U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against Warrantless Blood Tests for DUI Suspects in Missouri Case

Cops cannot force suspected drunk drivers to give a blood sample without a warrant, according to a ruling this week in a Missouri case that made it all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. The decision has broad implications for Fourth Amendment rights, says Tony Rothert, legal direc ... More >>

Bud Light Jumps on Equality Bandwagon, Homophobe Beer Drinkers Pissed

If you're on Facebook, you've likely seen the proliferation of red and pink equal signs in lieu of profile pictures, a gesture of support for gay-marriage equality as the United States Supreme Court considers two cases on the topic. Since then, lots of fans have started "remixing" the equal sign. T ... More >>

Gay Marriage: Governor Jay Nixon Doesn't Want to Talk About it Right Now

With the United States Supreme Court considering gay marriage this week, people across the country are talking about the issue of marriage equality. But not Governor Jay Nixon. Questioned about it at a press conference yesterday -- just two days after Senator Claire McCaskill publicly stated her su ... More >>

Marriage Behind Bars: Judge Rules Missouri Law Can't Block Inmates From Tying the Knot

As the United States Supreme Court takes up gay marriage this week, in Missouri there's been progress in a different kind of marriage equality battle: the right to tie the knot behind bars. The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri has been fighting for months on behalf of a group of ... 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 >>

New York Times: Sinquefield and Missouri Could Reveal Future of American Politics

In Missouri, you can basically contribute as much as you want to candidates and causes, meaning that one rich guy with big ideas could radically alter a state -- a reality here at home that "could be coming to a campaign near you," the New York Times is telling the rest of the nation today.  

Federal Appeals Court Sides Against "God Hates Fags" Church On Law Limiting Funeral Protests

Federal appeals judges in St. Louis ruled today that yes, in fact, the City of Manchester does have the right under the Constitution to restrict where and when certain folks -- meaning the hate-spewing death-cult, Westboro Baptist Church -- can picket funerals. (Who would want to picket a funer ... More >>

Can Cops Draw a DUI Suspect's Blood Without Consent? US Supreme Court to Hear MO Suit

Did a Missouri state trooper violate the U.S. constitution in October 2010 when he arrested a drunk driver in Cape Girardeau and drew his blood, even though the driver refused?Looks like the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will now be making the final call on whether such a blood test am ... More >>

Ed Martin's Pledge to Thwart Obamacare From His "First Minute in Office": Will It Resonate?

Tea Party darling and GOP candidate for attorney general Ed Martin just released this new TV spot, which begins: "Almost 30 states filed lawsuits to stop Obamacare. Not Missouri. Our attorney general sat it out." That's technically true, but slightly misleading.

ObamaCare Upheld? Gut Check's Chowing Down on Our Favorite Gut Busters

Gut Check rejoiced at this morning's news that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. ObamaCare. Of course, we already have health care, but we know that unemployment is only one terrible blog post away (this one, perhaps), and we suffer from a debilitating preexisting con ... More >>

Freedom Under Fire: A Village Voice Media Special Report

Is Civil Disobedience the Answer to Immigration Debate?

Supreme Court Decision on Arizona Will Divide Nation

Judge Michael Wolff Enters Health Care Debate

This morning's readers of The New York Times editorial pages who are interested in the current Supreme Court hearings on President Obama's health care bill might find themselves stumbling over a letter to the editor penned by one of our city's finest wordsmiths. Michael A. Wolff, who delivered many ... More >>

State Supreme Court to Decide Whether Missouri's Redistricting Map Is Unconstitutional

​Redistricting is the straw that stirs the bitter, burning, 195-proof partisan cocktail we chug down while squeezing our noses every campaign season before waking up the morning after the election massaging our temples, cursing the gods, wondering why we keep putting ourselves through this madness ... More >>

Supreme Court Decision on Missouri Sex Offender Carries Implications Across U.S.

A sex case that began in Missouri and passed through Pennsylvania continued its path all the way to Washington, where this week U.S. Supreme Court released an opinion that poses just as many questions as answers when it comes to sex-offender registration laws. In a 7-2 ruling announced January 23, ... More >>

Literally, "See You in Court!"

It won't exactly be Law & Order, but Illinois' courtroom dramas could soon be coming to a living room near you. In an announcement titled "Extended Media Coverage In the Circuit Courts of Illinois on an Experimental Basis," the Illinois Supreme Court yesterday ordered that video and still cameras ... More >>

Missouri Supreme Court to Strip Club Owners: "Tough Titties!"

Justices uphold Missouri's nudity ban for strip clubs.​The Missouri Supreme Court yesterday handed strip club owners yet another loss in their legal fight to overturn a sweeping law regulating "adult-oriented businesses." The law passed in 2010 prohibits exotic dancers from displaying their genita ... More >>

Belleville Diocese Must Pay, Illinois Supreme Court Says

The diocese is on the hook for another $6.35 million after the Illinois Supreme Court refused to hear its appeal.​The Illinois Supreme Court yesterday refused to hear an appeal of the Diocese of Belleville -- letting stand a $5 million jury verdict for a former altar boy at St. Theresa's Parish in ... More >>

Westboro Baptist Church Sues St. Charles City; Wins Injunction vs. St. Charles County

Plaintiff Megan Phelps-Roper protesting in St. Louis last summer.​It took the Westboro Baptist Church just one day to sue St. Charles after the city last week enacted an ordinance restricting when and where protesters can picket during funerals. Westboro Baptist Church has made a name for itself i ... More >>

Westboro Baptist Church to Picket Cardinals Game This Weekend. Let's Put Their Press Release to Good Use.

Image viaSeriously, this is just wrong.​Fred Phelps and his hate-spewing minions at the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church have made more than a few appearances in St. Louis this year. They picketed Lady Gaga at the Scottrade Center and a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium back in July. And now, it ... More >>

Tuesday Tussle, Part 1: Supreme Court's Gun Ban Ruling Will Lead to More Bloodshed

Image sourceThe Supreme Court shot America in the foot ​The timing of the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling that the Second Amendment prevents cities and states from enacting strict gun control laws couldn't be more ironic. The decision overturned Chicago's ban on handgun ownership the day after 26 peopl ... More >>

Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms: The Supreme Court Rules, Everyone Claims Victory

Image viaEven Alfalfa is smiling about yesterday's ruling on alfalfa.​Gut Check hasn't read much case law since our high-school debate career ended and our briefcase (and trophies!) went into storage in our parents' garage. However, we were fairly certain that when the Supreme Court issued a rulin ... More >>

St. Louis Blogger Adam Shriver Gets National Nod for Online Battles vs. Dana Loesch

Da' blogger: Adam Shriver​One of the Riverfront Times' favorite local bloggers, Adam Shriver of St. Louis Activist Hub recently received props from national political blog Media Matters for America. The left-of-center site used the contents of one of Shriver's recent posts to pick apart the "jour ... More >>

Jarrod "The Deer Commander" Hayn Saved By the Supreme Court?

Image via Not Jarrod Hayn, but a visual approximation of his hunting technique.​Last week Daily RFT detailed the bizarre case of Jarrod Lee Hayn, a 38-year-old man from Kampsville, Illinois, facing up to three years in federal prison for recording himself running over deer and selling the t ... More >>

Should Drunks Be Allowed to Carry Guns?

danielhg.blogspot.comThe second amendment just as the founding fathers envisioned​That's the question that will soon be pondered by the Missouri Supreme Court.Missouri's highest court decided to hear the appeal of John L. Richard, a Mississippi County man who, after his wife left him in 2006, popp ... More >>

Did President Obama have a lot of "cojones" or "huevos" to nominate Sotomayor to the Supreme Court?

Oh, My GOD. Funeral Protests By Westboro Baptist Church Right-wingers Can Go On While America Goes to Hell

www.godhatesfags.comOn Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought by the state of Missouri, which has a law banning protesters from funerals. Missouri passed the law in 2006 in order to banish the Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church from disturbing the peace at military ... More >>

Supreme Court Sides with City in Firefighter Discrimination Case

flickr.com/photos/zacheversonWe're not sure if anyone popped open a bottle of bubbly yesterday in Room 200 of City Hall, but we know St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and his staff had to be pleased. In a follow-up to an item we posted earlier this month, yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the c ... More >>

Fairmount Park earns some green while Wash. U. breeds fruit flies in need of naps

Now That Fairmount Park Is In Line for $7 Million Bailout, Will It Finally Fix Its JumboTron?

Good news horse-racing fans. Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review an appeal filed by four Chicago-area casinos over a special fund established to help horse racing. The fund, passed into law in 2006, required Illinois' four biggest casinos (all located near Chicago) to set aside part ... More >>

When It Comes to Firefighter Discrimination Cases, St. Louis Not Alone

Ousted St. Louis Fire Chief Sherman George could have a friend in Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. Not that it matters in the short term. Sotomayor's confirmation likely won't come until after the Supreme Court rules on a well-publicized suit in which white and Hispanic firefighters have sued ... More >>

A Waitress-cum-Senator do a Supreme Court Justice Make?

Wikimedia CommonsA woman's place is not in the kitchen. It's at the front of the house, like on the bench at the U.S. Supreme Court.A former speechwriter for George H.W. Bush has floated the name of -- nay, endorsed -- Missouri's freshman senator for the soon-to-be-open seat on the U.S. Supreme Cour ... More >>

Guantánamo's Final Days: America prepares to shutter the infamous prison camp, and jihad looms

Everything Unreal always wanted to know about sex but was afraid to ask

Lethal Injection Gets Its Day in Court

The Mystery of Lloyd Gaines

A St. Louis civil-rights pioneer vanished without a trace almost 70 years ago. Now, the NAACP wants the feds to find him.

Road Rules

When a checkpoint isn't really a checkpoint, the constitutional forecast is cloudy

Two-Steppin'

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether a Missouri cop could justifiably dance around Miranda

So Long, Joe

While Joe Amrine waits to die, Missouri courts won't admit they may be wrong

Exploit-the-Flag Day

Politicians will soon return to the mother of all stupid issues

The Taking of the Presidency

Supremes' credibility isn't helped by report of O'Connor's craving Arizona

And the Loser Is ...

From the boredom of the Florida marathon, presenting the Chaddys

Letters to the Editor

Published the week of May 24, 2000

The Boys from Boonville

In 1963, a group of African-American runaways and truants was sent to a rural reform school. Then the nightmare began.

HEAVEN HELP US: THE NATIVITY FLAP IS BACK

Burning the Constitution, Again

Money Doesn't Buy Politicians?

Even the worst judges ought to know better than that