A county court has thrown out a lawsuit filed by Little Rock activist Nora Harris that asserts the city had diverted funds inappropriately to pay for land for the Clinton Presidential Library. Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Collins Kilgore dropped the case October 2 at the request of Harris’s attorney David Henry, who said he needed more time to prepare the case for trial.
According to an October 3 Associated Press report, Harris later said she had not authorized Henry to make the request and had subsequently fired him. She has one year to refile the lawsuit if she does not get a continuance. Harris claims the city would be illegally tapping into general tax revenues in order to repay bonds issued to purchase the land.
The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the city’s seizure of land for the facility in November 2001 in a case arising from a separate lawsuit. Construction of the Clinton Presidential Center began in July; it is scheduled to open in 2004.
Posted October 7, 2002.