With Missouri Senate Republicans planning to protest recent state Supreme Court decisions, Chief Justice W. Brent Powell scuttled his annual State of the Judiciary address Wednesday morning, shortly before it was set to begin.
"They get to hide behind their little brick building, like little kings and queens in their black robes," said Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, upon learning of the cancellation.
A spokesperson for the court did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brattin sponsored Senate Bill 22 last year, legislation about ballot summaries the court unanimously struck down last week because it went beyond the original intent of the bill and changed five sections of state law.
The bill would have granted greater control to the Secretary of State to re-write ballot summaries and allowed the Attorney General the power to appeal preliminary court injunctions granted in instances where the state or a statewide official cannot enforce a law or statute.
Senate Republicans had planned to voice their discontent with the court's decision, and many still took to the floor despite Powell's absence – including Brattin, who said his bill was meant to limit the court's power and the justices' actions are an affront to checks and balances.
"The spheres of authority that are granted to each branch of government, they don't like it," Brattin said. "So therefore, they're just going to do whatever the heck they want to do. They want to act like they're the legislature."
The tussle over Brattin's ballot language bill is likely not over, as the senator said he hopes the body will reintroduce the bill, and "go even further than what we did."
Brattin also criticized the court for upholding voter approved Medicaid expansion and allowing an abortion-rights amendment to appear on the ballot.
Sen. Nick Schroer, R-Defiance, also criticized the state judiciary.
"When a court begins to control the sword or the purse, as well as the policy direction of this state, it no longer is the least dangerous branch," Schroer said, citing the founding fathers' wish that the judiciary be the least powerful. "It then becomes the most dangerous."
Though he condemned the court's decisions, Schroer also said the legislature should avoid omnibus bills because they're more likely to be thrown out for containing multiple subjects.
"I hope that these Christmas tree bills that everybody hangs a priority on at the last minute, a two page bill becomes 300, I hope we can get rid of that," Schroer said.
At least one Republican, Sen. Joe Nicola, R-Independence, indicated a willingness to work out differences with the Supreme Court.
"We can resolve some of these differences in constitutional and lawful separations," Nicola said. "We can do our job here in this legislature to protect our people's freedoms and liberties."
In reaction to the day's events, House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, issued a statement calling the Senate Republicans' actions "petty."
"Unfortunately, this is just another sad example of majority Republicans throwing a temper tantrum whenever they don't get their way," Aune wrote.
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