Courts
Gaming parlors are popping up across Missouri. Courts have yet to determine if they are illegal
MOBERLY – Nestled between the offices of a small loan company and an insurance brokerage, Hot Shots Internet Cafe offers neither internet access nor any sort of nourishment. But what Hot Shots does offer is more than a dozen games that look like slot machines offering cash prizes to anyone willing to risk a dollar. […]
Appeals court sets hearing date on Missouri abortion rights initiative ballot title
The next legal wrestling match over what Missouri voters would see if an abortion-rights initiative petition makes next year’s ballot is scheduled for Oct. 30 before judges of Western District Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel will hear oral arguments that day on Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s appeal of Cole County Circuit Judge Jon […]
KC mayor argues police funding mandate should be tossed by Missouri Supreme Court
A state law raising the minimum funding Kansas City must provide its police department doesn’t impose any cost on the city or violate the state constitution, the Missouri attorney general’s office argued Wednesday. Deputy Solicitor General Jeff Johnson, representing the state auditor and secretary of state, told the Missouri Supreme Court Wednesday that legislation forcing […]
St. Louis asks Missouri Supreme Court to overturn police ‘bill of rights’ law
A law requiring cities to cover costs of damages when individual officers are found liable in police misconduct cases should be thrown out because it illegally imposes new duties and expenses on local governments, lawyers for St. Louis argued to the Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday. In defense of the law, Assistant Attorney General Jason […]
Missouri judge rejects secretary of state’s ‘problematic’ summary of abortion initiative petitions
A Cole County judge rewrote the ballot titles for six initiative petitions seeking to enshrine the right to abortion in the Missouri Constitution, ruling that 13 phrases in the summaries written by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft are “argumentative” or unfairly biased. In a ruling issued Monday morning, Circuit Judge Jon Beetem wrote that the […]
Iowa doctor who fights COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates sues Missouri hospital
An Iowa physician who has been critical of mask mandates and the COVID-19 vaccine is now suing a Missouri hospital over its staff-vaccination requirements. Dr. Mollie James of Chariton is suing Mercy ACO Clinical Services, Mercy Health and Mercy Health East Communities in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County. Her lawsuit seeks unspecified damages […]
Judge rules against challenge to Missouri Senate district map
The state Senate district map is constitutional despite its splits to political subdivisions in St. Louis County and northwest Missouri, Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled Tuesday. In a 21-page decision, Beetem rejected a challenge to the districts drawn last year by a panel of appeals court judges. The choices made by the Judicial […]
Cole County judge hears case challenging ballot title for Missouri abortion initiatives
To backers of initiatives intended to enshrine abortion rights in Missouri’s constitution, the proposed ballot titles written by Secretary of State Jay Aschroft are poison intended to lead to certain defeat at the polls. But an attorney for Ashcroft, arguing Monday to keep the ballot title intact, said the ballot language that begins by saying […]
Phelps County woman awaits ruling in battle against her ban from Missouri city hall
ROLLA – A story that began with a small-town traffic stop will end with a judge deciding whether government officials tried to silence a critic by banning her from city hall. Rebecca Varney already won one round in her lawsuit accusing the city of Edgar Springs of repeated violations of Missouri’s Sunshine Law. On Friday […]
Kansas City police made arrests based on rescinded warrants, records show
Kansas City police arrested at least four people on invalid warrants in 2021 following its transition from one tracking software program to another, The Missouri Independent has learned. It’s unclear from the records obtained by The Independent how many individuals were mistakenly arrested. The department had been warned of possible technical issues that could lead […]
Federal racketeering suit against Missouri gaming company dismissed over lack of standing
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit that sought to shut down Torch Electronics, owner of thousands of video games offering cash prizes in retail locations throughout Missouri. U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes, in a decision issued last week, decided that the seven plaintiffs lacked standing under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations […]
Judge turns down bid to block Missouri ban on transgender treatments for minors
A St. Louis judge ruled Friday afternoon that a new state law blocking Missouri’s transgender youth from beginning new gender-affirming-care treatments can take effect Monday. Circuit Court Judge Steven Ohmer denied a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Missouri and Lambda Legal. The lawsuit claims a ban on medical treatments to […]