Nonviolent drug offenders could be eligible for shorter prison sentences under legislation a Senate committee is considering. The Senate Judiciary Committee was expected to approve legislation on Thursday that would give judges discretion to give lesser sentences than federal mandatory ...
Read More »With new SEC nominees, 4 of 5 commissioners would be women
President Barack Obama is nominating two women, both attorneys and academics at Washington-area universities, as members of the Securities and Exchange Commission. If they are confirmed by the Senate, four of the five SEC commissioners will be women, a first ...
Read More »Supreme Court wrestles with wrongful death cap
The Missouri Supreme Court is weighing whether its own landmark ruling on medical malpractice damage caps has led to unequal protection of the law for the survivors of a wrongful death. On Wednesday, the high court heard arguments over a ...
Read More »Scalia: ‘Wouldn’t surprise me’ if death penalty struck down
Referencing rulings to restrict capital punishment and changing sentiment within the Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia said Tuesday he wouldn’t be surprised if the nation’s highest court invalidates the death penalty. Scalia addressed capital punishment during a University of Minnesota ...
Read More »Supreme Court to weigh wrongful death suit for terminal illness
The Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday is scheduled to hear a case that raises thorny questions of mortality. The case involves the death of Joseph Mickels, who was discovered in February 2009 to have an aggressive brain tumor and, despite ...
Read More »Nixon blocks $46M in state spending to fix Missouri budget
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Monday blocked more than $46 million in state spending in what he said was a move to balance the budget following the loss of millions of dollars in tobacco settlement money. At issue is $50 ...
Read More »US appeals court upholds gun laws after Newtown massacre
Gun control laws passed in New York and Connecticut to ban possession of semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity magazines after the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School were mostly upheld Monday by a federal appeals court decision that a gun ...
Read More »Grand jury on hold as lawyer seeks reinstatement
A St. Louis County grand jury won’t hear any new cases until St. Louis County officials file a response to a petition claiming he illegally removed a foreperson from the grand jury. Representatives for Circuit Judge Steven Goldman had been ...
Read More »ACLU seeks to restore attorney to grand jury
The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri asked the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District to review a recent decision to remove one of its former staff lawyers as foreman of a St. Louis County grand jury. The ACLU on ...
Read More »Under Clinton, State’s cybersecurity suffered
The State Department was among the worst agencies in the federal government at protecting its computer networks while Hillary Rodham Clinton was secretary from 2009 to 2013, a situation that continued to deteriorate as John Kerry took office and Russian ...
Read More »Mega-donors pick sides in Missouri GOP attorney general race
Some of Missouri’s largest political donors are picking sides as the state attorney general’s race heats up and two Republican hopefuls prepare for an anticipated primary showdown in 2016. The wealthy Humphreys family is backing newcomer Josh Hawley, a University ...
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