the constitutional challenge to the state’s samesex marriage ban.

Earlier this year, both Danielson and Hannah recused from a case related to the challenge and accused some of the justices of delaying a decision in the challenge.

Ultimately, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled June 26 that any state gay- marriage ban is unconstitutional, a ruling that allowed same- sex marriages across the country.

Brill said last week that he has no interest in dwelling on the court’s past issues and is focused on the future.

In so doing, Brill takes a position that has been held for the past 10 years by Hannah, one of the longest tenures as the state’s top justice in modern Arkansas history.

On Aug. 13, Hannah announced his plans to step down because of poor health. He sent a letter to court officials last Friday to thank them for their time together before ending his service on Monday.

“There is no greater honor that one person can give another than to place their confidence and trust in you,” Hannah wrote. “That is what the people of Arkansas did when they elected me to serve them in their judiciary and I am humbled that the people allowed me to serve.”

Hannah’s term ends at the start of 2017. Brill will not be eligible to run for the seat.

On Tuesday, Brill said that his staff, which he retained from Hannah, has prepared a “stacked” table of cases, motions, and briefs to go through.

“All of those congratulations are wonderful,” Brill said. “But now my duties to the people truly begin today.”