Tag Archives: Peter Merideth

HCR 10 and HCR 11

12 Tuesday Jan 2021

Posted by in Josh Hawley, Missouri General Assembly, Missouri House

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Today in the Missouri House of Representatives:

FIRST REGULAR SESSION
House Concurrent Resolution No. 10 [pdf]
101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE MERIDETH.
1790H.01I DANA RADEMAN MILLER, Chief Clerk

WHEREAS, on January 6, 2021, violent insurrectionists incited by President Donald J. Trump did storm and briefly occupy the United States Capitol in a lawless attempt to block Congress from formalizing President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory and illegally keep President Trump in office; and

WHEREAS, United States Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri was a leader of the effort to overturn the Electoral College results of several states won by President-elect Biden; and

WHEREAS, in that role Senator Hawley did repeat and amplify false claims of fraud in those states that have been rejected by more than 60 state and federal courts across the nation due o the complete lack of any evidence; and

WHEREAS, Senator Hawley’s efforts to disenfranchise millions of voters and overturn a lawful and legitimate election demonstrates an animosity toward democracy and the American system of government; and

WHEREAS, in a sickening display of political self-interest Senator Hawley issued a campaign fundraising appeal as the insurrectionist mob was making its way to the Capitol; and

WHEREAS, as the attack on the Capitol was getting underway, Senator Hawley was photographed showing support for the insurrectionists; and

WHEREAS, Senator Hawley’s actions in promoting demonstrable lies did further incite and inflame the insurrectionists; and

WHEREAS, after the insurrection had been quelled, Senator Hawley did continue repeating the lies about election fraud and resumed his efforts to overturn the lawful and legitimate election results; and

WHEREAS, five people died as a result of the Capitol insurrection, including U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick; and

WHEREAS, more than 50 police officers sustained injuries during the insurrection; and

WHEREAS, Senator Hawley has expressed more remorse over the loss of his book deal than he has over those deaths and injuries or the actions he took that helped create the conditions that made them possible; and

WHEREAS, Senator Hawley, upon being being sworn into office in 2019, did take a solemn oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;” and

WHEREAS, Senator Hawley has violated that oath; and

WHEREAS, since the events of January 6, Senator Hawley has faced widespread condemnation throughout Missouri and the country for his role in encouraging the worst assault on the U.S. Capitol since the War of 1812; and

WHEREAS, it is the duty of all elected officials and citizens to strongly reject sedition and insurrection:

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of Representatives of the One Hundred First General Assembly, First Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby urge Senator Josh Hawley to immediately resign from the United States Senate for inciting sedition and violent insurrection against the government and people of the United States in violation of his oath of office; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare a properly inscribed copy of this resolution for Senator Hawley.

The seditionist:

Josh Hawley (r) [2016 file photo].

And:

FIRST REGULAR SESSION
House Concurrent Resolution No. 11 [pdf]
101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE ELLEBRACHT.
1778H.02I DANA RADEMAN MILLER, Chief Clerk

WHEREAS, the members of the House of Representatives of the State of Missouri together with the members of the Senate of the State of Missouri roundly condemn violent and destructive demonstration of all kinds; and

WHEREAS, the violent acts and crimes of property destruction that occurred in cities across the United States over the past year have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law that local and state law enforcement agencies have had the power to pursue; and

WHEREAS, the state of Missouri and its residents universally believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere; and

WHEREAS, the members of the One Hundred First General Assembly were collectively horrified by the disgraceful and craven acts of certain individuals who, on January 6, 2021, violently and seditiously invaded the Capitol of the United States of America in an effort to disrupt and possibly altogether prevent the certification of the count of the Electoral College votes, and in so doing committed various and sundry criminal acts; and

WHEREAS, the criminal acts engaged in by those individuals resulted in shame and embarrassment of the people of Missouri, as yet uncalculated property damage, and, most tragically, the loss of five human lives:

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of Representatives of the One Hundred First General Assembly, First Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby strongly and most emphatically request that the President of the

United States refrain from pardoning, providing amnesty, commuting sentences, or offering any other relief or excuse from liability for any of the criminal acts that occurred on the Capitol grounds and inside the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, and that those individuals be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law that federal law enforcement agencies have the power
to pursue; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare a properly inscribed copy of this resolution for distribution to the Office of the President of the United States of America, the Office of the Attorney General of the United States of America, the Office of the Pardon Attorney for the United States Department of Justice, and the members of Missouri’s congressional delegation.

Our times.

Previously:

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) – town hall in Warrensburg – Press Q and A – August 17, 2017 (August 17, 2017)

What passes for a flatbed truck at “…Yale, I think, or Harvard, one of those, one of those fancy ones…” (August 16, 2018)

Josh Hawley (r): throwing shit against the wall to see if anything sticks (December 30, 2020)

Josh Hawley (r): ladders and rakes (December 30, 2020)

Ladder Climbing 101: by the book (December 31, 2020)

Burning bridges (December 31, 2020)

Sedition, sedition…sedition (January 2, 2021)

What it is, is sedition… (January 3, 2021)

If you can’t stand the heat, trample people on your way to a live mic (January 3, 2021)

Nothing much going on. Why do you ask? (January 3, 2021)

The third Senator from Virginia (January 5, 2021)

Fascist pig (January 6, 2021)

What hath Josh Hawley (r) wrought? (January 6, 2021)

Josh Hawley (r): Dumbass (January 7, 2021)

Sedition is bad for business (January 11, 2021)

Rep. Peter Merideth (D): about that Sunshine Law…

09 Friday Aug 2019

Posted by in Missouri General Assembly, Missouri House

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A release, yesterday, from Representative Peter Merideth (D):

State Rep. Peter Merideth
80th District
peter.merideth@house.mo.gov

For Immediate Release:
Aug. 8, 2019

Five months later, Schmitt hasn’t provided requested legal opinion
Attorney general shows pattern of protecting GOP officials in Sunshine Law cases

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – More than five months after state Rep. Peter Merideth submitted a request for a legal opinion from Attorney General Eric Schmitt regarding whether the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is violating state law and the Missouri Constitution by preventing public access to certain lawmaker records, Schmitt has yet to respond – even though his office promised to do so with 90 days.

Yesterday, State Auditor Nicole Galloway noted that Schmitt, a Republican, likewise has failed to timely act on a request she submitted on May 7 seeking the attorney general’s opinion on whether government entities can assert the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as justification to close portions of public documents that are open under Missouri’s Sunshine Law. Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s office recently invented the novel legal argument, which has been ridiculed by experts in open records law.

“Eric Schmitt has established an unfortunate pattern of looking the other way when Republican elected officials violate the law by shielding public records from public scrutiny,” said Merideth, D-St. Louis. “As attorney general, it is his duty to fight for transparency and protect Missourians. Instead he has chosen to protect officials of his own party and keep Missourians from holding their state government accountable.”

Merideth submitted his request for an attorney general’s opinion on March 7. Other than a same-day letter acknowledging receipt of the request and promising to respond to respond “within 90 days,” Merideth has received no further information from Schmitt regarding this issue.

“Missouri law requires the attorney general to issue legal opinions when requested by other elected officials,” Merideth said. “Eric Schmitt needs to do his job.”

Merideth’s original opinion request and the attorney general’s letter of acknowledgment are attached.

-30-

The original request for an opinion from Attorney General Eric Schmitt (r):

Request for Attorney General Opinion

1. Information about requestor: Representative Peter Merideth represents Missouri House District 80. He was first elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2016, reelected in 2018, and currently serves as a member of the 100th General Assembly.

2. Official capacity of requestor: Rep. Merideth is a duly elected State Representative serving the constituents of St. Louis City residing in Missouri House of Representatives District 80. He currently serves as a member of the 100th General Assembly, First Regular Session. His principal office is in Cole County, Missouri, in the Missouri Capitol building.

3. The question of LAW upon which I request your legal opinion is as follows: Does Rule 127 of the rules governing proceedings before the Missouri House of Representatives for the 100th General Assembly, as set forth in House Resolution 7, passed by the Missouri House of Representatives on January 15, 2019, violate Article III, Section 19(b) of the Missouri Constitution?

4. A complete statement of the FACTS giving rise to this question is as follows: Constitutional Amendment 1 (“Clean Missouri”) On November 6, 2018, 62 percent of Missouri voters approved Constitutional Amendment 1, also known as the “Clean Missouri” Amendment. Among its provisions, Constitutional Amendment 1 required all legislative records, defined broadly, to be subject to the state open meetings and records law, known as the Missouri Sunshine Law. Subsequent to its approval, Article III, Section 19 of the Missouri Constitution was amended to include subsection (b), which states: “Legislative records shall be public records and subject to generally applicable state laws governing public access to public records, including the Sunshine Law. Legislative records include, but are not limited to, all records, in whatever form or format, of the official acts of the general assembly, of the official acts of legislative committees, of the official acts of members of the general assembly, of individual legislators, their employees and staff, of the conduct of legislative business and all records that are created, stored or distributed through legislative branch facilities, equipment or mechanisms, including electronic. Each member of the general assembly is the custodian of legislative records under the custody and control of the member, their employees and staff. The chief clerk of the house or the secretary of the senate are the custodians for all other legislative records relating to the house and the senate, respectively.” House Rule 127 On January 15, 2019, the Missouri House of Representatives adopted House Resolution 7, which details the rules governing proceedings before the Missouri House of Representatives for the 100th General Assembly. House Resolution 7 included a new rule, Rule 127, “House Records,” which purports to grant Members of the Missouri House of Representatives the authority to close constituent case files, which it defined broadly, as well as records containing caucus strategy, which it did not define. The rule states: “Members may keep constituent case files, and records of the caucus of the majority or minority party of the house that contain caucus strategy, confidential. Constituent case files include any correspondence, written or electronic, between a member and a constituent, or between a member and any other party pertaining to a constituent’s grievance, a question of eligibility for any benefit as it relates to a particular constituent, or any issue regarding a constituent’s request for assistance.” Sunshine Request On March 2, 2019, Rep. Peter Merideth, who is currently an elected official in the Missouri House of Representatives, received two requests for legislative records pursuant to the Missouri Sunshine law. The first request specifically asked for emails purportedly, though likely fraudulently, sent to Rep. Merideth using his constituent’s email address. The second request specifically asked for emails, including attachments to said emails, sent from Democratic caucus staff and leadership to Rep. Merideth in regards to certain bills filed in 2018.

5. List each and every governmental entity involved in this request:
Rep. Peter Merideth The House Minority Caucus.

6. Which of the entities listed in response to Question 5 have attorneys paid with public funds? For each entity listed, attach a copy of the written legal opinion of each such attorney on the question involved herein. Rep. Merideth is represented in this matter by the House Minority Caucus Counsel, Casey Millburg. As an employee of the Missouri House of Representatives, Ms. Millburg is paid with public funds. Ms. Millburg’s written legal opinion on the question is attached.

7. State in detail how the question of law relates to your official position or to the discharge of your duties. Pursuant Article III, Section 19(b) of the Missouri Constitution, each member of the general assembly is the custodian of legislative records under the custody and control of the member, their employees and staff. As the custodian of such records for his office, Rep. Merideth is responsible for determining how to comply with Sunshine requests made for his office’s legislative records. Further, pursuant to this subsection, in doing so Rep. Merideth must comply with the provisions of the state’s open records laws. As a duly elected official serving as a Member of the Missouri House of Representatives, Rep. Merideth is also subject to the rules governing proceedings before the Missouri House of Representatives for the 100th General Assembly. As set forth in House Resolution 7 passed by the General Assembly on January 15, 2019, Rule 127 purports to give Rep. Merideth and all Members of the Missouri House of Representatives the power to determine whether or not to release constituent case files of the type at issue in Mr. Pedroli’s request in response to a Sunshine request for such records.

8. Is any litigation pending involving the issues raised in your opinion request? We are aware of no pending litigation involving the specific issues in this request.

9. If the answer to Question 8 is “yes” list the name of case, court in which it is pending and docket number of case: See above.

It ain’t exactly rocket surgery.