Arkansas Judge Richard Arnold dies at 68

Richard Sheppard Arnold, a judge considered one of the "foremost jurists of our generation," has died. He was 68. Arnold died Thursday night from an infection that came on during treatment for lymphoma at Rochester Methodist Hospital in Minnesota. The bow-tied judge was on a short list for the U-S Supreme Court because of what a friend called "truly exceptional intellect." Philip S. Anderson of Little Rock, who led the American Bar Association in the late Nineties, considered Arnold one of the top jurists in the country. Polly Price of Russellville is working on a biography of Arnold and says he could be remembered as "the best judge never to serve on the Supreme Court." Arnold continued to serve on the U-S Circuit Court of Appeals recently, even though he had been ill. He took senior status three years ago allowing him to spend more time on substantial cases. He wrote the opinion in March that upheld a lower court ruling releasing the Little Rock School District from more than 40 years of federal court supervision of its desegregation efforts. Arnold was born in Texarkana, Texas, on March 26, 1936. He is survived by his wife, Kay Kelley Arnold of Little Rock, and daughter Janet Arnold Hart of San Carlos, California, who were at his side in Minnesota Thursday night.