Furnish v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs. , 2017 Ark. 240 ( 2017 )

Cite as 2017 Ark. 240
SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS
No. CV-17-412
Opinion Delivered: August 3, 2017
NATASHA FURNISH APPEAL FROM THE CRAIGHEAD
APPELLANT COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT,
WESTERN DISTRICT
V. [NO. 16JV-15-410]
ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN HONORABLE CINDY THYER,
SERVICES AND MINOR CHILDREN JUDGE
APPELLEES
PETITION FOR REVIEW
GRANTED; COURT OF APPEALS’
OPINION VACATED; CASE
REMANDED TO COURT OF
APPEALS.
PER CURIAM
On May 15, 2017, appellant Natasha Furnish filed a petition for review of the court
of appeals’ May 3, 2017 memorandum opinion summarily affirming the circuit court’s order
terminating her parental rights to three of her children. We grant the petition for review,
vacate the court of appeals’ opinion, and remand this case to the court of appeals for a full
opinion as required by this court’s recent decision in Brookshire Grocery Co. v. Morgan, 2017
Ark. 221 (per curiam).
In Brookshire, a workers’ compensation case in which the appellant had filed a petition
for review of the court of appeals’ memorandum opinion, we overruled In re Memorandum
Opinions, 16 Ark. App. 301, 700 S.W.2d 63 (1985) (per curiam), and amended Arkansas
Supreme Court Rule 5-2(e), both of which the court of appeals had relied on as authority
for issuing memorandum opinions in certain cases. We then vacated the court of appeals’
Cite as 2017 Ark. 240
opinion and remanded to that court for a full and meaningful analysis of the issues raised on
appeal.
In light of Brookshire, we vacate the court of appeals’ May 3, 2017 opinion in the
present case and remand to that court for a full analysis. We further note our concern with
the use of a memorandum opinion in a case involving the termination of parental rights. As
Furnish asserts in her petition for review, the use of such opinions in termination cases is
inconsistent with the procedural and constitutional safeguards that have been required by
this court in these cases.
Petition for review granted; court of appeals’ opinion vacated; case remanded to
court of appeals.
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