(Missouri Independent) – Missouri is continuing to see record daily coronavirus infections, near-peak COVID-19 caseloads in hospitals, and threats from Attorney General Eric Schmitt that he will sue school districts that require masks or send students home when they are infected or exposed to the virus. In a statement issued Tuesday morning, Schmitt said school mask rules […]
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R.Mo) announced he will introduce the Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act, which would prohibit Members of Congress and their spouses from holding or trading individual stocks. The bill will require Members found in violation to return their profits to the American people. Senator Hawley said, “Year after year, politicians somehow manage to outperform […]
(Missouri Independent) – If school districts want to take advantage of a lower interest rate on bonds, Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick is requiring them to certify compliance with a recent court ruling targeting local health orders before his office will approve of the deal. Fitzpatrick detailed the decision he described as “unprecedented” in an interview Wednesday […]
(Missouri Independent) – As a growing number of Missouri school districts drop COVID mitigation measures under threat from Attorney General Eric Schmitt, at least two closed the doors on their fall semester early due to large numbers of staff and students out sick. Meanwhile, local public health departments said Tuesday they still have not heard […]
(Missouri Independent) – Jackson and St. Louis Counties requested Monday that they be permitted to intervene and appeal a recent court ruling that they argue has “upended the longstanding public health framework” in Missouri. In a filing submitted Monday afternoon and obtained by The Independent, the two counties asked Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel […]
Last year, the Missouri Public Defender System had more than 5,800 cases on a waiting list for services. Director Mary Fox tells Missourinet no one is on the waiting list. The Missouri Legislature passed and Governor Parson signed into law a state budget this year that included hiring 53 public defenders to help get rid […]
An Iowa man pleaded guilty to a felony charge related to the sale of misbranded vitamin B12 injectable drugs, the Department of Justice announced. Brady Tomlinson, 46, of Des Moines, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa to one count of introducing a misbranded drug into interstate commerce with […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is asking parents for help in identifying school districts that are continuing to violate a recent Cole County Circuit Court order. Parents are urged to reach out directly to the Attorney General’s Office if their school district is continuing to enforce mask mandates, quarantines, and other similar COVID-19 public health […]
(Missouri Independent) – Attorney General Eric Schmitt will not appeal a consequential court ruling that strips powers from local health departments, despite a request from Missouri’s state health director to do so. In an email to The Independent, Schmitt’s spokesman said the attorney general’s office notified the Department of Health and Senior Services of its […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt proposed a Parents’ Bill of Rights ahead of the next legislative session in January. The Parents’ Bill of Rights would protect parents’ rights to have a well-informed say in their children’s education, strengthen parents’ abilities to take action related to their children’s education, and increase transparency in Missouri’s schools. “A […]
(Missouri Independent) – The Supreme Court is weighing potentially sweeping changes to the right to an abortion, after two hours of arguments Wednesday morning on a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court’s conservatives, who hold a 6-3 majority, appeared through their questions to be sympathetic to Mississippi’s arguments […]
(AP) — A Missouri judge ruled that local health orders imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the state are illegal and should be lifted. Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled that orders such as quarantines and business closures violate the Missouri Constitution’s separation of powers clause affecting the executive, legislative and judicial […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit against the Moberly Public School District for alleged Sunshine Law violations for requests for public records from the Attorney General’s Office related to their policy on parents recording Individualized Education Plan meetings. “Parents have a right to know exactly what is being taught to the children and […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit against the City of Moscow Mills for allegedly enforcing a ticket quota on their officers, in violation of Senate Bill 5 and accompanying reforms. “Missourians should not be treated as cash cows to fill municipal coffers. When I was in the State Senate, I led efforts to […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson led a coalition of 10 states in challenging the vaccine mandate propagated by the Biden Administration’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on healthcare workers across the nation, becoming the first states to file a lawsuit challenging this mandate. Attorney General Eric Schmitt […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and the Texas Attorney General’s Office filed a motion for preliminary injunction in their lawsuit against the Biden Administration for refusing to continue construction on the Southwest border wall. Missouri and Texas filed suit in late October to require the Biden Administration to continue construction on the border wall using […]
(Missouri Independent) – The Giffords gun safety organization has sued the National Rifle Association and the campaigns of U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana, alleging the group used shell corporations to improperly aid the Republican lawmakers in 2018. The suit alleges two NRA affiliates made up to $35 million in illegal […]
Prison sentences were issued on four defendants Thursday in Division One of Grundy County Circuit Court. At a probation violation hearing, evidence was presented and the court found that Juan Gallegos of Spickard had violated conditions of probation. Gallegos was sentenced to eight years with the Missouri Department of Corrections on each of two counts […]
The Missouri Supreme Court is considering whether local elected officials should be banned from spending public money to campaign in support of or opposition to candidates and ballot measures. Some St. Louis County area elected officials filed a lawsuit in 2019 saying the state law violates the free speech rights of local leaders. Attorney Paul […]
A case heads to the Missouri Supreme Court this week about a state law adding greater protections for sexual assault survivors. The Missouri Supreme Court will hear a case Tuesday about a 2020 law known as the “Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights”. The law streamlines the testing and tracking of rape kits […]
