Missouri

The U.S. Court of the Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has ruled that Missouri can't limit the ability of insurance navigators in helping consumers sign up for coverage through the federally run online exchange, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Samantha Liss reports. Missouri legislators passed legislation barring navigators from providing advice to consumers about health plans sold outside of the federally-run exchange.

A member of the grand jury that decided against indicting Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown is seeking to have the gag order on talking about the grand jury process lifted, alleging that the prosecutor Robert McCulloch handled the case differently than hundreds of other cases presented to the grand jury, The Huffington Post's Ryan J. Reilly reports. ACLU of Missouri Legal Director said in a statement that grand jury secrecy can be outweighed by a juror's First Amendment rights "'in cases where the prosecuting attorney has purported to be transparent,"' Reilly further reports.

St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison ruled yesterday that denying same-sex couples the right to marry in Missouri denies them equal protection and due process under the law and is unconstitutional, the Post-Dispatch's Doug Moore reports. Moore struck down the ban in the state constitution because of the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment of the federal Constitution.

The Missouri Attorney General will appeal the ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court.

In an exclusive report, the Associated Press' Jack Gillum and Joan Lowy report that public safety was the ostensible reason for restricting the airspace above Ferguson, Missouri, during large protests following the shooting of a young black man by a white police officer. But the AP, through an Freedom of Information Act request, has exposed recordings in which govermental officials acknowledged the purpose was to keep news helicopters away from the street protests. The recordings "raise serious questions about whether police were trying to suppress aerial images of the demonstrations and the police response by violating the constitutional rights of journalists with tacit assistance by federal officials," the AP further reports.

The Washington Post reports that police in Ferguson, Missouri, have accelerated their efforts to suppress peaceful protests about Michael Brown's killing by a white police officer several weeks ago: "A Washington Post review of county and state arrest records, and interviews with Justice Department officials, Ferguson and St. Louis County police chiefs, dozens of protesters and several civil rights officials reveal that: Hundreds of protesters have been arrested since August for violating unwritten rules and committing minor offenses, such as failure to disperse or unlawful assembly, and for violating a noise ordinance. Many have been taken to jail without being told what charges they may face and are often released without any paperwork. For weeks, officers employed a 'five-second rule' under which any protester who stopped walking was subject to arrest — a policy ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge this week." Protesters also complain that their jail time is increasing and bail amounts for their release are increasing.

After protests started following Michael Brown's shooting in Ferguson, Mo., by a police officer, police told protestors they had to keep walking and they couldn't keep still. Now U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry has issued a preliminary injunction to stop police from enforcing a practice she found to be unconstitutional, CNN reports: "In some cases, officers told protesters they couldn't stand still for more than five seconds. In others, the protesters were told they were walking too slowly."

Missouri's attorney general announced Monday that his state will not appeal a state-court ruling requiring the state to recognize same-sex marriages performed out-of-state, Reuters' Kevin Murphy reports: "The decision not to appeal the ruling came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to decide once and for all whether states can ban gay marriage, allowing same-sex couples to marry in five additional states immediately."

Government officials in Ferguson, Mo, want to charge "nearly 10 times the costs of some of their own employees' salaries" before they will release records about the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, the Associated Press reports. The records could be released without charge under Missouri's Sunshine Act if officials determined that the materials were in the public interest, the AP reports. The AP notes that "price-gouging for government files is one way that local, state and federal agencies have responded to requests for potentially embarrassing information they may not want released."

The ACLU of Missouri has filed a lawsuit to challenge Missouri's ban on same-sex marriage, Missouri Digital News reports, and Missouri's governor says he supports the right of gays to marry as long as voters approve it. The plaintiffs argue the ban violates their due process and equal protection rights.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has ordered the state to recognize joint tax returns from same-sex couples who married in other states, according to the Associated Press. Missouri's tax code is tied to federal tax code, which now requires same-sex couples to file taxes together. 

"PROMO, a statewide organization that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, said Missouri is the lone state to let same-sex couples file jointly as married while not recognizing same-sex marriages," the AP reports.