Appeals court upholds dismissal of challenge to Senate rules

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri appeals court said a liberal activist group has no right to video-record state Senate committee meetings because the public already has access to footage from those proceedings.

A three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Tuesday affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed in April 2015 by Progress Missouri challenging Senate video-recording rules.

The appeals court said the state constitution authorizes the Senate to determine the rules of its own proceedings and had the right to reject Progress Missouri’s attempt to independently record committee meetings.

The court said Progress Missouri failed to show how Senate rules violated the state’s Sunshine Law and also failed to state a constitutional claim.