Missouri

After judge calls prosecution office a ‘rudderless ship of chaos,’ its leader resigns

“Embattled” is a word that multiple news stories have used to describe St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who announced her resignation Thursday, after she was accused of mismanaging her office by the state attorney general and contempt of court by a frustrated judge.

May 5, 2023 1:22 PM CDT

Florida now has nation’s lowest death-penalty threshold; second bill allows execution of child rapists

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed a bill that allows juries to recommend capital punishment with an 8-4 vote.

Apr 20, 2023 12:02 PM CDT

86-year-old lawyer caught on video groping multiple clients avoids disbarment

An 86-year-old Missouri lawyer has been suspended, but not disbarred, for groping five clients and touching another on the buttocks—all incidents that were caught on video.

Mar 23, 2023 10:05 AM CDT

STD contracted during car sex isn’t covered by GEICO auto policy, federal judge rules

A federal judge in the Western District of Missouri has ruled for GEICO in a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that its auto policy doesn’t cover damages for a sexually transmitted disease contracted during car sex.

Mar 14, 2023 8:35 AM CDT

Dechert faces 3 UK trials, 2 US suits stemming from 1 former partner’s work

Dechert is “aggressively defending itself” in three upcoming trials in the United Kingdom and in two lawsuits in the United States that have one common thread: a connection to former U.K. partner Neil Gerrard.

Mar 1, 2023 4:42 PM CST

Man who spent 28 years in prison is exonerated with help of pro bono lawyers

A 2021 Missouri law that allows prosecutors to ask courts to set aside wrongful convictions has resulted in the exoneration of a man who spent 28 years in prison for murder.

Feb 16, 2023 8:39 AM CST

Ex-judge is suspended after secret recording by possible rival candidate revealed threat

A former judge in Missouri has been suspended for at least two years after he was recorded threatening to reveal the affairs of a rival’s husband if she ran against him in the judicial election.

Feb 7, 2023 10:21 AM CST

GEICO gets chance to fight $5.2M award for STD contracted in insured car

The GEICO General Insurance Co. should have been given a chance to intervene before a trial judge confirmed a $5.2 million arbitration award to a woman who contracted a sexually transmitted disease during car sex, the Missouri Supreme Court has ruled.

Jan 11, 2023 2:51 PM CST

2022 could be called ‘the year of the botched execution,’ new report says

Seven of 20 execution attempts in 2022 were “visibly problematic” in 2022, according to a year-end report by the Death Penalty Information Center.

Dec 16, 2022 10:25 AM CST

Justice Jackson’s second SCOTUS opinion is also a dissent to court’s refusal in death-penalty case

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has issued a second U.S. Supreme Court opinion that, like the first, disagrees with the court’s refusal to get involved in a death-penalty case.

Dec 2, 2022 11:28 AM CST

Supreme Court will consider challenge to Biden’s student-debt relief program, puts case on fast track

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide a challenge to the Biden administration’s student-debt relief program in a lawsuit filed by six states.

Dec 1, 2022 3:22 PM CST

Ordinance banning pit bulls in city limits didn’t violate dog owners’ constitutional rights, 8th Circuit rules

A federal appeals court has upheld a Council Bluffs, Iowa, ordinance that bans pit bulls within city limits.

Nov 14, 2022 1:17 PM CST

Last-minute election lawsuits target absentee ballots; Florida clashes with DOJ over monitors

Election litigation was heating up in battleground states as voters went to the polls Tuesday. Lawsuits were filed over undated absentee ballots in Pennsylvania, unmailed absentee ballots in Georgia, and plans to hand count ballots in Arizona and Nevada.

Nov 8, 2022 12:45 PM CST

8th Circuit temporarily pauses student-loan forgiveness program

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis on Friday granted an administrative stay that temporarily pauses the Biden administration’s student-loan debt-relief program.

Oct 24, 2022 10:31 AM CDT

Barrett denies emergency request to halt student-loan forgiveness program; federal judge tosses different suit

Court challenges to President Joe Biden’s student-debt relief program encountered two roadblocks Thursday.

Oct 21, 2022 9:53 AM CDT