By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Unlawful immigration status is not sufficient reason to allow a plaintiff in a lawsuit to hide behind anonymity, the state Supreme Court ruled today.

The state’s highest court rejected an appeal filed by a family of undocumented aliens who argued that they should have been allowed to proceed with a lawsuit in Benton County under the names John, Jane and Junior Doe.

The family filed the lawsuit against Richard Weiss, director of the state Department of Finance and Administration, after “Jane Doe” tried to renew her driver’s license and was turned down because she could not produce proof of her lawful immigration status.

The lawsuit alleged that the state law requiring a person to provide proof of lawful immigration status before obtaining an Arkansas driver’s license or identification card is unconstitutional.

A Benton County circuit judge gave the plaintiffs 30 days to identify themselves. They refused, and the judge dismissed the case in July.

In its opinion upholding that ruling, the Supreme Court said it had never directly addressed the issue of permitting parties to proceed anonymously, but it noted that a federal judge in Virginia ruled in the case Doe v. Merten in 2004 that unlawful immigration status does not warrant “abandoning the presumption of openness in judicial proceedings.”

Justice Paul Danielson wrote in the Arkansas Supreme Court’s opinion today, “After considering the various cases from the federal courts, we feel certain that status as an undocumented immigrant alone is not enough to permit a party to proceed anonymously.”

Danielson said the court would ask its Committee on Civil Practice to propose rules to provide guidance on the issue of anonymity in future cases.