It can be petty and yet important. We'll have to wait and see if the spectacular juvenile Trumpian pettiness on the Arkansas Supreme Court encroaches on the administering of justice--more, that is, than partisan Republican subservience to Gov. Sarah Sanders encroaches already.

Will appeals be delayed because the seven justices, unable to stand the sight of each other or engage civilly, never mind fairly, refuse even to go into conference on those cases? Might they keep storming out on each other when playground grudges ignite behind closed doors before a vote gets taken? Might they refuse to share drafts of opinions or accept editing? Might a justice release a concurrence in part, a dissent in part, and an up-yours in whole?

Will it become predictable that Chief Justice Karen Baker dissents on matters just to take shots at the majority now made up of five blatant Republicans? Will the public notice or care? After all, the public already knows Republicans will win political cases, but it has yet to see any evidence that regular cases aren't getting decided competently and credibly enough.

Will the bitter personal silliness begin to erode public regard for the vital judiciary--to the extent the judiciary in Arkansas, not to mention........

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