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St. Louis Public Radio makes unprecedented sovereign immunity claim in defamation case
The University of Missouri, on behalf of St. Louis Public Radio, is making an unprecedented legal claim of sovereign immunity in the defamation lawsuit filed against it by former general manager Tim Eby. Eby maintains he was defamed by stories quoting station employees accusing him of upholding “white supremacy.” The university’s legal filings describe the […]
Missouri hides more court information from the public than other states
A Missouri law passed in 2022 deletes the names of victims and witnesses in court documents, which experts say has made Missouri courts the least transparent in the nation. Among the witness names deleted are police officers. Eugene Volokh, a nationally known libertarian legal commentator, called the law “a very serious problem” under the headline “Missouri ‘Stealth […]
Missouri lawmakers bucked national trend by establishing police ‘bill of rights’
On the final day of the 2021 legislative session in May, Missouri lawmakers passed a “law enforcement bill of rights” that gives officers special legal protections and closes files to police misconduct. When Gov. Mike Parson signed it into law in July, the bill of rights portion was largely overshadowed in press coverage by other […]
St. Louis professor has waged long crusade to end abuse from ‘wandering cops’
Professor Roger Goldman’s crusade against “wandering cops” began 41 years ago, when two bullets from Joseph Sorbello’s revolver tore through the body of an alleged car thief, Roy Wash, in a parking lot behind a store at 7170 Manchester Boulevard in Maplewood. The shots killed the alleged thief, but they triggered an epiphany for the […]