By Jason Hancock | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning,
The Missouri Supreme Court spent Wednesday morning wrestling with two very different disputes that share a common question: how far can the state go in enforcing laws when the rules themselves are contested?
In one case, judges considered whether a 2022 law criminalizing “explicit sexual material” in schools sweeps beyond constitutionally unprotected obscenity — a law that prompted librarians to pull hundreds of books from shelves.
In the other, the state asked the court to overturn a ruling awarding 13 marijuana licenses to Hippos LLC after years of litigation over inconsistent scoring in Missouri’s original medical cannabis licensing process.
(Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)
by Annelise Hanshaw
The Missouri Supreme Court is weighing whether a 2022 law making it a crime for school employees to provide students with “explicit sexual material” violates constitutional free speech protections.
(Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
by Rebecca Rivas
The case looks at the grading process of marijuana facility licenses in 2019, which the state auditor found earlier this year to have erratic scoring and poor documentation.
(Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
by Rudi Keller
Opponents of Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map are asking the justices to block a federal ruling requiring its use as voting begins.
(Kevin Hardy/Stateline)
COMMENTARY
by Chris Gaines
Good schools are not only a local asset. They prepare the workforce, create jobs, support the economy, and give families confidence that their children can build successful fulfilling futures in our great state.
NATIONAL HEADLINES
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