By Andrew DeMillo | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning, Advocate readers! There was a victory for news organizations in a battle over press freedom in federal court. Meanwhile, a judge is weighing whether to allow a law giving the governor power to fire top prison officials to be enforced. And another violent traffic stop by Arkansas State Police is drawing criticism and national attention. You can find more Arkansas government and politics news on the Advocate site here.
Exterior of the Richard Sheppard Arnold Federal Courthouse in downtown Little Rock. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
By Andrew DeMillo
A federal judge rejected an effort Wednesday to block two Arkansas news outlets from publishing details about an agreement regarding a West Memphis data center, in a case that alarmed free speech groups who say restricting publication would have undermined the First Amendment.
Arkansas Board of Corrections Chair Benny Magness (right) and board member Lee Watson (left) testify at a Joint Performance Review Committee hearing on the Franklin County prison site selection on Sept. 8, 2025. (Photo by Ainsley Platt/Arkansas Advocate)
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
By Ainsley Platt
A Pulaski County judge said she would issue a ruling within 30 days after hearing arguments Wednesday on whether she would continue blocking laws that shift the authority to fire top prison officials from the Arkansas Board of Corrections to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Rep. Tracy Steele, a North Little Rock Democrat, speaks at the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus meeting on Tuesday, August 25, 2026 at the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas. (Photo by Katie Adkins/Arkansas Advocate)
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
By Antoinette Grajeda
The Democratic Party of Arkansas and the NAACP Arkansas State Conference are calling for a review of state police’s use-of-force policy after a video released over the weekend showed an officer pulling a man by his dreadlocks and punching him through a car’s broken backseat window.
MORE NEWS
Louisiana’s Medicaid program will lose another provider, affecting 290,000 people | Louisiana Illuminator
Ag secretary: Decision to import ground beef highlights need to boost domestic food production | Iowa Capital Dispatch
State education board advances anti-Islamic rewrite of Texas social studies lessons | The Texas Tribune
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