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WASHINGTON — U.S. presidents enjoy full immunity from criminal charges for their official “core constitutional” acts, but no immunity for unofficial acts, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, sending former President Donald Trump’s case back to the lower courts. The justices left open the question of how far official acts can reach, possibly reshaping the contours […]

The post Presidential immunity extends to some official acts, Supreme Court rules in Trump case appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Crews working to clean up the West Lake Landfill in St. Louis County detected contamination in nearby groundwater, forcing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to investigate whether radium might have left the site. In a periodic update to nearby communities last month, the EPA said it would add groundwater monitoring wells around the site, which […]

The post Radium in groundwater near West Lake Landfill in St. Louis County forces more testing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Now that we have had the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, did either exhibit the qualities and competencies to earn your vote? Electing the best candidate is not up to big money contributors, political parties and partisan talking heads drowning the airways. It is left up to us as Missourians, joining […]

The post Think about what non-negotiable qualifications will determine who you vote for appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Four former Missouri correctional officers face murder charges and a fifth is charged with involuntary manslaughter for the December death of a man incarcerated at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. Othel Moore, 38, was pepper-sprayed in the face multiple times, had his face improperly covered by a hood that blocked his nose and mouth and […]

The post Missouri corrections officers charged with murder in death of inmate in restraints appeared first on Missouri Independent.

More than 170 items were struck from the Missouri state budget Friday as Gov. Mike Parson cut $1 billion from the spending plan passed this year by lawmakers. In a statement explaining his cuts, Parson said he vetoed earmarked items that he believes were loaded into the budget for special projects and organizations without considering […]

The post Missouri governor slashes $1 billion from state budget approved by lawmakers appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden touched on a flood of criticism of his debate performance during a rally on Friday, while Democrats interviewed on Capitol Hill said the party must figure out a way to reassure voters after what they described as a “terrible” showing and a “bad night.” Biden, speaking from Raleigh, North Carolina, […]

The post Democrats reel from ‘terrible’ Biden debate performance as he defends candidacy appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A former Pennsylvania police officer who joined the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that delayed the certification of the 2020 presidential election results cannot be charged with obstructing an official proceeding unless a lower court finds otherwise, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday. The ruling throws into question the cases […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court ruling on obstruction law helps cases of Jan. 6 defendants appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The right-wing conspiracy website Gateway Pundit is accused of abusing the bankruptcy process to escape accountability in defamation lawsuits stemming from its false claims about the 2020 election.  Gateway Pundit, founded in St. Louis by brothers Jim and Joe Hoft, filed for bankruptcy in April as it was facing defamation lawsuits in Missouri and Colorado. […]

The post St. Louis-based Gateway Pundit accused of using bankruptcy to derail defamation suits appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a precedent Friday that had for decades limited judicial power to strike executive branch regulations, in a decision immediately criticized for potentially undermining decisions by scientists and agency experts. The 6-3 and 6-2 decisions in two cases brought by fishing operators in New Jersey and Rhode Island challenged a […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court flips precedent that empowered federal agencies appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Friday sided with a local ordinance in Oregon that effectively bans homeless people from sleeping outdoors, and local governments will be allowed to enforce those laws. In a 6-3 decision, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the opinion that the enforcement of those local laws that regulate camping on public property does […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court sides with Oregon city, allows ban on homeless people sleeping outdoors appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Michael Mullen donates blood plasma every Tuesday and Thursday. He has for 12 years. The money it brings in — a little over $100 a week — augments what he makes as a chef. He’s come to rely on it. “It helps supplement bill paying,” he said recently, smoking a cigarette outside the Biomat USA […]

The post Plasma donors in Kansas City are helping fuel a $34 billion industry appeared first on Missouri Independent.

It is not every day that a prosecutor takes the extraordinary step of asking a court to vacate a criminal conviction, let alone one carrying a death sentence. In the case of Marcellus Williams, St Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell did so after he reviewed the case and found “clear and convincing evidence” that […]

The post St. Louis County prosecutor thinks Marcellus Williams is innocent. He’s still set to be executed appeared first on Missouri Independent.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump pitched to undecided voters Thursday night during the first debate of the presidential campaign — trading insults over their policy differences, immigration and who represents a threat to democracy. During the debate from CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta, the two men argued over who can do better for […]

The post Biden and Trump trade insults, accusations of lying in acrimonious presidential debate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Hundreds of earmarked items in the $51.7 billion budget passed by lawmakers this year will be vetoed, Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday, just days before the new fiscal year begins. Speaking with reporters after groundbreaking for a new multi-agency state laboratory, Parson had two criticisms for the budget plan — it goes overboard on earmarks […]

The post Missouri Gov. Mike Parson says he plans to veto hundreds of earmarked spending items appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Prominent members of the GOP on Wednesday strongly criticized the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX, including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairwoman Virginia Foxx and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. As the fate of a key Biden administration effort to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination […]

The post House Speaker Johnson, Betsy DeVos lead attack on Title IX rule that protects LGBTQ+ kids appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As expected after the court said it inadvertently uploaded the opinion prematurely on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision Thursday remanding a case about emergency abortions in Idaho back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for now. The decision was 6-3, with conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissenting. It was issued […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court sends Idaho abortion case back down to lower courts appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON – Despite policies the Biden administration has championed to target climate change, recent findings show carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is at an all-time high, raising the stakes for November’s presidential election among advocates for aggressive climate action. Recent data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicate that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been […]

The post Presidential election seen as climate turning point as CO2 hits record appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Attorneys representing transgender minors and health care providers squabbled with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office Wednesday over thousands of documents both sides say are being wrongfully withheld. At its core, the case seeks to determine whether the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors is lawful. The lawsuit was filed by the families of three […]

The post Hearing over Missouri’s ban on gender-affirming care focuses on withheld documents appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For years, state Sen. Mike Moon has railed against the unfairness of businesses being told they owe money when the Missouri Department of Revenue revises the list of things covered by the state sales tax. That happened after 2008, when the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that fitness clubs were places of “amusement, entertainment or recreation” […]

The post State budget loaded with earmarks nears deadline for action by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to rule on whether presidents enjoy total criminal immunity, delaying one of the most consequential legal decisions in U.S. history and likely closing the door on former President Donald Trump facing his federal election interference trial before November. Trump, the presumed Republican presidential nominee who is entangled […]

The post Delayed Supreme Court ruling makes Trump trial on 2020 charges unlikely before election appeared first on Missouri Independent.