Mo. Bar seeks to stop amendment restricting courts' power over taxation and spending

~ Supporters of the amendment have said they want to keep judges from imposing their views on the state.

Three lawyers seeking to stop a proposed constitutional amendment restricting the role of judges in disputes over taxes and spending took their case Thursday to the court of public opinion.

Ron Baird, president of the Missouri Bar, former Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ann Covington and University of Missouri Law School professor Douglas Abrams held a news conference questioning the wisdom of the amendment, which supporters said will block the courts from imposing tax increases.

But the proposal goes much further, they said, taking away Missourians' rights to challenge spending or taxation that exceeds constitutional limits and upsetting the balance of power between the three branches of government.

The executive committee of the Missouri Bar, the statewide lawyer's organization, has voted unanimously to oppose the proposed amendment, Baird said.

"We can't let politicians limit our access to justice by letting them decide which cases the courts can and cannot hear," Baird said.

The measure has passed the Missouri House and is pending in the Senate. The sponsor of the amendment, Rep. Jane Cunningham, could not be reached for comment. If approved by lawmakers, the proposed amendment would need voter approval before taking effect.

Trial underway

The immediate issue Cunningham wants to address involves a trial underway in Jefferson City in which numerous school districts are challenging the state's formula for distributing school aid. The lawsuit claims the state funding formula isn't fair and that too little money is being spent on schools.

But the cure being proposed undermines long-held constitutional principles, Abrams said. "No Missouri court has ever levied or threatened to levy a tax increase," Abrams said. "Taxation can only be imposed by a vote of the legislature, and no money can be withdrawn from the state treasury without an appropriation."

Supporters of the amendment have said their aim is to prevent "activist judges" from imposing their views on the state. Covington, who was appointed to the state's highest court by conservative Gov. John Ashcroft, said those attacks obscure facts that show appellate judges in Missouri generally rule on narrow legal grounds.

'System has run amok'

"The state court system has run amok is the message, and the bar needs to respond to it," Covington said.

In addition to their other criticisms, the trio of attorneys said they believe Cunningham's proposal is an attempt by the legislature to gain power at the expense of the judiciary, which is supposed to be an equal branch of government. "This erodes the checks and balances in the opinion of the Missouri Bar," Baird said. "Citizens have the right to open courts. The General Assembly has the right to levy taxes. And the courts have the right to review" acts of the legislature."

rkeller@semissourian.com

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