George Pritchett, Russell Skallerup, and Bruce Mitchell, Appellants v. City of Hot Springs, Arkansas — Hart, J…

Summary

Justice Hart dissented from the majority's conclusion that unilateral annexation of an unincorporated area did not violate equal protection. She reasoned that residents who had no voice in selecting the municipal officials deciding their property and governmental interests were denied equal representation, requiring strict scrutiny that unilateral annexation could not satisfy. She also would have interpreted the annexation statute as permitting the three-sided exception only in the expressly listed circumstances. Justice Hart, dissenting, would have rejected the annexation as unconstitutional and unauthorized by the statute.