Rebecca Rivas

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft tweeted that a job posting for a “diversity, inclusion and belonging leader” was an example of “left-wing indoctrination in the workplace” and the wrong use of taxpayer dollars. State agency leaders say inclusion and belonging programs help retain employees during a severe staffing shortage.

The federal government requires banks to inspect every marijuana facility and licensee. Since Missouri's DHSS already does that, banks want them to share that information so they don't have to duplicate effort.

A huge selling point for those who voted for Amendment 3 in November was the automatic expungement provision — meaning people who have already served their sentences for past charges will have their records cleared. All marijuana-related misdemeanors must be expunged by June 8 and felonies by Dec. 8.

A decade after St. Louis officially reclaimed local control of its police, a Missouri Senate bill would put the department back under state control — a policy originally born out pro-slavery leaders’ attempt to maintain power 150 years ago.

A proposal targeting St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, a Black Democrat, will be expanded to allow takeover by governor’s order anywhere in the state with violent crime rates.

The position will oversee the equity measure that legalization campaign supporters boast to be the first of its kind in the nation — a microlicense program designed to boost opportunities in the marijuana industry for businesses in disadvantaged communities.

Under state law, Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office isn't required to participate in wrongful conviction cases, but Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker says that Schmitt acts as if his primary duty is to defend convictions rather than seek justice.

This week was the first time in court that Johnson was able to say in his own words why his 1995 conviction for the murder of his friend Marcus Boyd should be set aside. The only eyewitness in the original case recanted his testimony, while a convicted murderer serving a life sentence testified that he, not Johnson, killed Boyd.

Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has filed a motion to set aside the conviction of Lamar Johnson, who was sentenced to life in prison for a 1994 murder that he did not commit. A key witness in that case testified this week that police detectives “pressured” and “bullied” him into identifying Johnson from a lineup.

James Howard, who is serving a life sentence, testified Monday that he killed Marcus Boyd in 1994 — not Lamar Johnson.