The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri has asked a state court to let it intervene in state Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s class-action lawsuit seeking to prevent school districts from requiring masks. A press release from the ACLU says under federal law, public schools cannot exclude students with disabilities, denying them equal access […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed an amicus brief in support of Rae’s Café in their lawsuit against Jackson County. The brief, which was filed earlier in the case Jackson County v. Rae’s Café, argues that Rae’s Café, now Rae’s Private Club, is in compliance with the mask mandate and that Jackson County has violated […]
(Missouri Independent) – Orders requiring school children to wear masks in class will be tested in court next week when a Boone County judge will be asked to decide if Attorney General Eric Schmitt can sue every district in the state in a single case. Circuit Judge Brouck Jacobs has set a hearing for 9 […]
Boone Construction Company of Columbia has filed a petition against the City of Trenton related to work on the 17th Street Bridge. The petition involves five counts including breach of contract, breach of warranty ex contractu, unjust enrichment, quantum meruit, and damages and costs pursuant to the Missouri Public Prompt Payment Act. Boone requests the […]
(Missouri Independent) – A new lawsuit will test whether public agencies can hide how much they are paying attorneys and determine how far they must go in searching for records sought under the Missouri Sunshine Law. The lawsuit, filed Sept. 10 in Jefferson City by lobbyist John Gaskin of Flotron McIntosh, accuses the Missouri State Employees […]
(Missouri Independent) – The fate of Missouri’s ban on abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy, with no exception for rape or incest, rests in the hands of a panel of federal judges. Arguments Tuesday before the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, and questions from the judges, focused almost exclusively on another provision […]
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on December 1, 2021, in a case that threatens to overturn decades of abortion protections established under the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade. The upcoming case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, stems from a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a brief in support of Texas’ lawsuit against the Biden Administration over their proposed exceptions to the Title 42 program. Title 42 is a President Trump-era rule that allows for the federal government to expel migrants who are immigrating from a country where communicable disease is or was present. […]
(Missouri Independent) – The number of Missouri deaths from COVID-19 reported since Jan. 1 has exceeded the number reported during 2020. As of Dec. 31, 2020, the Department of Health and Senior Services reported 5,519 deaths from the coronavirus that killed its first Missouri victim on March 18, 2020. On Friday, the total reached 11,046. The grim […]
(Missouri Independent) – With several months to go before state lawmakers return for the 2022 legislative session, Republicans are promising to once again push to require photo identification to vote. Committees in the Missouri House and Senate held hearings Tuesday dominated by discussions of requiring a government-issued ID for both in-person and absentee voting. Secretary […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri Republicans assailed President Joe Biden’s push to require employees of private businesses to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing, vowing a legislative response and legal action. Gov. Mike Parson promised to “fight back against federal power grabs and government overreach” in a tweet Thursday afternoon, calling Biden’s plan “an […]
(Missouri Independent) – In the first test of a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, drug middlemen last week argued that federal law gives them a right to limit which pharmacies patients with health insurance can use — or at least make it more expensive if patients get their medicine at a shop that isn’t preferred […]
A state appeals court has upheld another employee discrimination case against the Missouri Department of Corrections. The case could potentially cost taxpayers more than $700,000. The St. Louis Post Dispatch says it’s the latest in a series of big-ticket judgments against prison system administrators revolving around an employee’s concern about an attempt to […]
(Missouri Independent) – Work to bring a new contractor for prisoner health care services online in Missouri can continue, but the actual transition from Corizon, the current provider, won’t occur until at least early November, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ordered Tuesday. Green issued a temporary restraining order blocking the state from canceling its […]
Farmers of color are urging Congress to end a slew of lawsuits delaying a loan-forgiveness program designed to make amends for years of loan discrimination against minority farmers. White farmers are claiming in court Congress’s $4 billion debt relief for Black farmers, part of a COVID-19 stimulus package, amounts to reverse discrimination. John Boyd Jr., president of […]
(Missouri Independent) – A trial will be held in early November to determine whether a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Centene will take over the contract for prison health care in the Missouri Department of Corrections. In a hearing Thursday, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green set Nov. 3 as the first day in the trial where current […]
While litigation over the mask mandates continues, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sent a letter to Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and Jackson County Executive Frank White noting the exceptions to the City and County’s mask mandates and providing “legal direction” to the public on these important exceptions, specifically for those with disabilities or those […]
(Missouri Independent) – Clay LaRue, superintendent of the Van Buren R-1 School District, made a tough decision Sunday. With COVID-19 cases spiking in Carter County in southeast Missouri, and many of those infections among very young children, LaRue shut down the district’s pre-kindergarten program for two weeks. He had previously directed faculty, staff, and students […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Christopher Meagher, proprietor of “Metro Restoration,” has pled guilty to seven counts of felony deceptive business practices in Clay, Jackson, and Platte Counties. Through Metro Restoration, Meagher transacted with numerous consumers in the Kansas City area to provide home repair and renovation services. Upon taking consumers’ upfront payments, […]
The Cole County Circuit Court sided with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office in our defense of the Governor’s termination of federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits. “As Missouri’s economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are still struggling to hire workers for a large number of open, available jobs. Too often, businesses can’t compete with […]
