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Chief Justice Price addresses joint session of legislature
State Supreme Court Chief Justice Ray Price told state lawmakers that the Missouri court system cannot absorb any more budget cuts, that they must rethink criminal law and that politics must not become part of the process of choosing judges.
In a 40 minute State of the Judiciary address, Price spoke in blunt terms to a joint session of the General Assembly. [Read more...]
Andrea Berin talks with Missourinet's Brent Martin
Drug courts have proven their worth to Missouri officials, but it is the graduates of the program that know its true value.
Ask Andrea Berin of St. Louis what impact drug court had on her.
“It definitely saved my life,” Berin tells the Missourinet. “Without it, I was doing nothing: homeless, jobless, on drugs, not really living.” [Read more...]
A case before the State Supreme Court takes aim at medical malpractice caps approved by the legislature in 2005, but the case could be decided without the law being struck down.
At stake for James and Mary Klotz is $274,700, the money denied them because of the cap on non-economic damages imposed by the legislature in 2005. At stake for the legislature, is the law approved to rein in medical malpractice awards in order to keep health care costs from rising dramatically. [Read more...]
The State Supreme Court has upheld the authority of the Public Defender Commission to manage the caseload of its staff, but has ruled it exceeded that authority in two cases.
In a 7-0 ruling, the State Supreme Court struck down efforts to manage caseloads in St. Francois and Boone County while still upholding the Public Defender Commission’s authority to decline cases when public defenders face caseloads too heavy to handle. The court heard the oral arguments on November 3rd. The Missouri Public Defender Commission had allowed public defenders in St. Francois County to decline representing anyone who had previously hired a private attorney, reasoning that private representation indicated the defendant wasn’t indigent. In Boone County, the commission had allowed public defenders to reject new probation revocation cases in which a suspended execution of sentence had been imposed.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the commission cannot make such exclusions; that once hiring a private attorney doesn’t necessary indicate a defendant isn’t indigent and that excluding categories of cases violates state law.
Public Defender Deputy Director Cat Kelly reacted to the ruling in an interview with the Missourinet.
“If we can’t exclude categories of cases, but we do still have the authority to say we’re full now we can’t take anything else, you could conceivably run into the situation where we have taken everything as it comes in, including a number of minor cases, and then find ourselves full and the serious cases, the one right outside the door, that we say we can’t take,” said Kelly.
Kelly said the Public Defender Commission will have to re-evaluate its rules in light of the Supreme Court decision.
Even with the ruling, the underlying problem, too many cases and too few public defenders, won’t be solved through commission rules.
“All of those are band-aid approaches,” Kelly said. “It’s simply an attempt to create some sort of safety valve in a system that has way too many cases for the lawyers to handle it.”
Kelly says that, ultimately, the legislature must address the problem. It either must provide more money to hire more public defenders or adjust laws to reduce the number of crimes punishable by prison time.
Brent Martin reports.
Just how far the state can go to keep convicted sex offenders from contact with children is at the heart of a State Supreme Court case on a state law that greatly restricts activities on Halloween.
State law requires registered sex offenders to stay in their homes from 5-to-10:30pm on Halloween, turn off outside lights and post a sign stating “no candy or treats at this residence”.
During oral arguments, Supreme Court Judge Laura Denvir Stith questioned the reach of such restrictions.
“If it’s OK to restrict going outside or opening your door to others or keeping the porch light on on Halloween, although we understand why that was chosen, but legally if that’s permissible what’s the difference between that and saying you can never have your light on or you could never leave your home,” Stith asked.
Audrain County Prosecutor Jacob Shellabarger understands there is a line to be drawn.
“I believe the legislature has tailored these particular restrictions in a particular way and chosen their words carefully in doing so,” Shellaber responded. “I don’t know where the line is, your honor, but I think this is clearly on the lawful side of it.”
The case, State of Missouri v. Charles A. Aynor, doesn’t really center on the constitutionality of the Halloween restrictions, but on whether they are being applied retrospectively to Charles Raynor, who had to register as a sex offender when he moved to Missouri, because of a 1988 conviction in the state of Washington. Missouri law prohibits retroactive enforcement. The trial court found it retrospective. The Supreme Court will rule later.
Brent Martin reports.
