Missouri Supreme Court

The court has weighed several contentious issues in recent years, including expansion of Medicaid, municipal court reform and the limit of collective bargaining for state employees. It has agreed to take a case weighing the authority of local and state health officials to issue public health orders.

Kevin Johnson was sentenced to death in 2007 for the slaying of a Kirkwood, Missouri, police officer. But an extensive investigation found the state’s handling of death-eligible prosecutions was rife with pervasive racial bias.

A special prosecutor appointed by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which secured Johnson’s conviction, concluded that “racist prosecution techniques infected Mr. Johnson’s conviction and death sentence.” The Missouri Supreme Court on Monday denied motions to halt his execution, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

Johnson was sentenced to death in 2007 for the slaying of a Kirkwood, Missouri, police officer. A special prosecutor is urging the court to stay Johnson's execution after an extensive investigation found the state’s handling of death-eligible prosecutions was rife with pervasive racial bias.

Both Missouri and Kansas have non-partisan merit selection systems, although parts of both states still elect judges to office.

Though the change was approved in late June, it will not take effect until July 2023. That gives court officials time to make sure the computer system can handle the traffic, and to reinforce the importance of redacting personal or sensitive information.

As a condition of their probation, Mark and Patricia McCloskey are required to provide 100 hours of pro bono legal services to organizations that provide free legal services for poor or indigent Missouri residents.

The Missouri Supreme Court sent a case involving the Second Amendment Preservation Act back to a lower court on Tuesday. The ruling lets St. Louis and Jackson County argue that the law, which prevents police in Missouri from cooperating with federal officials to enforce gun regulations, is unconstitutional.

A state hearing panel was asked to issue a reprimand, the lowest level of formal disciplinary action, to St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. It will issue its decision in the next 30 days, though the Missouri Supreme Court will have the final say.

Carnes, who is now 52, was convicted of killing 24-year-old Larry White in October 2003 and sentenced to life in prison. The Missouri Supreme Court set aside his conviction earlier this week.

Keith Carnes, who is now 52, maintained he was innocent of the murder of 24-year-old Larry White in October 2003. The Missouri Supreme Court says Carnes met his burden of proving the state failed to disclose material evidence in his case.

The McCloskeys drew national headlines when they confronted a group of mostly Black protesters who had entered their gated community en route to demonstrate in front of the nearby home of a former St. Louis mayor in June 2020.