Justia Missouri Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Herschel Young was sworn in as presiding commissioner of Cass County in 2011. Teresa Hensley, the prosecuting attorney for the county, subsequently filed a quo warranto action in reliance upon Mo. Rev. Stat. 115.350, alleging that Young usurped the office of presiding commissioner because he was not qualified to be a candidate for elective public office due to a 1995 felony conviction. The circuit court granted Hensley's petition and ordered Young's ouster from office. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) section 115.350, as applied to Young, did not operate retrospectively in violation of the state constitution; (2) quo warranto was the appropriate remedy, and the petition was based on applicable law; and (3) section 115.350 does not violate the equal protection clause of the state constitution because it had a rational basis under the law. View "State ex inf. Hensley v. Young" on Justia Law

Jordan Danielle King-Willmann filed a petition seeking a writ of mandamus requiring the Webster Groves school district to enroll her in the district pursuant to Mo. Rev. Stat. 167.131.2. The school district contested certain material facts alleged by King-Willmann and asserted several defenses, including a claimed violation of Mo. Const. art. X, sec. 21, the Hancock amendment. The school district requested an evidentiary hearing, which the trial court did not hold. The court issued the writ granting King-Willmann relief. The Supreme Court reversed the judgment and remanded because contested issues of fact existed. On remand, the Court instructed the trial court not to consider the Hancock amendment claim as the school district had no standing to bring such a claim. View "King-Willmann v. Webster Groves Sch. Dist." on Justia Law

In 2007, the General Assembly enacted a series of statutes regulating the private investigator profession. Appellant subsequently applied for licensure as a private investigator. The Board of Private Investigator Examiners initially denied Appellant's application, but later the Administrative Hearing Commission ordered the board to grant Appellant a license. After Appellant was awarded a license, he continued to pursue a lawsuit he had filed against the board and its members, arguing that the statutory scheme violated the free speech clauses of the state and federal constitutions and that his procedural due process rights were violated when the board denied his application before giving him a meaningful opportunity to be heard. The circuit court (1) dismissed Appellant's procedural due process claim as moot, and (2) dismissed Appellant's free-speech claims after concluding that the statutes were not unconstitutional on their face. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not err in its judgment. View "Gurley v. Mo. Bd. of Private Investigator Exam'rs" on Justia Law

After My Truong's home was foreclosed on, a trustee's sale was held, and Fannie Mae purchased Truong's home. Despite the sale, Truong continued to maintain possession of his home. Fannie Mae filed a petition for unlawful detainer. The circuit court granted Fannie Mae's motion for summary judgment and awarded Fannie Mae $6,000 in damages. Truong appealed, challenging the constitutional validity of Mo. Rev. Stat. 534.010, among other things. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction, holding that Truong's failure to apply for a trial de novo pursuant to Mo. Rev. Stat. 512.180.1, prior to seeking relief in the Supreme Court, deprived the Court of the authority to adjudicate his claims. View "Fannie Mae v. Truong" on Justia Law

Respondents, Legends Bank and John Klebba, filed a declaratory judgment action asserting that S.B. 844 (the Bill), which the Legislature passed in 2010, (1) violated the single subject requirement and original purpose requirement of the Missouri Constitution, and (2) violated the First Amendment insofar as it barred political action committees from receiving money from state chartered banks but allowed political action committees to receive money from other entities and individuals. The trial court sustained Respondents' motion for judgment on the pleadings, finding (1) procurement was the original controlling purpose of the Bill, (2) the Bill was enacted in violation of the single subject requirement of the state Constitution, and (3) the Bill violated the First Amendment. The court then voided S.B. 844 except for the procurement provisions. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the Bill violated Mo. Const. art III, 21, which prohibits changes in the original purpose of a bill, as (1) the original purpose of the Bill related to procurement, and (2) the vast majority of the provisions in the final version related to ethics and campaign finance, which were not germane to the original purpose of the Bill. View "Legends Bank v. State" on Justia Law

Kevin Bromwell and several other inmates (Appellants) of the Jefferson County Correctional Center filed a petition for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief, alleging that the circuit court's application of the Missouri Prisoner Litigation Reform Act to petitions for writs of habeas corpus violated the state and federal Constitutions. Appellants then filed a consolidated petition for writs of habeas corpus. The circuit court quashed service of process, dismissed the counts alleged in the consolidated petition for declaratory judgment for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, and dismissed the petition for writs of habeas corpus without prejudice. The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's judgment, holding (1) the consolidated petitions for writs of habeas corpus claims were properly dismissed and there was no right to appeal; and (2) the circuit court properly dismissed Appellant's declaratory judgment petition, as Appellants failed to state claims upon which relief could be granted. View "Bromwell v. Nixon" on Justia Law

Defendant Tyler McNeely refused to consent to an alcohol breath test or a blood test after he was arrested for driving while intoxicated. The arresting patrolman, without seeking a warrant from a judge, ordered a medical professional to draw Defendant's blood. The trial court sustained Defendant's motion to suppress the results of the blood test, concluding that the nonconsensual and warrantless blood draw was a violation of Defendant's Fourth Amendment rights. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the fact that blood-alcohol levels dissipate after drinking ceases is not a per se exigency pursuant to Schmerber v. California justifying an officer to order a blood test without obtaining a warrant from a neutral judge; and (2) the arresting patrolman, therefore, was not justified in failing to seek a warrant before drawing Defendant's blood over his refusal to consent. View "State v. McNeely" on Justia Law

Molly Teichman, as a citizen and qualified voter, filed a petition for permanent writs of prohibition and mandamus to prevent the secretary of state from holding an election based on either the original or revised Senate plan and map submitted by the nonpartisan senate reapportionment commission. The Supreme Court sustained the petition and directed that a writ of prohibition issue to the secretary of state, holding (1) the commission had no authority to revise the reapportionment process on its own volition even if a majority of the members of the commission recognized a constitutional infirmity in the plan and map that had been unanimously signed and filed; (2) the original plan and map violated a clear and express constitutional limitation regarding the splitting of counties and was, therefore, invalid; and (3) Mo. Const. art. III, 7 compelled the legislative process to be redone in accordance with its terms. Remanded. View "State ex rel. Teichman v. Carnahan" on Justia Law

The city of Winchester and its collector (Winchester) filed a class action lawsuit against Charter Communications on behalf of itself and other similarly situated Missouri municipal corporations and political subdivisions, seeking a declaratory judgment requiring Charter and other telephone service providers to comply with ordinances requiring them to pay a license tax on gross receipts derived from fees and services connected to their operations and an order requiring Charter to pay all license taxes owed to the class. The circuit court struck Winchester's claims on the basis of Mo. Rev. Stat. 71.675, which bars cities and towns from serving as class representatives in suits to enforce or collect business license taxes imposed on telecommunications companies. The Supreme Court quashed the court's preliminary writ of prohibition and granted Winchester's request for a permanent writ of mandamus directing the trial court to vacate its order, holding that the court exceeded its authority in striking Winchester's class action allegations pursuant to section 71.675, as the statute violated Mo. Const. art. V, 5 because it amended a procedural rule of the Court. View "State ex rel. Collector of Winchester v. Circuit Court (Jamison)" on Justia Law

Six state citizens and qualified voters residing in various areas of the state brought an action against the attorney general and secretary of state. A second group of citizens and qualified voters filed an action against the secretary of state, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Both sets of plaintiffs alleged that a redistricting map and configuration of certain districts were not valid under Mo. Const. art. III, 45. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim or, in the alternative, a motion for judgment on the pleadings. The circuit court granted both motions and dismissed both cases. The Supreme Court reversed the judgments, holding that the pleadings raised issues of fact concerning whether various districts were "composed of contiguous terrority as compact...as may be" under Mo. Const. art. III, 45, and therefore, the motions to dismiss could not be sustained because the facts alleged met the elements of a recognized cause of action. Remanded. View "Pearson v. Koster" on Justia Law