Press Release: Supreme Court of Missouri issues decision in ballot case

The Supreme Court of Missouri just issued its opinion in SC94293, D. Samuel
Dotson III and Rebecca Morgan v. Jason Kander, Missouri Secretary of State,
Senator Kurt Schaefer, et al., consolidated with Jennifer M. Joyce and Jean
Peters-Baker v. Tom Dempsey, et al., an appeal from the Cole County circuit
court that was argued Monday afternoon, July 14, 2014. The briefs,
summaries of the briefs and oral argument audio files are online at
http://www.courts.mo.gov/SUP/index.nsf/fe8feff4659e0b7b8625699f0079eddf/46c3c6fb6b7bd9eb86257d0a00634fcf?OpenDocument.

Overview:
   Individuals challenging a ballot issue scheduled for the August primary
   election appeal the trial court’s judgment that their cases were moot
   because fewer than six weeks remained before the election was scheduled
   to be held. In a unanimous per curiam decision that cannot be attributed
   to any particular judge, the Supreme Court of Missouri dismisses the
   appeal as moot. A statutory prohibition against a court from adding an
   issue to a ballot fewer than six weeks before the election also extends
   to modification of a ballot title.

The rest of the summary is online at
http://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=75694. If you wish to contact the
attorneys in this case, their names and telephone numbers are available in
the summary.

The Court’s decision is online at
http://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=75693.

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The Court's next hand down is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 29.

--Beth S. Riggert
Communications Counsel
Supreme Court of Missouri
PO Box 150, Jefferson City, MO 65102
Office: (573) 751-3676
Fax: (573) 751-7514
Cell: (573) 864-1966
E-mail: beth.riggert@courts.mo.gov