June 4, 2025

Navigating Constitutional Waters: The Legality of School Choice Programs in Missouri and Beyond

School choice voucher programs, which enable public education funds to be used for private school tuition, have evolved from controversial educational experiments of the 1990s into a central battleground for religious liberty. These controversial programs, once challenged primarily on Establishment Clause grounds, now face a transformed legal landscape where religious exclusion, rather than inclusion, raises constitutional concerns. In Missouri, Senate Bill 727, enacted during the 2024 legislative session, illustrates this transformation by creating an innovative tax credit scholarship program that includes religious schools despite the state’s restrictive constitutional provisions.

June 4, 2025

Gaming in Legal Limbo: Missouri’s Civil Remedy Shortfall for “Gray Market” Gaming Devices

In 2021, Missouri stood at a crossroads between two billion-dollar industries: state-licensed casino gaming and a rapidly expanding “gray market” of unregulated video lottery terminals. At stake was not just tax revenue or market share, but the very framework of how Missouri regulates one of America's oldest vices. When the Missouri State Highway Patrol (“Highway Patrol”) began seizing Torch Electronics devices from multiple locations as illegal “gambling devices,” the resulting legal challenge forced courts to confront a fundamental question: who has the power to determine the legality of these devices?