News & Commentary

The Circuit Court of Cole County ruled that the Missouri Department of Corrections (MODOC) knowingly violated the Sunshine Law by refusing to provide information related to the state’s execution witness selection process.

Over the course of seven months, Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Richardson denied all three of Mr. Aaron Malin’s requests for public records on the basis that his office’s documents are “closed to the public” and that compiling and providing them would be “unduly burdensome.” Today, the ACLU of Missouri and Dave Roland, a public interest attorney, filed a Sunshine Law suit against the Prosecutor on Mr. Malin’s behalf.

On November 7, 2015, Bobby Honicutt, a 61-year old Springfield resident, was threatened with criminal charges after silently holding a sign on a public sidewalk that read “Trying to Support My Sick Wife| Please help.” Today, the ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit against the City of Springfield on Mr. Honicutt’s behalf.

The ACLU of Missouri mourns the passing of former General Counsel Don Wolff. Current Board President, Brad Pierce, served with Mr. Wolff and shares these thoughts:

The ACLU of Missouri has filed a Sunshine Law suit on behalf of Aaron M. Malin against the Missouri Association of Community Task Forces (ACT Missouri) for denying a request for the release of public documents.

Today in Strake v. Robinwood West Community Improvement District, the Missouri Supreme Court held that a government entity’s refusal to provide a citizen with public records amounts to a purposeful violation of Missouri’s Sunshine Law. The Supreme Court reversed the decision of a lower court, which had held that a government entity cannot have knowingly or purposefully violated the Sunshine Law when it does so on the advice of its attorney. Government bodies that knowingly or purposefully violate the public records law face a civil penalty and being required to pay the citizen’s attorneys’ fees.

The following may be attributed to Jeffrey Mittman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Missouri:

The following may be ascribed to Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the ACLU of Missouri:

St. Louis-- The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District ruled late this afternoon that a St. Louis County Judge abused his discretion by removing a foreperson from a grand jury. The Court directed the Judge supervising the Grand Jury to immediately adjourn the Grand Jury. The Court found “that the record properly before us is entirely inadequate to justify Relator’s removal from the Grand Jury for cause.”