Constitutional Law

Will Missouri GOP's Gun Owner Privacy Efforts Make State Vulnerable to Terrorism, Fraud?

The debate around the privacy of gun owners has dominated the legislature this session, with Republican lawmakers' persistent outcry regarding record-keeping in the state. The worry is that the Missouri license bureau, under the direction of Democratic Governor Jay Nixon, could be collecting and st ... More >>

The "Ladue List": Office of Civil Rights and Ladue High School Reach Agreement

Ah, springtime -- flowers are blooming, birds are singing...vicious, slut-shaming lists are being written? It's been about a year since the last "Senior List" was passed around the halls of Ladue Horton Watkins High School. Next to the name of seven graduating senior girls was an insult -- some for ... More >>

Marijuana: Gary Wiegert's Free-Speech Lawsuit Goes Forward, Sgt. Hopes to Lobby for Reform

Last week, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen passed a marijuana reform proposal that would reduce the punishment for minor pot offenses. The policy change is supposed to save police resources and the mayor is expected to sign it into law. While officials with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Depart ... More >>

Catholic Bishops Slam Birth Control Ruling: "Pray for the Protection of Religious Liberty"

The Catholic bishops of Missouri are praying that the legal fight against federal health care mandates for birth control coverage is not over. "We now call upon all people of good will to pray for the protection of religious liberty and for defense of the First Amendment freedoms we all hold dear, ... More >>

O'Fallon Wants to Block Federal Gun Control With Bill to "Stop the Tyranny of...Government"

What's with all the Second Amendment bashing? That's the underlying question that O'Fallon City Councilman Jim Pepper says prompted him to propose a local bill that would block federal gun control measures. That's right, members of the City Council are pushing a municipal proposal to stop the enf ... More >>

St. Louis Archdiocese Fight Against Contraception: Mandate Lawsuit Dismissed

Last May, the Archdiocese of St. Louis and Catholic Charities went up against the United States government with a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a health care contraception mandate -- and this week, a federal judge decided to dismiss the case. But the battle is not over. So say offic ... More >>

RFT Founder Ray Hartmann Really Lets the NRA Have It

Some you readers are gun-rights absolutists. We know this from the comments you leave on our blog posts. Thus you may be interested to know that on Friday,  just hours after a deranged young man shot and killed 27 people (including 20 children) in a Connecticut school, Riverfront Times' founde ... More >>

The Man Who Saved the Union: H.W. Brands Talks U.S. Grant

H.W. Brands' new book The Man Who Saved the Union is not the first book we've encountered about Ulysses S. Grant this year, but it's certainly the most voluminous. Brands, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, was in St. Louis yesterday to talk about the book at the Missouri History Muse ... More >>

Slut-Shaming and Free Speech: Can a Lawsuit End the Decades-Old "Senior List" In Ladue?

Martha "Missy" Combs recalls finding out this way: While cramming for a math quiz near the end of her junior year at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, she got a tap on the shoulder. It was a friend informing her that Combs made the "senior list." Combs knew exactly what this meant. The year before ... More >>

ACLU Challenges Amendment 2, But Not Because of Why You're Thinking

On Tuesday, Missourians overwhelmingly voted for Amendment 2, more commonly known as the "right to pray" amendment. The amendment ensures that everybody in the state has the right to express their religious beliefs, acknowledge God in public, and pray whether they're in a school, public building or ... More >>

At the River I Stand

Prosecutors Drop Charge Against Marijuana Petitioners

​Looks like peaceful protest still works. On Saturday morning, St. Charles City Attorney Mike Valenti officially dropped charges against two Show-Me Cannabis Regulation volunteers who were cited by police for "soliciting without a permit" on Sunday, January 15. The two were in fact gathering signa ... More >>

In support of Mormons and pot, not so much for occupiers

ACLU of Eastern Missouri Honors Three Social Justice Titans Tonight

​Tonight, the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri hosts its 40th annual Bill of Rights Celebration. Three local activists will be honored for their work in diverse areas of civil liberties.

Alderwoman April Ford Griffin Expected to Take Position in Mayor's Office

http://www.pubdef.orgAlderwoman April Ford Griffin will be the new executive director for the city's Civil Rights Enforcement Agency​Fifth ward Alderwoman April Ford Griffin has been offered by Mayor Francis Slay the job of heading the city's Civil Rights Enforcement Agency. While both sides ... More >>

East St. Louis Discriminated In Not Hiring White Officers, Federal Jury Finds

Photo: Jennifer SilverbergMayor Alvin Parks did not have much to smile about Wednesday.​Two black residents of East St. Louis won a civil rights lawsuit this week in southern Illinois complaining that they were harassed and discriminated against when they recommended that the predominately black c ... More >>

Dems to Ask Justice Department For Photo ID Investigation

Marcia Fudge: The Cleveland congresswoman wants the Justice Department to investigate photo ID laws like the one planned for Missouri ballots in 2012​Next year, Missouri voters will be asked to consider an amendment to the state's constitution, requiring voters to bring an unexpired Missouri or fe ... More >>

Lawsuit Filed Against Missouri's "Religious Freedom" Amendment

Don't drink the Kool-Aid, warn plaintiffs.​In November 2012, Missouri voters will be asked to approve an amendment to the state constitution, titled Religious Freedom in Public Places. According to the sponsor of the resolution, Republican Mike McGhee of the western Missouri town of Odessa, the am ... More >>

Catholic Foster Care Won't Have Gay Couples Adopting in Illinois

'Cause you'd hate to see these guys dote on a baby.​Congratulations, Illinois' LGBT community. Beginning tomorrow, you can proverbially tie the knot in the "Land of Lincoln."  True, you can't technically call it marriage, but Illinois' new civil-union law provides you many of the benefits enj ... More >>

Canadian Libel Judgment Quashed by Missouri Appeals Court

The cover of Udis Sanchez Lord's autobiography, which got her in big trouble with her cousin -- and a Canadian court.​Kidnapping! Land fraud! Cousins fighting with cousins -- even as one cousin rises from working as a fieldhand to achieve both her Ph.D. and win (drumroll!) the title of Ms. Asia In ... More >>

Lawsuit In Works Challenging Clayton Smoking Ban in Public Parks

Live in Clayton and hate the smoking ban in parks? Call this guy at 314-726-2322.​The 25-page complaint against the city of Clayton is already written and ready to be filed in federal court. All attorney Bevis Schock needs now is a couple more plaintiffs. "I have one person confirmed, but would li ... More >>

Lift Our Voices

The Feds Bury Border Patrol Abuses of Immigrants, But What's Been Unearthed Reveals a Culture of Cruelty

Child Nutrition Bill Passes House of Reps, Headed to President

Despite being blocked by an unrelated amendment on Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the Child Nutrition Bill yesterday. The AP gives the details of the final bill, and explains that the added amendment, pertaining to background checks for child care workers, was passed in a separate bi ... More >>

Strip Clubs Challenge Financial Impact of New Law

The new law bans strippers from appearing nude. They can't even wear thongs. ​Attorneys for sexually oriented businesses argued yesterday in court in central Missouri that the state legislature violated its own rules in passing a strict new law on sexually-oriented businesses. The law that went in ... More >>

New Missouri Abortion Laws Among the Nation's Most Restrictive

​In the 2010 legislative session, Missouri, along with several other states, passed new laws placing major barriers between women and their Constitutional right to obtain abortions. The Center for Reproductive Rights, a New York-based pro-choice legal advocacy group, Tuesday released a report on t ... More >>

Leon Pullen: Former Cop Pleads Guilty to Charges Involving Prostitutes

​Leon Pullen, 32, a former police officer employed by the north St. Louis County suburb of Uplands Park has pleaded guilty to civil rights violations stemming from several incidents where he sexually assaulted and stole money from prostitutes. According to court documents, on July 15, 2009 Pu ... More >>

We Had Sneakers, They Had Guns: Remembering Freedom Summer, Mississippi, 1964

In the summer of 1964, hundreds of young northerners descended upon Mississippi to register black voters and teach in "Freedom Schools." Among them were Charles McLaurin, Chris Hexter and Tracy Sugarman, who were all based in the town of Ruleville in Sunflower County. McLaurin was the project direct ... More >>

What Do You Call a Sex Offender Passing Out Candy w/in 1000 ft. of a School on Halloween?

​In Missouri you call him well within his rights -- that is, if he (or she) was convicted and sentenced before two relatively recent residency laws went into effect.Today the Missouri Supreme Court handed down two rulings relating to where registered sex offenders may live in the state and how the ... More >>

Legal Challenge to Smoking Ban Would Be Tough Sell, Say Law Experts

​Even before voters in St. Louis County overwhelmingly approved a smoking ban last week, opponents of the ban warned that they might challenge the statute in court.  At a press conference in October, Bill Hannegan of "Vote No on Proposition N" and Keep St. Louis Free said he and others were e ... More >>

Larry Johnson Is Not a Political Prisoner

Larry Johnson was given his walking papers yesterday by the Kansas City Chiefs, after they had finally had enough of his antics. The latest incident involved him criticising the Chiefs' head coach, Todd Haley, and using gay slurs to attack both members of the KC media and commenters on his Twitter p ... More >>

Arnold Lawsuit Challenging Red-Light Cameras Moves On Without Original Plaintiffs

Derek JensenOpponents of red-light cameras are celebrating a ruling earlier this month in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Missouri. In a broad-ranging order handed down February 3, Judge Thomas C. Mummert III denied defendant American Traffic Solutions' (ATS) motion to dismiss the RICO claims fil ... More >>

Law and Anarchy

St. Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa and his officers may stand trial for violating the civil rights of “anarchists” in 2003.

Hardest (Working) Man

Tony La Russa and the Double Standard

Why didn't the Cardinals skipper take more heat for his DUI?

Why don't more people honor Jackie Robinson?

The importance of the great Number 42.

Is baseball a thing of the past in the black community?

Joe thinks so.

Dear Memphis: Joe would like his idea back.

Week of January 11, 2007

Week of November 2, 2005

Mysterious Departure

Why did the ACLU's legal director hit the road?

A Shot in the Arm

A federal appeals court says Darryl Burton might very well be innocent of the 1984 murder of Donald Ball. But there's nothing they can do about it.

Frankie's Plan

To free man

Answering the Call

IRS employees bring Jesus to the office -- and manage to raise Cain

Rights Knocked

Week of January 1, 2003

Teflon Tiller

As the circle closes around him, John Tiller scrambles

Serial Tiller

When it comes to ripping people off, John Tiller and the Civil Rights Legal Defense Team just keep going and going

Slimin' the City

When it comes to Election Day problems in St. Louis, the politicians' rhetoric doesn't match the reality

Letters to the Editor

Published the week of August 16-22, 2000

FLAGGING INTEREST

Raising some red flags at the Midtown Arts Center

Justice for All