{
  "id": 1892705,
  "name": "Lisa McCLANAHAN v. L. D. GIBSON",
  "name_abbreviation": "McClanahan v. Gibson",
  "decision_date": "1988-09-19",
  "docket_number": "87-367",
  "first_page": "304",
  "last_page": "306",
  "citations": [
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      "type": "official",
      "cite": "296 Ark. 304"
    },
    {
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      "cite": "756 S.W.2d 889"
    }
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  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "Ark.",
    "id": 8808,
    "name": "Arkansas Supreme Court"
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    "name_long": "Arkansas",
    "name": "Ark."
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  "cites_to": [
    {
      "cite": "Ark. Code Ann. \u00a7 16-17-704",
      "category": "laws:leg_statute",
      "reporter": "Ark. Code Ann.",
      "year": 1987,
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    {
      "cite": "291 Ark. 492",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "Ark.",
      "case_ids": [
        1872611
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      "weight": 2,
      "year": 1987,
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T19:25:51.901471+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
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  "casebody": {
    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "Lisa McCLANAHAN v. L. D. GIBSON"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "Jack Holt, Jr., Chief Justice.\nThis appeal is from a judgment for the appellee, L. D. Gibson, on his tort claim against the appellant, Lisa McClanahan, for property damage totaling $1,029.33. McClanahan argues that the trial court erred in denying her request for a trial by jury. We agree and reverse.\nIn her answer to the complaint filed by Gibson, McClanahan denied liability and requested a jury trial. The case was set accordingly. Upon discovering that the suit was for $ 1,029.33, the trial judge reset the case for trial by the court. During the course of pretrial proceedings, and on the day of trial, McClanahan renewed her request for a trial by jury. The court denied the final request, stating:\n[T]he constitutional amendment which gave jurisdiction to the municipal court up to [$3,000.00] gives concurrent jurisdiction both to the circuit court and the municipal court, and if the municipal court can try a lawsuit without a jury, the circuit court should be able to, and, for that reason, the motion is denied for a jury trial.\nIn relevant part, article 2, section 7 of the Arkansas Constitution provides:\nThe right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, and shall extend to all cases at law, without regard to the amount in controversy. [Emphasis ours.]\nWe have held that \u201cthe constitutional right to trial by jury does not secure the right in all possible instances but only in those cases that were so triable at common law.\u201d Dunn v. Davis, 291 Ark. 492, 725 S.W.2d 853 (1987). The underlying tort action is one of those cases.\nWhile section four, paragraph seven, of Act 431 of 1987 [Ark. Code Ann. \u00a7 16-17-704(a)(6) (Supp. 1987)] does provide for the concurrent jurisdiction referred to by the trial court, we find nothing in Act 431 which would suggest an intent by the legislature to abrogate the constitutional right to a trial by jury in tort actions triable in circuit court. To the contrary, section 16-17-703, which deals with appeals from municipal court, clearly demonstrates the legislature\u2019s concern that the right secured by article 2, section 7 of the Arkansas Constitution not be diminished:\nThere shall be no jury trials in municipal court. In order that the right of trial by jury remains inviolate, all appeals from judgment in municipal court shall be de novo to circuit court.\nFor cases triable by jury at common law, such as the one at bar, the circuit court\u2019s reasoning and judgment not only contravenes the mandate of article 2, section 7, but also renders the legislative intent behind section 16-17-703 meaningless. Simply put, inasmuch as this is a tort case in circuit court, appellant has a right to trial by jury regardless of the amount in controversy.\nReversed and remanded.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "Jack Holt, Jr., Chief Justice."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "John V. Phelps, for appellant.",
      "No brief filed."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "Lisa McCLANAHAN v. L. D. GIBSON\n87-367\n756 S.W.2d 889\nSupreme Court of Arkansas\nOpinion delivered September 19, 1988\nJohn V. Phelps, for appellant.\nNo brief filed."
  },
  "file_name": "0304-01",
  "first_page_order": 330,
  "last_page_order": 332
}