Two hearings set for Wednesday at the Missouri Supreme Court
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments today for not one, but two court cases against the state beginning at 9 a.m. in Jefferson City.
City of St. Louis, et al. v. State of Missouri, et al.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments today for the city of St. Louis over the Senate Bill No. 26 or also referred to as the police bill of rights, which went into effect in August of 2021.
However, the bill was quickly called out for violating parts of the Missouri State Constitution.
One item in the bill that is being fought include whether or not the bill violates the constitutional rules that prevents bills from being amended to change their original purpose.
The Supreme Court will also see if the term public safety is used too broadly throughout the bill when discussing things like economic loss compensation for officers, gambling boats, tax fraud, state lotteries and more.
Another item being addressed today in court is the issue of weather a section of the bill creates an unfunded mandate that violates the Hancock Amendment, which would increase the cities spending for the reimbursement of police officers not working due to disciplinary investigations.
Since the Senate Bill went into effect, it has affected how the Columbia Police Review Board operates when council approved to adhere to Senate Bill 26. back in November of 2021.
The court filing comes after a local city employee and the city of St. Louis brought the issues found within the bill to light.
When the new bill was put in place, it created or ammended 88 new statutory sections.
Jonathan Byrd, et al., The Gathering Tree d/b/a Eden Village v. State of Missouri, et al.
The second hearing the Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments over Wednesday is in regard to a new law that took effect back in January of this year prohibiting homeless people from sleeping on state owned land.
The lawsuit filed claims the law is in violation of the Missouri constitution single-subject rule, and was added onto a bill about political subdivisions and reducing the amount of financial information certain counties need to publish.
The state is saying the law is constitutionally valid.
The bill is being scrutinized over also violating the the clear title requirement, which is under investigation for being under-inclusive.
If cities and counties across the state don't put the law in place it will lose state funding for homeless shelters.
Since the bills enactment, new laws starting in the beginning of 2023 make sleeping on state owned land like highway underpasses and public parks a Class-C Misdemeanor.
We will continue to update as new information is released.
