The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Florida’s system for sentencing people to death is unconstitutional because it gives too much power to judges — and not enough to juries — to decide capital sentences. The 8-1 ruling said that the state’s ...
Read More »Missouri House panel OKs cooling-off period for lawmakers
A bill that would delay when lawmakers and other state elected officials can lobby after leaving office is advancing in the Missouri House. A House committee voted 7-1 in favor of a bill that would require officials to wait one ...
Read More »High court seems skeptical of mandatory public union fees
The Supreme Court on Monday appeared ready to deal a major blow to organized labor as it considers the free speech rights of government workers who say they shouldn’t be forced to pay fees to public sector unions. The high court’s ...
Read More »Lawmaker wants law enforcement database updated more often
Missouri’s law enforcement database should be updated within 24 hours after an outstanding warrant has been resolved to avoid unnecessary arrests, a state lawmaker who filed a bill establishing that requirement said. Rep. Chuck Basye, a Rocheport Republican, filed the ...
Read More »If Trump elected, leaving business behind would take work
On Inauguration Day next January, the 45th president will parade past the new Trump Hotel Washington, which Donald Trump says soon will be among the world’s finest. Should the current Republican front-runner win the White House, his hotel on ground ...
Read More »For some theater shooting jurors, trial began after verdict
For nearly 14 weeks, they sat in a suburban Denver jury box, listening for hours as witnesses described the searing pain of gunshot wounds and the terror they felt as they fled the movie theater, the gunman still firing at ...
Read More »Trial of Freddie Gray van driver delayed by appeals court
A Maryland appeals court postponed the trial of a police van driver charged with second-degree murder in the death of Freddie Gray, saying it needed to address whether another Baltimore officer should be compelled to testify against Caesar Goodson. Jury ...
Read More »Missouri 2016 elections likely to affect state Legislature
Within a half-hour of the start of Missouri’s 2016 legislative session, Republican Sen. Kurt Schaefer launched into a criticism on the Senate floor of Democratic President Barack Obama’s executive order imposing additional gun control measures. It marked the first of ...
Read More »Arch Coal files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Arch Coal, which has been hurt by the weakening demand for coal, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday. The coal industry is struggling as electric power companies shift to using natural gas, which costs less than coal and produces ...
Read More »Obama vetoes bill to repeal signature health care law
Protecting his signature domestic achievement, President Barack Obama on Friday vetoed legislation to repeal his health care law, saying the measure “would reverse the significant progress we have made in improving health care in America.” Republican lawmakers have pushed many ...
Read More »Family hopeful Missouri murder convict will be released
Linda Harris had lost hope of ever seeing her daughter out of prison. A life sentence without the possibility of parole is pretty definitive. But a U.S. Supreme Court decision — one that Missouri lawmakers are now working to comply with ...
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