Tagged: courts

Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Teitelman sang the praises of the state's drug court system during his annual State of the Judiciary Address Wednesday.

He told lawmakers that 2013 marks the 20th anniversary of the state’s drug courts, which provide treatment options for non-violent drug offenders.

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon and Republican challenger Dave Spence both oppose a ballot measure that would give the governor greater power in picking Missouri's top judges.

A November ballot measure would change the seven-person panel that nominates judicial candidates to the governor. It would increase the number of citizens named to the panel by the governor to four instead of three, with the rest selected by an attorneys' association. It also would increase the number of judicial nominees the panel submits to the governor to four instead of three.

Tomorrow morning the Illinois Supreme Court will enter orders to allow cameras in both the first judicial circuit in the southern part of the state and the 18th circuit, which is outside of Chicago.   

The announcement was made this afternoon by Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride, who was in St. Louis to accept the “Illinoisan of the Year” award from the Illinois News Broadcasters Association.

Kilbride is the driving force behind a pilot program aimed at increasing accessibility to the legal system and expects more courts to allow cameras in the future.