Missouri Lawsuit Filed to Prevent Taxpayer Financing of Professional Sports Teams

Today Bevis Schock and I filed a lawsuit against the State of Missouri, the Missouri Governor and Attorney General regarding Senate Bill 3, which provides that Missouri will provide illegal subsidies to the KC Chiefs and KC Royals. Our Plaintiffs are State Senator Michael Moon, State Representative Bryant Wolfin and citizen activist Ron Calzone of Maries County. Plaintiffs assert that Missouri taxpayers should not be forced to fund professional sports teams. Here is today's press release, which further describes the claims .The Plaintiffs are asking the court to declare SB 3 unconstitutional and to enjoin its enforcement. Bevis and I have been co-counseling on a variety of cases over the past few years. It is an honor to work with him.

"JULY 31, 2025

PRESS RELEASE -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHALLENGE TO CHIEFS AND ROYALS STADIUM SUBSIDIES

Three Plaintiffs have just filed 25AC-CC05910 - Moon v. State, a lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court challenging the constitutionality of Senate Bill 3, the Bill passed in the June Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly which gives around $1.2 billion in subsidies for the Chiefs and Royals. See attached proof of filing and copy of the Petition.

The Plaintiffs are State Senator Michael Moon, Senate Dist 29, (Southwest Missouri) (GOP), State Representative Bryant Wolfin, House Dist. 145 (Ste. Genevieve) (GOP), and citizen activist Ron Calzone, Maries County (Central Missouri). The Defendants are the State of Missouri, Governor Michael Kehoe and Attorney General Andrew Bailey. Counsel for the Plaintiffs are W. Bevis Schock and Erich Vieth, both of St. Louis. This suit is supported financially by the Article 3 Institute, a 501(c)(4), a charitable organization.

As Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed the Bill, among other provisions, (1) provides taxpayer subsidies to the owners of sports teams for building and improving stadiums and even privately owned headquarters, (2) allows holders of elective office to use campaign funds to pay attorneys to defend legal challenges brought against them related to the Bill, (which would otherwise be a forbidden use of campaign funds for a personal purpose), and (3) provides property tax relief, via tax credits, to homeowner disaster victims, and (4) allows some but not all counties to vote on the adoption of the tax credits for property tax relief for all homeowners.

The suit asks the court to declare SB 3 unconstitutional and to enjoin its enforcement. The Bill’s quick trip through the legislature was unconstitutional because it violated the Missouri constitution’s rules requiring bills to have a clear title, a single subject, and a single purpose all the way through the legislative process. The Bill is also unconstitutional because it grants taxpayer money to private for-profit entities (Chiefs and Royal). Such grants are not “primarily public.” The Bill also violates the Missouri Constitution in that it is a “special law.”

The stadium subsidies are a bribe paid to sports team owners to meet their extortion demand to stop them from leaving Missouri for Kansas. The way the numbers work, it appears the legislature and the governor are sticking taxpayers with most of the salary of Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes. See para. 15. (Plaintiffs agree that he is one GREAT football player!).

An entrepreneur in the entertainment industry should pay for his own hall.

The trial court loser will have a direct appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court. "

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Meet the protesters of Occupy St. Louis – October 14, 2011

I occasionally listen to Rush Limbaugh's radio show because I consider it important to understand how it is that my views differ from those of people who oppose my views. Two days ago, I listened to Limbaugh bloviating about the people who are participating in the Occupy Protests springing up all over the United States.  By  some reports, there are more than 1,000 such protests ongoing, and they are actually occurring all over the world.   Limbaugh announced, without hesitation, that these protesters are mostly unemployed, lazy, dirty, amoral, socially irresponsible and ignorant young people. Those who rely on Rush Limbaugh for their facts might thus be highly likely to object to these protests (including Occupy Wall Street) based on Limbaugh's description of the protesters.  But is the description he gave to his many (though dwindling number of) listeners accurate?  I had an opportunity to check this yesterday at the Occupy St. Louis protest in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Over the past few days, I've been quite occupied at my day job, and it was only while walking back to my law office from the federal courthouse at 4 pm yesterday that I spotted an organized march coming down Market Street in downtown St. Louis.  I would estimate that there were almost 1,000 people marching.  I didn't have my video camera with me, but I did have my Canon S95 pocket camera, so I got to work taking hand-held video and still shots of the protesters.  Here's the finished product, which will allow you to actually meet the types of people who are participating in the Saint Louis Occupy protest.  You can now be your own judge of what these protesters are like: As you can see from the parade route pans and the interviews, none of these people fit the description given by Rush Limbaugh.  Off camera, I asked most of the protesters about their "day jobs," and all of them indicated that they were gainfully employed, and in a wide variety of challenging fields.   These "young" protesters of Occupy St. Louis ranged in age from 20's to their 80's.   The on-camera statements of the people I interviewed show that they are well-informed, thoughtful, highly articulate and good-hearted.  Many of the people I spoke with indicated that they are not going away.  They have been waiting for a good time and place to express their deep concerns about the way our government works, and they have finally found what they've been looking for. In case anyone is concerned that I intentionally skewed my sampling regarding who I interviewed, this was my method:  I simply walked up to someone nearby and asked whether he or she would be willing to give a short statement about why they were attending the protest.   I approached 12 people.  One woman sympathetic to the protest apologized and said she couldn't talk on camera because she was a member of the news media. One man said that he supported the protest, but he'd rather not go on camera.  Another man said he had never been part of a protest before, but he read about this protest recently and then said to himself, "Yeah, these people are right on these issues."   The other nine people I approached agreed to give statements on camera.  I'd like to thank each of these folks for taking the time to talk (I've listed their names in the order in which they appear in my video):

  • Al Vitale
  • Fred Raines (a retired economics professor, who said that he compiled the statistics displayed on one of the signs appearing on the video)
  • Apollonia Childs
  • Chrissy Kirchhoefer
  • Curtis Roberts
  • Michel Kiepe
  • Jeff Schaefer
  • Matt Ankney, and
  • Frances Madeson
Based on the above video, there is no lack of intellectual moorings for this protest. The focus is that our government, including politicians of both major parties, has been substantially bought by big business, and many destructive things are flowing from the consequent misuse of government power. About a dozen protesters have have formed a camp in Kiener Plaza, a public gathering spot across the street from the towering downtown headquarters of Bank of America. I was told by several protesters that some of the camping protesters had been evicted from the camp over the past week, but that the intent is nonetheless maintain a presence in Kiener Plaza indefinitely. The Bank of America building has been the geographical focus of other recent protests, including this one in August, 2011. (A payday loan protest by a group called GRO occurred at this same bank last year--here's video).  I should note that most of the people who work in the huge Bank of America building work for companies other than the Bank of America, yet the building remains a symbol of what has gone so very wrong with the political process. I'd also like to mention that the St. Louis Police, who were out in the hundreds, were courteous and professional.   The protesters were there merely to protest-to get their message out.  There were no untoward incidents that would distract from the central message of the protests. For more on yesterday's protest, see this description by St. Louis blogger Gloria Bilchik at Occasional Planet. See also, this post by another St. Louis blogger, Adam Shriver at St. Louis Activist Hub.

Continue ReadingMeet the protesters of Occupy St. Louis – October 14, 2011

Police keeping the country safe from marijuana

The police recently raided this house in Columbia, Missouri. A large group of police officers with nothing better to do stormed into action, kicking down the door to protect the community from a guy who likes to smoke a bit of dope. The most poignant thing we learn is that this evil marijuana-user loved his dog, a point he passionately made after he learned that the storm-trooper cops shot it, and all for what? And keep in mind that this is how the drug police act when they know that there is a video camera running. Make no mistake that these cops were on their best behavior -- this was a sanitized version of a raid. As I've argued many times, it's time to put an end to our pointless and violent "war on drugs." There are many better ways to deal with the urge of some adults to get high using substances other than prescription drugs and alcohol. It's time to just say no to the "war on drugs." I'm fully aware that we need brave police to protect us from violence and to solve crimes that have hurt people. I admire those brave police officers. We need sophisticated law enforcement to storm the ledger books of Wall Street Banks, and we don't have nearly enough of them. But this kind of "police protection" is pointless. It doesn't stop drug use--it only makes drug use violent. This use of police is as pointless as the practice of having traffic cops park behind bushes and waiting to nab people going 38 in a 35. This post is not pro-police or anti-police. It is anti-this type of activity by police.

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Payday loan opponents struggle to get a fair hearing

Payday loans are high-interest short-term unsecured small loans that borrowers promise to repay out of their next paycheck, typically two weeks later. Interest rates are typically 300% to 500% per annum, many multiples higher than the exorbitant rates charged by banks on their credit cards. A typical payday borrower takes out payday loans to pay utility bills, to buy a child’s birthday present or to pay for a car repair. Even though payday loans are dangerous financial products, they are nonetheless tempting to people who are financially stressed. The growth of payday lenders in the last decade has been mind-boggling. In many states there are more payday lenders than there are McDonald’s restaurants. In Missouri Payday lenders are even allowed to set up shops in nursing homes. Missouri’s payday lenders are ferociously fighting a proposed new law that would put some sanity into a system that is often financially ruinous for the poor and working poor. Payday lenders claim that the caps of the proposed new law would put them out of business. Their argument is laughable and their legislative strategy is reprehensible. Exhibit A is the strategy I witnessed Thursday night, February 18, 2010. On that night, Missouri State Senator Joe Keaveny and State Representative Mary Still jointly held a public hearing at the Carpenter Branch Library in the City of St. Louis City to discuss two identical bills (SB 811 and HB 1508) that would temper the excesses of the payday loan industry in Missouri. Instead of respecting free and open debate and discussion regarding these bills, payday lenders worked hard to shut down meaningful debate by intentionally packing the legislative hearing room with their employees, thereby guaranteeing that A) the presenters and media saw an audience that seemed to favor payday lenders and B) many concerned citizens were excluded from the meeting. As discussed further down in this post, payday lenders are also responsible for flooding the State Capitol with lobbyists and corrupting amounts of money.carpenter-branch-library When I arrived at 7:00 pm, the scheduled starting time, I was refused entry to the meeting room. Instead, I was directed to join about 15 other concerned citizens who had been barred from the meeting room. There simply wasn’t room for us. But then who were those 100 people who had been allowed to attend the meeting? I eventually learned that almost all of them were employees of payday lenders; their employers had arranged for them to pack the room by arriving en masse at 6 pm. Many of the people excluded from the meeting were eventually allowed to trickle into the meeting, but only aspayday-employees other people trickled out. I was finally allowed into the meeting at 8 pm, which allowed me to catch the final 30 minutes. In the photo below, almost all of the people plopped into the chairs were payday lender employees (the people standing in the back were concerned citizens). This shameful tactic of filling up the meeting room with biased employees has certainly been used before.

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City Garden in downtown St. Louis: transformative art

There is a brand new sculpture park in downtown Saint Louis. It will officially open tomorrow. My family and I walked through tonight and we were wowwed. Image by Erich Vieth What used to be a bunch of office buildings (many of them less than inspiring) were transformed into a deeply beautiful and light-hearted extension of "City Garden," a modern sculpture park occupying two city blocks. I probably took about 150 photos tonight, but I'll give you my favorite 16 [If you don't see the gallery, click here ]. I'm shaking my head, thinking that the creators really nailed it. In my mind, the function of art is to challenge but to also draw an audience. This new park has succeeded in transforming dozens of sterile buildings into the all-too-willing background for a place that beckons people of all ages to come play, to walk, to talk, to ponder, to touch the sculptures and to stand back and admire. [Epilogue 7/9/09: City Garden has turned out to be a powerful people magnet. Works of art draw in people, who draw in more people. It is truly one of the most remarkable transformations to hit downtown St. Louis. What used to be two big starkly empty lots is now a comfortable and beautiful place, open every hour of every day, for people to view the sculptures, to find themselves and to find each other. A big congratulations to the Gateway Foundation!]

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