Freedom Center of Missouri

Freedom Center Challenges St. Louis City’s Brazen Defiance of Transparency

April 22, 2019 Dave

Tragedy struck Darla Nieder in October 2017 when her daughter fell victim to a double-murder in St. Louis City. In February 2018, desperate to learn whatever she could about her child’s death, Nieder exercised her right to request unredacted, unedited copies of records related to the investigation of her daughter’s death. State law says that a law enforcement agency receiving such a request must within thirty days either produce the requested materials or file a motion with the circuit court…

VICTORY: Circuit Judge Rules St. Louis City Officials Violated Sunshine Law

July 19, 2018 Dave

14779 Audrain Rd. 815 Mexico, Missouri www.mofreedom.org (573) 567-0307 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Dave Roland July 19, 2018 (573) 567-0307 VICTORY: Circuit Judge Rules St. Louis City Officials Violated Sunshine Law Mexico, Missouri—St. Louis City Circuit Judge Mark Neill ruled Wednesday afternoon in Malin v. Metro Multi-Jurisdictional Undercover Drug Program, et al., that St. Louis City officials committed multiple violations of Missouri’s open records laws when they failed to produce documents related to…

Congratulations, You Won! Now Pay Up.

November 15, 2017 Dave Comments 1 comment

On paper, Missouri’s Sunshine Law offers hope that if a citizen can prove in court that the government unlawfully denied a citizen’s access to public records or a public meeting, the citizen might recover the expenses they incurred associated with the lawsuit as well as limited civil penalties. In practice, however, it is very, very rare for courts to award expenses or civil penalties – although it does sometimes occur, as in our Cole County Prosecuting Attorney case. To win…