Weiss v. McLemore’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

21 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 21 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “For many years, State Police officers received allowances for their uniforms and travel. These allowances came in the form of additional payments, received at the same time as every other paycheck, of $125.00 for “expenses” and $166.66 for a “clothing allowance.” The total of these additional payments was $3,500 per year. Until 1992, this additional $3,500 per year for “expenses” and “clothing allowances” was not included on the W-2 forms issued by the Department of Finance & Administration. Beginning in 1992, apparently upon inquiry from the Internal Revenue Service, this additional sum was included on the officers’ W-2 forms. However, even after the $3,500 began being reported as taxable income, that sum was not included when calculating each officer’s contributions to the ASPRS. Pursuant to Act 1071 of 1997, the Department of State Police’s contributions to the Retirement System was a sum equal to 22% of “active member payroll,” although that term was not defined by the Act. Between 1997 and 2003, the Retirement System was funded based on the 22% formula, but those calculations did |snot take into account the $3,500 per year that the officers were receiving for expenses and clothing allowances. Act 1609 of 2003 provided for a onetime annual salary adjustment of $3,500 for commissioned officers. Following passage of Act 1609, the State began to include the additional $3,500 as “active member payroll” for purposes of funding the Retirement System. In addition, the $3,500 beg”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. McLemore v. Weiss

2. “even though the statute does not spell out the mechanism by which the Board must adjust an erroneous payment, the statute mandates that the Board “shall adjust the payment” and “shall correct the error” that led to the underpayment (or the overpayment, although that is not the situation in this case). From this mandatory language, it can easily be inferred that the legislature intended to waive the State’s sovereign immunity so that an underpaid retiree might sue to have his or her | .¡underpayment corrected. We acknowledge the State’s argument that, because § 24-6-205 granted the Board the right to recover any overpayment to the officers but did not provide a concomitant right for an aggrieved retiree, the General Assembly must not have intended to waive the State’s sovereign immunity. However, we cannot agree with such a conclusion. To construe § 24-6-205 in such a way as to preclude State Police retirees from bringing suit to compel the State to “correct [its] error” and “adjust the payment” would eviscerate the purpose of the statute. See Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs. v. R.P., supra. Such a consequence could not have been intended by the General Assembly. Id. Accordingly, we hold that § 24-6-205 constitutes a limited waiver of the State’s sovereign immunity.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Arkansas Department of Community Correction v. City of Pine Bluff

3. “[gjiven that the trial court is empowered to order family services in FINS cases to prevent a juvenile from being removed from a parent, which by definition includes cash assistance, we conclude that the General Assembly has specifically waived sovereign immunity , as to DHS in such instances. Any other interpretation would effectively eviscerate the court’s power to order family services in FINS cases.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Arkansas Department of Community Correction v. City of Pine Bluff