Smith v. Pavan, 2015 Ark. 474

Nathaniel Smith, MD, petitioned for emergency stay of a circuit court order in a birth-certificates case involving two same-sex couples and their children.
Circuit court ordered amended birth certificates for the named child-plaintiffs and struck portions of Ark. Code Ann. §20-18-401 and defined the phrase ‘person has been legitimated’ in §20-18-406.
Arkansas Department of Health Policy refused to name both spouses on birth certificates; plaintiffs sought declaration that this violated constitutional rights and statutory provisions were unconstitutional.
Smith sought a stay pending appeal; the circuit court denied the stay.
This Court applied a four-factor test (likelihood of success, irreparable harm, balance of equities, public interest) to decide the stay request.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether emergency stay should be granted pending appeal.	Pavan seeks stay to preserve status quo and prevent irreparable harm.	State argues stay is justified to prevent inconsistent rulings and maintain orderly proceedings.	Stay granted in part and denied in part; stay issued as to the remainder of the order.

Smith v. Denton, 313 Ark. 463, 855 S.W.2d 322 (1993) (stay decision guided by four-factor test for preliminary relief)
Hilton v. Braunskill, 481 U.S. 770 (1987) (four-factor analysis for staying lower-court judgments)