News & Commentary

SPRINGFIELD, MO – Brad Glass, of Mountain View, has a disability that impacts his ability to travel, so he is unable to comply with Missouri’s arbitrary statutory requirement that marriage license applicants appear in person before a Recorder of Deeds. Today, the Howell County Recorder of Deeds has been ordered by a United States District Court judge to meet Glass at his home and issue him a marriage license.Gl

In these last days of the legislative session, we are pushing hard to prevent some terrible legislation. Please help us get the word out so you and your social networks can join our efforts.

The Greater Saint Louis Community Foundation, is ready to see what St. Louis can give on May 6--Give STL Day. This is the region’s first-ever 24-hour, online day of giving to benefit the local nonprofit community-- and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri is one of the 500 nonprofits that is participating.

ST. LOUIS – Today the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and the Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty sent a joint letter asking Gov. Jay Nixon to enact a moratorium on executions, pending a full investigation into execution protocols. A copy of the letter can be found on the ACLU of Missouri’s website.

ST. LOUIS – A permanent injunction issued this week by U.S. District Judge Henry Edward Autrey means Ellisville drivers need not worry about getting ticketed if they use their headlights to send a message to other drivers to slow down and proceed with caution.

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips denied the Missouri Department of Corrections motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri. The ACLU’s lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of a state statute that prohibits identifying any current or former member of the execution team without permission from the Missouri Department of Correction’s director.

Last November, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri tried to intervene on publisher Larry Flynt’s behalf to unseal court records related to Missouri’s execution of Joseph Franklin, who was responsible for paralyzing Flynt in 1978. In December, the district court refused to allow Flynt the right to intervene, saying Flynt has only a generalized interest in the subject of the litigation. Today, two public watchdog organizations and 13 media companies that have also asked courts to unseal records have filed amici briefs supporting the ACLU’s appeal of the district court’s decision. The organizations include Public Citizen; the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Missouri Press Association; Advance Publications, Inc.; American Society of News Editors; Association of Alternative Newsmedia; Courthouse News Service; First Amendment Coalition; The McClatchy Company; MediaNews Group, Inc. d/b/a Digital First Media; National Press Photographers Association; the New York Times Company; Newspaper Association of America; POLITICO LLC; and the Washington Post.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO — The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed a lawsuit today on behalf of a Second Amendment advocate whose free speech rights were violated. Last July, Jordan Klaffer was forced to remove social media postings criticizing a police officer in southeast Missouri.

KANSAS CITY, MO — Eight Missouri couples from across the state have filed suit challenging the constitutionality of Missouri’s laws denying legal recognition of their marriages. The eight couples, some together for more than 30 years, and several raising children, are excluded from most state and some federal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.