Press "Enter" to skip to content

Court of Appeals grants stay in right-to-work referendum case, sets expedited schedule

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The ongoing battle over opponents’ attempt to block the new right-to-work in Missouri has taken another turn.

One week ago, a Missouri appeals court ruled that the state must restore the original ballot language for initiative petitions seeking a constitutional amendment prohibiting any right-to-work laws in the Show-Me State.

Right-to-work supporters argued that the ballot language, drafted before former Democratic Secretary of State Jason Kander left office, was too biased, which a lower court judge agreed with. But last Tuesday’s ruling overturned that decision, a favorable win for the opponents of right-to-work.

Now, that same decision is being looked at once again. The Court of Appeals on Monday granted Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s request for a stay of the trial court ruling on the right-to-work referendum and set a briefing and argument schedule for the appeals in the litigation.

The courts ordered the following expedited schedule to be adopted, with the legal file due on July 6, the transcript on July 10, and paper copies filed by July 12.

The Appellants’ briefs of Missouri Secretary of State John R. Ashcroft and Mike Louis are due July 12, 2017.

The Respondents’ briefs of Roger B. Stickler, Mary Hill, Michael J. Briggs, and John Paul Evans, Jr., are due July 19, 2017.

The Reply briefs of Missouri Secretary of State John R. Ashcroft and Mike Louis are due on July 21, 2017.

The case will be orally argued on July 26, 2017, at 2:oo p.m. to a panel consisting of Howard, P.J., Newton and Ahuja, JJ.