Judgment against Purcell

Now that the Missouri Supreme Court has issued its no-nonsense ruling in the lawsuit Cape Girardeau County Commissioner Jay Purcell brought against the commission -- all three members, including himself -- county taxpayers may have two important questions:1. Why was so much time, effort and money wasted on a flimsy legal case that brought little but embarrassment to the county?

2. Why isn't it reasonable to expect Purcell, the loser in this legal sham, to pay back the $26,000 in expenses incurred by the county?

Purcell sued the commission after it held a closed meeting that he secretly recorded. Purcell sued in an attempt to get a judge to say the closed meeting was improperly held, which would have taken Purcell off the hook for illegally taping a properly closed meeting. As it turned out, the attorney general's office looked at the situation and declined to file charges.

But read this key part of the Supreme Court's decision and decide for yourself if Purcell should be liable for the legal costs:

"Purcell recorded the closed session with a recording device he placed in his jacket, and at no point during the closed session discussions did he object to being in closed session. Purcell does not dispute the trial court's finding that he 'fully and completely led or participated in all the actions that he now alleges were in violation'" of Missouri's Sunshine law. Therefore, "the doctrine of unclean hands was invoked appropriately by the commission in arguing that Purcell was not entitled to the declaratory and injunctive relief that he sought. Purcell instigated the closed session and led discussions that he now complains were unlawful. This is not to say that a member of a public governmental body cannot bring an action under the Sunshine Law. A county commissioner who protested the closing of a meeting at the time it was closed would be a very different kind of plaintiff than Purcell. A county commissioner who declined to participate in an unlawful closed session also would be a different kind of plaintiff than Purcell."

Let there be no doubt: Jay Purcell squandered county tax money -- and prestige -- in a political and legal game to protect himself.