Mike Lear – Page 56 – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

Bill seeks better oversight of state settlements, after harassment in Corrections Department

House lawmakers shocked by what some have called an environment of harassment and retaliation in the Department of Corrections are considering a bill they hope will let the legislature know when such situations are present.

Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty presents House Bill 858 to the House Budget Committee. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

An article on Pitch.com detailed numerous reports of employee-on-employee harassment in Corrections, including cases of retaliation against those who reported it. Some cases resulted in lawsuits that have cost the state millions in settlements and more cases are pending.

House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty (D-Kansas City) has filed a House Bill 858, which would require the Attorney General to report to the General Assembly every month on activity concerning the state’s Legal Expense Fund. That’s the fund from which the state pays all defense costs, including all settlements.

McCann Beatty and others say such reports would inform the legislature when there are problems in state agencies such as those coming to light in Corrections.

“We can’t possibly address the issue if we don’t know what’s happening,” McCann Beatty told the House Budget Committee, of which she was formerly a member.

As House Communications reported in December, lawmakers say they didn’t know about the repeated incidents of harassment in part because the Legal Expense Fund has for years had an open-ended dollar amount in it. The line included an “E,” for “estimate,” which meant if expenses in that line exceeded what the legislature budgeted, more money could be spent on it.

That meant even though multiple lawsuits stemming from harassment cases in Corrections were being litigated and settled, the Department never had to come before the legislature and explain or justify the additional expense.

Budget makers plan to remove that “E” so that similar situations will have to be explained to the legislature in the future, but McCann Beatty’s proposal would require further accounting.

“It allows us to monitor what is going out of that fund so that we can see patterns, and see if there’s a problem,” said McCann Beatty.

Lawmakers say such oversight could reveal similar recurring problems in other state agencies. McCann Beatty gave the Budget Committee information from the Attorney General’s Office showing the state had spent about $60-million on settlements in the past five years, though the legislature had only appropriated about $30-million for legal expenses.

In the fiscal year that began July 1, the Attorney General’s Office reports Missouri has expended more than $17-million in 24 settlements and 4 judgments. Those settlements include 16 discrimination or retaliation claims among seven state agencies.

“I think if you look at that list you will see that these lawsuits – it is not simply the Department of Corrections, but in fact it is a statewide issue,” said McCann Beatty. “As a legislature I think all of us want to see that climate changed.”

The budget committee is expected to vote on McCann Beatty’s bill tomorrow.

Proposed ‘Good Samaritan Law’ aims to save the lives of some who would overdose

A state House member wants to encourage people to call for help for friends and loved ones having an overdose.

Representative Steve Lynch presents his proposed “Good Samaritan” law, which he believes would save lives of some who would suffer from an overdose. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Waynesville Republican Steve Lynch says his legislation, House Bill 294, is commonly known as a “good Samaritan” law. It would protect a person from arrest or prosecution for charges related to minor possession of drugs or paraphernalia, or being under the influence, if that person calls for emergency medical help for a person suffering a drug or alcohol overdose.

“Good Samaritan laws like this one address the fear of criminal repercussions for assisting and seeking medical emergency services while they may have a small amount of drugs on them or may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” said Lynch.

Lynch alternately refers to the bill as “Bailey and Cody’s Law,” for two overdose victims, each of whom had a parent testify in favor of HB 294 in a House Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety hearing.

Jim Marshall thinks such a law would have prevented friends of his son, Cody, from leaving where he was found by his father: on the living room floor dying of an overdose.

“I really believe those young men feared the perception of what we’re talking about – of being prosecuted, being blamed for the overdose situation,” said Marshall. “I think that’s the big part of this whole scenario here. Even if the police are saying they have discretion to prosecute, there’s that fear.”

Lisa Benton said friends of her daughter, Bailey, watched as she had two seizures and waited for a drug dealer to leave before calling 911.

“I don’t see how anybody could watch anybody suffer like that, and I know that my daughter made a terrible choice to do drugs, but she didn’t deserve to lose her life. She should be here right now,” said Benton. “I strongly believe that if this law was in effect that it would have saved her.”

Representative Justin Hill (R-Lake St. Louis) asked whether the bill goes far enough to truly make a difference.

“If somebody knows they can still be charged with manslaughter or distribution, does this fix the problem?” asked Hill.

Supporters told Hill the bill would be part of a series of steps toward addressing the problem. Lynch said another of those steps was taken last year, when the legislature passed and former Governor Jay Nixon signed a bill to make a heroin overdose antidote more readily available.

MO House again asked to require independent investigators in officer-involved deaths

A House Republican is again proposing that independent investigators be required whenever a law enforcement officer in Missouri is involved in someone’s death.

Representative Shamed Dogan (right) listens as Michael Bell testifies in favor of a bill that would require independent investigations of all deaths involving law enforcement officers. Bell's son was fatally shot by police in Kenosha, WI, in 2004. Bell later won a lawsuit against police in that case. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications) — Representative Shamed Dogan (right) listens as Michael Bell testifies in favor of a bill that would require independent investigations of all deaths involving law enforcement officers. Bell’s son was fatally shot by police in Kenosha, WI, in 2004. Bell later won a lawsuit against police in that case. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 232 would require all law enforcement agencies in Missouri to have written policies on how officer-involved deaths would be handled. Those policies would have to utilize at least two investigators, with neither of them being employed by the same agency as the officer involved in the death. In the case of traffic-related deaths, the bill would require that an outside crash reconstruction team participate in the investigation.

The bill would also require the investigators issue a report to the local prosecutor. If that prosecutor decides no prosecution will follow, the investigators would make that report public.

This is the third year Representative Shamed Dogan (R-Baldwin) has offered such a bill.

“My personal interest in it came after the events in Ferguson. I was really just seeking ways to try and improve people’s trust in police,” said Dogan. “As we saw in Ferguson and other incidents in our state since then, I think there has been a diminished trust that whenever police do kill someone in their custody that there’s going to be justice done for that person.”

The bill is modeled after legislation that has become law in Wisconsin. It was backed by Michael Bell, whose son Michael was shot and killed by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2004. Bell later won a lawsuit against police over the incident.

Bell said the legislation has been put to the test in the four states where it has been passed and he believes it has worked well and has improved the public’s trust in law enforcement. He said that would also make police safer.

“One of the things I was appalled by was the shooting of the five police officers in Dallas,” said Bell. “Those retribution-type things are occurring out there, and I think that this would help in the right direction of making those retribution-type shootings become nonexistent.”

Representative Justin Hill (R-Lake St. Louis), a former O’Fallon police officer and drug task force member, questioned whether the bill would make a difference.

“There’s no direction [in the bill] as to how far and wide you seek other law enforcement investigators,” said Hill. “In St. Louis County, I mean we have like 30 agencies within, I don’t know, 20 square miles probably. Don’t you fear that you get the same thing there? I mean, ‘Hey buddy, come on over here and investigate this?”

As in past years, some have questioned what the cost of Dogan’s proposal would be on law enforcement agencies, especially in rural areas.

Hill also said many law enforcement agencies in Missouri already use an outside investigator in officer-involved deaths.

“There was an independent investigation in Ferguson and the city still burned,” said Hill.

Dogan said after the House last week endorsed legislation that would increase penalties when certain crimes are committed against law enforcement, following up with his legislation makes sense.

“We had a very productive and very heartfelt debate over bills concerning how we can protect law enforcement officers, and we definitely stood up as a body and said, ‘We have your backs,’ to law enforcement, all the people in our communities ask is that we have their backs,” said Dogan.

The bill would allow the agency an officer involved in a death works for to conduct its own investigation as long as it would not interfere with the independent investigation that the bill requires.

Bill named for Hailey Owens aims to accelerate and improve Amber Alerts

Changes meant to get Amber Alerts out more quickly and ensure they are as effective as they can be would become law under a bill in the House.

Representative Curtis Trent (right) listens as Jim Wood testifies in favor of HB 697, Hailey's Law. Wood said it is his son, Craig, who abducted and murdered 10-year-old Hailey Owens, for whom the legislation is named. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications) — Representative Curtis Trent (right) listens as Jim Wood testifies in favor of HB 697, Hailey’s Law. Wood said it is his son, Craig, who abducted and murdered 10-year-old Hailey Owens, for whom the legislation is named. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 697 would establish Hailey’s Law, named for 10-year-old Hailey Owens of Springfield, who was kidnapped and murdered in February, 2014.

About two-and-a-half hours passed after Owens’ abduction before an Amber Alert was issued in the case. Though it is now known that an earlier alert would not have saved her, the case prompted lawmakers and others to press for changes to make sure alerts would be issued faster.

The legislation known as “Hailey’s Law” has been offered before in the House but did not become law. Even so, the Highway Patrol has launched implementation of some of the system changes it would require, so that alerts would go out earlier and with fewer steps needed to issue them.

This year the bill is being carried by Representative Curtis Trent (R-Springfield), who said it’s still important to make sure those changes are required by law.

“I think everyone’s on the same page here, but we’re just trying to make sure that it’s in statute, it’s going to happen in a timely basis, and if systems change in the future that the continued integration will always be a part of that,” Trent said.

Jim Wood, the father of the man charged with abducting and killing Hailey Owens, urged members of the House Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety to advance HB 697.

“I reached out to [Hailey’s family] with a deep sense of grief for my own family, and a deep sense of compassion for Hailey Owens and her family,” said Wood. “It was two-and-a-half hours later before the Amber Alert was released,” Wood recalled of the events the day his son, he said, took Owens. “We all know if we look at child abductions that children are usually dead within 45-minutes. We need to fix this problem, and Hailey’s Law will enhance the Amber Alert system that will protect these children.”

HB 697 would also require that the Amber Alert System Oversight Committee meet annually to discuss potential improvements to the Amber Alert System.

Subcommittee on harassment in Corrections Department frustrated by Department’s structure, process

A House subcommittee appointed to investigate harassment and retaliation in the Department of Corrections thinks how the Department handles allegations is not clear, at best.

Representatives Paul Fitzwater (left) and Bruce Franks listen to testimony during a hearing by the Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Conduct. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Conduct was formed in response to an article on Pitch.com that detailed incidents within the department that in some cases led to lawsuits, costing the state millions of dollars.

The subcommittee took testimony from the department’s Inspector General, Amy Roderick, and the Division of Human Services Director, Cari Collins. Representatives asked questions about who handles harassment allegations and who makes decisions about any disciplinary actions that might be the result of those allegations. They weren’t satisfied with what they heard, with members calling the Department’s administrative structure “confusing.”

“It appears to be a shell game to me in terms of where it goes, where it doesn’t go, who has a say in when it goes,” said subcommittee chairman Jim Hansen (R-Frankford).

Collins told the committee staff in her division deals with reports of harassment, and she was not aware of any complaints about how harassment had been handled.

“I don’t know of any examples where it wasn’t taken care of,” said Collins. “Whenever anything is reported to us, we investigate it. What is done with that investigation is not determined by human resources.”

She said decisions about discipline of most prison employees, including terminations, falls on the Director of the Division of Adult Institutions, Dave Dormire, who answers to the Department Director.

Collins told the committee changes have been made in the past five years in her division’s procedures and its number of staff members that conduct investigations. She said some changes also followed meetings involving legal counsel, about the number of harassment complaints and resulting settlements.

“We increased the number of ways that an employee can report allegations, the number of people they can report it to, we also expanded the definition of what needed to be reported,” said Collins. “We added unprofessional conduct because for a supervisor or even a CAO, we don’t want them trying to figure if something might be discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. If it’s unprofessional we want them to send it up. HR will look at it and make that determination … that’s one of the reasons the number of reports have increased, because we’ve expanded the definition of what needs to come to us.”

Representative Jim Hansen chairs the House Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Conduct. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Roderick told the committee her office does not handle harassment, but would investigate anything with a criminal component to it such as assaults. The committee asked her if she was familiar with an incident described in the Pitch.com article in which an employee who had complained about harassment was allegedly poisoned when she returned to work. Roderick said she had read the article, but had no knowledge of the incident.

Roderick said it would have been up to the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), more commonly called the warden, of an institution whether to notify her office of such an incident.

“So she could be poisoned on the grounds of the institution and there’s a warden out there that didn’t think that needed to go up the chain,” said Representative John McCaherty.

“It could happen,” Roderick told the committee.

The Department’s structure frustrated many of the lawmakers on the committee.

“We have an investigative body that’s technically not allowed to investigate everything,” said Representative Bruce Franks (D-St. Louis City), referring to the poisoning case not being referred for investigation by the warden at the institution where it took place. “I don’t like to speculate but I’m pretty sure this isn’t the only case. And so the checks and balances, they aren’t there.”

Franks expressed frustration at what the two Department officials explained about how allegations are handled, and passed among different parts of the Department’s organization.

“We bring two directors here, or two professionals here … but it really seems like it’s just passing the buck, or saying, ‘Oh well, we don’t do this. This person does this,’ and I just want to get the person in here who we need to be talking to,” said Franks. “It seems like we just need to cut a bunch of positions and provide more compensation for our correctional officers.”

“The objective of this board is to get to the bottom of it and help,” Franks added. “At the end of the day we just want it to be better, especially for our employees.”

Hansen said one of the subcommittee’s goals is to learn about how the Department is structured. After that hearing he expects one of the subcommittee’s recommendations will be that Corrections’ process of handling all types of complaints be streamlined.

The subcommittee is expected to hold its next hearing Thursday morning.

New Corrections head to House budget makers: hold off on talk of a new prison

Some state lawmakers have questioned whether Missouri will soon need another prison, but the prison system’s new director hopes to keep that from being necessary.

Missouri Department of Corrections Director Ann Precythe testifies to the House Budget Committee February 14, 2017. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick told his committee and Corrections Department leaders this week that he’s concerned about the overall trend in recent years, of an increase in Missouri prisons’ populations. Department staff said the state’s prisons are operating at or near capacity, with around 32,000 inmates.

Fitzpatrick referenced a recent case in which a man who molested and exposed himself to his girlfriend’s 14-year-old daughter was sentenced to only a few months in prison.

“I think a lot of that is pressures on judges and prosecutors, knowing that we’re at capacity,” said Fitzpatrick. “I don’t want child molesters getting four months, or people who are exposing themselves and doing things like that to children getting out of jail like that.”

Despite the state’s current budget picture, in which legislators are looking for ways to cut and are expected to seek little or no new spending, Fitzpatrick told the committee, “Seems to me that we’re on a collision course with a new prison, and that may be something that we have to look at. I’d rather see if we could do something to make it where we didn’t need as many prisons, but if it comes down to giving child molesters four months in jail or building a new prison, I am in favor of building a new prison.”

The Department’s new director, Ann Precythe, told lawmakers her preference would be to keep the state from needing more prison space.

House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“When I saw the need to expand and increase beds, my initial reaction is, ‘Wait a minute, we need to review what’s happening.’” said Precythe. “Where are we getting the best bang for the buck? And that’s going to be keeping people in the community, and then what are we doing to keep them in the community and help them not reoffend.”

Precythe said she wants the Department to focus on being more efficient financially, and on finding ways to reduce recidivism.

“My commitment to this committee is not to come back to you and say we need to build more prison beds. I think we need to be criminal justice smart on crime and not just pay for crime, and there are ways to do that,” said Precythe.

Precythe, who was chosen in December by Governor Eric Greitens to head the department, said she’s not ready to discuss what policy changes she might ask for in addressing recidivism and prisons’ populations. She expects to be able to tell lawmakers by next year what the future of the state’s prison system looks like.

Precythe said the age of Missouri’s prisons must also be accounted for when considering whether additions are necessary. The state’s oldest, Algoa Correctional Center near Jefferson City, is a minimum-security facility that became a prison in 1932. The new director has toured it and said it appears to be meeting what Missouri needs of it.

House members debate repeal of Missouri’s death penalty

Missouri House members were asked this week to consider whether Missouri should continue to have a death penalty.

Representative T.J. Berry said he wanted the House to have a discussion about whether the death penalty should be repealed before he is term-limited out of the chamber next year. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Missouri reinstated the death penalty in 1977 and currently uses lethal injection to carry out executions. It most recently executed Mark Christeson on January 31 for the murders in 1998 of Susan Brouk and her children, ages 9 and 12.

Clay County Republican T.J. Berry offered an amendment that would have repealed Missouri’s capital punishment statute. It would make life without the possibility of parole Missouri’s maximum sentence.

Berry said he favored the death penalty when he first took office in 2011, but said after looking at it objectively he no longer supports it.

“I don’t think that there’s any way that we can defend it any longer,” Berry told his fellow lawmakers.

Berry cited three reasons he wants to end the death penalty in Missouri: people who are sentenced by courts are sometimes exonerated; it costs the state less to incarcerate a person for life than to sentence that person to death and respond to appeals through the life of the case; and it takes years for a death sentence to be carried out, extending the time victims’ families must deal with offenders’ cases.

St. Charles Republican Kathie Conway disagreed with Berry’s reasoning and his proposal.

Regarding exonerations, she believes DNA evidence and repeated reviews by multiple courts on appeals leave little doubt as to the veracity of modern death penalty cases.

“We very rarely make that mistake again,” said Conway of exonerations.

House Minority Floor Leader Gail McCann Beatty opposes the death penalty despite having lost three family members to murder. She hopes the legislature will continue to consider the possibility of repeal. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Democratic leader Gail McCann Beatty supports repeal. She agreed with another point Berry made; that some victims’ families don’t want the death penalty for those who harmed their loved ones. She told the chamber she believed this even though her brother and two nephews have been murdered.

“At no time have I ever thought that I wanted the death penalty for the people who did it,” said McCann Beatty through tears. “My brother was murdered by a friend of his that he grew up with. I don’t see the point in making that family suffer. They shared the pain that I did. There is no point. It doesn’t bring them back.”

Republican Paul Fitzwater (Potosi) told Berry he still supports the death penalty even though one of his best friends was sentenced to death and executed for murdering a couple in 1993.

“I attended his funeral the following Friday after that and it was tough on me, but it didn’t deter how I feel about the death penalty,” said Fitzwater. “I can just imagine if someone would kill one of my children or my parents or someone. I hear people get up there and say, ‘Well, you know, I can forgive him.’ I’m not sure I could ever do that.”

Conway also told Berry she doesn’t favor replacing the death penalty with a life without parole sentence, because efforts have been made in the legislature to allow some offenders with such a sentence to be paroled when old age or terminal illness is a factor.

“That’s a compact that we make with the jury. Here’s the law. This person will not be paroled, period, end of sentence, and we were going to change that. So I don’t trust going forward that that might not be the case again,” said Conway.

Berry withdrew the amendment, saying he hadn’t expected it to pass but he wanted legislators to have a conversation about the issue and give it some thought.

“I thought the discussion was great on the floor,” said Berry. “I was very proud of how people took it seriously.”

Berry, who is in the first year of his final term, hopes that future legislatures’ attitudes will shift more toward ending the death penalty in Missouri.

House Republicans continue labor reform efforts, address project labor agreements

The House Republican supermajority advanced another piece of its labor reform agenda, with the passage of HB 126 related to project labor agreements.

Representative Rob Vescovo (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The bill would bar required union agreements on public works projects. Bill sponsor, Representative Rob Vescovo (R-Arnold) said project labor agreements discriminate against non-union workers and called them, “indefensible.”

“Project labor agreements are designed to stifle competition and force non-union contractors to become signatory on certain projects,” said Vescovo.

Democrats like Bob Burns (St. Louis) said project labor agreements allow local governments to guarantee quality work will be done.

“This is only for one reason: to lower wages. That’s all it’s about. We want to pay less wages,” said Burns. “They’re not talking about quality. They’re not talking about safety.”

The bill goes to the Senate, which has already passed similar legislation.

The House earlier this session joined the Senate in sending Governor Eric Greitens a right-to-work bill, which was signed into law earlier this month. The House also passed a bill supporters call, “paycheck protection,” which requires annual permission from a public union employee before union dues or fees can be taken from his or her paychecks.

Legislation dealing with prevailing wage laws, which make contractors pay a state-set minimum wage for trade workers on public projects, is moving through House committees and could be the next labor reform the chamber will debate.

House endorses tougher penalties for crimes against law enforcement

The state House is close to proposing greater penalties for those who commit certain crimes against law enforcement officers.

Representative Marsha Haefner (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 57 aims to increase by one degree the penalty for voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, first- or second-degree property damage, unlawful use of a weapon, rioting, or first-degree trespassing, when those crimes are committed against a law enforcement officer.

It’s sponsored by St. Louis Republican Marsha Haefner, who said she hoped the bill would deter the committing of crimes against law enfrocment.

“It is intended to show meaningful and additional support for our officers across the state. It is also to express the level of intolerance Missourians have for those who commit crimes against the very people who have taken an oath to protect and serve us and protect our property,” said Haefner.

Some Republicans expressed reservations about the proposal. Cedar Hill Representative Shane Roden, a firefighter and reserve deputy sheriff, said he was not supportive of changes from an earlier version that would have increased penalties in crimes committed against other first responders, including firefighters. He spoke of an attack on his wife, who was attacked in the back of an ambulance two years ago.

“Our men and women from the fire service, from the ambulance side of things, are just as likely to end up getting attacked as the first responders,” said Roden.

Roden attempted to change the bill to extend to all first responders, but his amendment was defeated.

Kansas City Democrat Brandon Ellington believes the House shouldn’t be debating this issue when he and many Democrats believe it hasn’t done enough to respond to the 2014 shooting by a Ferguson police officer of Michael Brown or the unrest that followed.

“We haven’t had one officer that’s been shot down in the street and left there for six hours. Not one. But we’ve had other people of other colors that’s been left in the streets for over six hours and we can’t work on any kind of accountability legislation,” said Ellington. “The only thing we want to do is give increased protections to those that aren’t in jeopardy.”

St. Charles Republican Kathie Conway is married to a retired police officer. She said the bill would reinforce the legislature’s commitment to law enforcement.

“It’s not that the people that were out there ten or twelve years ago are any more dangerous, it’s that they are emboldened,” said Conway. “I don’t remember the last time, before the incident in New York, that people walked up and shot two officers sitting in a squad car. I don’t remember a time before when a peaceful march was taking place in Dallas and someone opened fire only to kill police officers.”

Representatives Brandon Ellington (left) and Bruce Franks, Jr. (right) stand on either side of Representative Tommie Pierson, Jr. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

St. Louis City Democrat Bruce Franks, Junior, cited two of his family members who were law enforcement officers that were shot and killed. He said for that and other reasons, it is difficult to oppose House Bill 57.

“You never want anybody to think that you don’t care about law enforcement or you don’t feel that law enforcement should be protected each and every day and they shouldn’t return home. That’s not my objective and that’s not where my heart is,” said Franks. “We have measures in place … to put more into that, it doesn’t deter. It won’t keep officers safe. Nobody’s going to think about the fact that they have this enhanced penalty in the back of their head when they go do something horrendous to an officer, which is sad, but when somebody makes that decision, they’ve already made that decision.”

Kimberling City Republican Don Phillips, a retired Highway Patrol trooper, said he has no problem with the bill treating law enforcement like they are special.

“I can tell you when you get up in the morning and you get ready to go to work and the first thing you do is strap on a bullet proof vest, you strap on a – in my case – a .40-calibur Glock automatic and put 47 rounds of ammunition around your waist, you’ve got handcuffs with you, you’ve got an expandable baton, you’ve got another baton in your car, you’ve got a 12-gauge shotgun that’s loaded for riot situations if it comes down to that, you’ve got pepper mace, Mister Speaker when those are the tools of your trade, you’re not a normal citizen. You’re a special person in society. You’re a person that represents our law and order,” said Phillips.

The House also gave initial approval to House Bills 302 and 228, which would create a Blue Alert System. It would be meant to help identify, find, and apprehend anyone suspected of seriously injuring or killing a law enforcement officer. The system would send out messages over television and radio about those suspected of such crimes.

House Bills 302, 228, and 57 all need one more favorable vote to be sent to the state Senate.

House proposal seeks move of historic African American’s collection to Smithsonian

Historic documents related to a key figure in African Americans’ struggle for equal opportunity in education should be elevated to a national stage, according to a state representative.

Lloyd Gaines (Gaines Family Archive, University of Missouri Law School)

Representative Joshua Peters (D-St. Louis) is offering a resolution that would urge the University of Missouri’s Board of Curators to transfer the Lloyd Gaines collection to the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1936 Gaines applied for admission to the University of Missouri law school. He was denied admission based on his race, and the state offered to pay the additional cost Gaines would incur to study law out of state, as was the state’s policy at the time. Gaines declined and sued.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Gaines’ favor, saying that the “separate but equal” doctrine of the time demanded that Gaines either be admitted to the University of Missouri or that the state create a separate school for African American students.

The state chose the latter course, and created the Lincoln University School of Law in St. Louis.

Peters says Gaines’ case led to the Brown vs. Board of Education case in Topeka, Kansas, which found the “separate but equal” practice of separating white and black students was inherently unequal, and unconstitutional.

“In Thurgood Marshall’s autobiography he wrote that if it was not for the Gaines vs. Canada case, he would not have been able to defend or to advocate for Brown vs. the Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas,” said Peters. “It truly has a national impact. It’s the premise that was used to really change America’s educational system.”

After the Lincoln University School of Law was established, the NAACP was preparing to file a lawsuit challenging its adequacy. Around that time Gaines disappeared. What happened to him remains unknown.

Gary Kremer, the Executive Director of the State Historical Society, said Gaines’ disappearance is a lingering mystery of the civil rights movement.

“It’s hard to imagine that more than seven decades later that he would have vanished without a trace unless there was some foul play,” said Kremer.

Representative Josh Peters (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Peters wants to see Gaines’ documents preserved and displayed at the national level.

“I think that anyone who knows about Mr. Gaines knows the impact that he had when it comes to law,” said Peters.

The Lloyd Gaines collection at the University of Missouri includes the letters Gaines wrote applying for admission, and the University’s responses denying his application due to his race.

Gaines has since been honored by the University, which named its Black Culture Center and a law scholarship for him and another African American student who was denied admission. In 2006 he was granted an honorary law degree, followed by the Missouri Bar Association issuing him a posthumous law license. Gaines’ portrait hangs in the University of Missouri law school building.

Peters’ resolution is HR 11.