News & Commentary

ST. LOUIS — The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Missouri, the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis, and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe filed a class-action lawsuit against the state of Missouri over its unconstitutional system of public defense.The state’s public defenders don’t have the time or resources to provide adequate legal representation and are unable to talk to their clients about possible witnesses, exculpatory evidence, plea negotiations, or trial strategy. The suit asks that the court force the state to improve the public defender system and end its violations of the Sixth Amendment.“I sat in jail for 42 days before I saw my public defender, who told me that I had a winnable case, but he wouldn’t have time to go to trial for another four to six months,” said Shondel Church, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, who was charged with felony theft but pled guilty to a misdemeanor in Kansas City in July 2016. “In jail, you’re starving on what they give you and you’re dying to get out. I was hoping things would move faster – but those 129 days cost me a whole lot: I lost all that time working, and I finally had to give up and plead guilty, just to get out and help my family.”Each year, the Missouri State Public Defender office has more than 80,000 cases. It employs approximately 370 attorneys. In 97% of their cases, Missouri public defenders fail to reach the minimum number of work hours required for constitutional representation, according to analysis by the American Bar Association and lawyers across the state.“For three decades, the state of Missouri has known about the failings of its public defense system,” said Anthony Rothert, Legal Director at the ACLU of Missouri. “This chronic underfunding has resulted in an equally chronic constitutional crisis in Missouri that has cost the livelihood of thousands of Missourians who are denied justice because their attorneys couldn’t devote the necessary time or resources to their cases.”Plaintiffs in this lawsuit have had to go before a judge for bail hearings without their public defender present. As a result, they faced bail amounts too high for them to afford and spent weeks or months in jail unnecessarily. While in jail, they have waited for weeks to see their public defenders for short conversations that are too brief to cover the relevant facts of the case.“Enough is enough with appointing commissions and committees to ‘study’ the issues. It has long been clear the state of Missouri is in a constitutional crisis,” said Mae Quinn, Director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis. “The time is now for our state to take seriously its duty to meet the standards of representation and to stop denying Missourians justice.”Said Jason Williamson, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project, “Only because they can’t afford the cost of a private attorney, Missourians are stripped of their chance for a fair shake in court. This isn’t a matter of guilt or innocence. When the state’s public defense system is shortchanged, the entire criminal justice system falters.”“Missourians charged with crimes must be able to rely on the justice system for a fair outcome,” said Robert Sills, a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. “But if they’re too poor to afford a lawyer, and have to rely on Missouri’s overworked and underfunded public defenders, they face added obstacles to justice, for no reason other than the size of their wallets.”

ST. LOUIS — The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Missouri, the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis, and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe filed a class-action lawsuit against the state of Missouri over its unconstitutional system of public defense.The state’s public defenders don’t have the time or resources to provide adequate legal representation and are unable to talk to their clients about possible witnesses, exculpatory evidence, plea negotiations, or trial strategy. The suit asks that the court force the state to improve the public defender system and end its violations of the Sixth Amendment.“I sat in jail for 42 days before I saw my public defender, who told me that I had a winnable case, but he wouldn’t have time to go to trial for another four to six months,” said Shondel Church, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, who was charged with felony theft but pled guilty to a misdemeanor in Kansas City in July 2016. “In jail, you’re starving on what they give you and you’re dying to get out. I was hoping things would move faster – but those 129 days cost me a whole lot: I lost all that time working, and I finally had to give up and plead guilty, just to get out and help my family.”Each year, the Missouri State Public Defender office has more than 80,000 cases. It employs approximately 370 attorneys. In 97% of their cases, Missouri public defenders fail to reach the minimum number of work hours required for constitutional representation, according to analysis by the American Bar Association and lawyers across the state.“For three decades, the state of Missouri has known about the failings of its public defense system,” said Anthony Rothert, Legal Director at the ACLU of Missouri. “This chronic underfunding has resulted in an equally chronic constitutional crisis in Missouri that has cost the livelihood of thousands of Missourians who are denied justice because their attorneys couldn’t devote the necessary time or resources to their cases.”Plaintiffs in this lawsuit have had to go before a judge for bail hearings without their public defender present. As a result, they faced bail amounts too high for them to afford and spent weeks or months in jail unnecessarily. While in jail, they have waited for weeks to see their public defenders for short conversations that are too brief to cover the relevant facts of the case.“Enough is enough with appointing commissions and committees to ‘study’ the issues. It has long been clear the state of Missouri is in a constitutional crisis,” said Mae Quinn, Director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis. “The time is now for our state to take seriously its duty to meet the standards of representation and to stop denying Missourians justice.”Said Jason Williamson, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project, “Only because they can’t afford the cost of a private attorney, Missourians are stripped of their chance for a fair shake in court. This isn’t a matter of guilt or innocence. When the state’s public defense system is shortchanged, the entire criminal justice system falters.”“Missourians charged with crimes must be able to rely on the justice system for a fair outcome,” said Robert Sills, a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. “But if they’re too poor to afford a lawyer, and have to rely on Missouri’s overworked and underfunded public defenders, they face added obstacles to justice, for no reason other than the size of their wallets.”

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A federal judge has ruled that a southwest Missouri mayor cannot take further action in retaliation for a resident’s criticism of his decision to shoot and kill a stray border collie that was caring for her puppies.In August, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed a lawsuit against the mayor and city of Walnut Grove, Mo., on behalf of a resident who expre

JEFFERSON CITY – A judge has ruled that the Missouri Department of Corrections purposefully withheld information about its supply of lethal injection drugs in 2013 – information that once revealed, forced the governor to cancel a scheduled execution.  The ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit against the Missouri Department of Corrections (MODOC) after it failed to release rec

ST. LOUIS – The ACLU of Missouri today filed a lawsuit against the St. Louis County Police Department after two of its officers illegally entered a home without a warrant and confronted the homeowners at gunpoint. The officers had no reasonable evidence that the man they were looking for was inside the home. The illegal entry happened when officers were searching for a man who didn’t pay a $55 fare after a 3 a.m. taxi ride.Neither the officers nor the taxi driver saw the man go inside the home of Jon Luer and Andrea Steinebach, but the officers stil

In Jefferson City, the assault on a woman’s right to choose continues.

We are a nation that believes in E Pluribus Unum – “Out of Many, One.”  Not Us vs.Them.

The constitutional right to privacy protects us against government overreach and oppression. This right is more important than ever.Our daily lives are now stored in tweets, texts and Facebook posts. We need innovative and comprehensive laws to protect the right to privacy.Today, the ACLU testified in Jefferson City in support of such a bill. Senate Bill 84, sponsored by Sen. Will Kraus (R-Lee’s Summit).The bill regulates the use of Stingrays, also known as "cell site simulators" or "IMSI catchers." These invasive cell phone surveillance devices mimic cell phone towers and send out signals to trick cell phones in the area into transmitting their locations and identifying information.  When used to track a suspect's cell phone, they also gather information about the phones of those who happen to be nearby.Stingrays can help solve crimes, but they also pose serious risks to our right to privacy.The government has an obligation to make sure the state doesn't spy on its citizens. Senate Bill 84 protects Missourians from unlawful, unreasonable, and overly broad cellular metadata searches.

The ACLU of Missouri supports Senate Bill 316, which protects the constitutional right to privacy by ensuring that schools, employers and landlords are not forcing Missourians to reveal their social media passwords.“This bill is vital to Missouri’s ability to keep up with emerging technology,” said bill sponsor Sen. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia. “Missourians shouldn’t h