Arkansas lawmaker, civil rights attorney John Walker dies

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — John Walker, an Arkansas lawmaker and civil rights attorney who represented black students in a long-running court fight over the desegregation of Little Rock area schools, has died. He was 82.

The Pulaski County coroner said Walker died at his Little Rock home Monday morning but the cause of death was not yet known. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Walker had represented a Little Rock district in the state House since 2011. He had been involved in some of the state's most high-profile discrimination and civil rights cases, including the Little Rock desegregation case. He represented former Razorbacks basketball coach Nolan Richardson in his unsuccessful lawsuit against the University of Arkansas over his 2002 firing.