Laura Denvir Stith
Laura Denvir Stith is a former judge on the Missouri Supreme Court. She served on the court from 2001 to 2021. Stith was appointed to this position in 2001 by Democratic Gov. Bob Holden and retained by voters in 2002. She was retained again in 2014.[1] Stith retired on March 8, 2021.[2] To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
Education
Stith received her B.A. in political science and social psychology from Tufts University in 1975 and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978.[1]
Career
- 2001-2021: Judge, Missouri Supreme Court
- 2007-2009: Chief justice, Missouri Supreme Court
- 1994-2001: Judge, Missouri Court of Appeals
- 1980-1994: Attorney, private practice
- 1978-1979: Law clerk, Robert E. Seiler of the Missouri Supreme Court[1]
Awards and associations
Awards
- 2006: Distinguished Non-Alumnus Award, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law
- 2009: Joseph Stevens Aspire to Excellence Award, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association[1]
Associations
- Founding director, Lawyers Encouraging Academic Performance
- Member, Association of Women Lawyers
- Chair, Gender and Justice Joint Committee of The Missouri Bar and the Supreme Court of Missouri[1]
Elections
2014
Denvir Stith was retained to the Supreme Court with 64.1% of the vote on November 4, 2014.[3][4]
Noteworthy cases
Criticism for Roper v. Simmons Opinion
Judge Stith authored an opinion in Roper v. Simmons (2003) that directly contradicted Supreme Court precedent by finding the execution of a person under the age of 18 to be a violation of the Eighth Amendment, in part relying upon foreign law and treaties as part of the court’s determination that the national consensus on execution of minors had changed.[5] In his dissent to the U.S. Supreme Court’s evaluation of the case, Justice Scalia took issue with the use of international law as a basis for reasoning in the case, writing on page 18 that “the basic premise of the Court’s argument – that American law should conform to the laws of the rest of the world – ought to be rejected out of hand.”[6]
Though the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld the decision, Justices O’Connor and Scalia both criticized the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision to overturn federal precedent. On page 7 of her dissent, Justice O’Connor writes, “As a preliminary matter, I take issue with the Court’s failure to reprove, or even to acknowledge, the Supreme Court of Missouri’s unabashed refusal to follow our controlling decision in Stanford. The lower court concluded that, despite Stanford’s clear holding and historical recency, our decision was no longer binding authority because it was premised on what the court deemed an obsolete assessment of contemporary values. Quite apart from the merits of the constitutional question, this was clear error.”[7] Justice Scalia was also concerned with Judge Stith’s decision, writing on page 23 of his dissent, “To add insult to injury, the Court affirms the Missouri Supreme Court without even admonishing that court for its flagrant disregard of our precedent in Stanford. Until today, we have always held that ‘it is this Court’s prerogative alone to overrule one of its precedents.’ State Oil Co. v. Khan, 522 U.S. 3, 20 (1997).”[6]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Stith received a campaign finance score of -0.76, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of 0.001 that justices received in Missouri.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[8]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Missouri Judge Laura Stith. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- Missouri Supreme Court
- Project Vote Smart, "Judge Laura Denvir Smith (MO)"
- Your Missouri Courts, Press Release: "Judge Stith's remarks concerning Missouri's nonpartisan merit selection plan for judges," September 11, 2007
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Your Missouri Courts, "Judge Laura Denvir Stith" accessed March 9, 2021
- ↑ KBIA, "Missouri's Second Female Supreme Court Judge Is Retiring," February 3, 2021
- ↑ Informed Voters Project, "Missouri," accessed September 30, 2014
- ↑ Justice at Stake, "2014*State*Supreme*Court*Elections," accessed September 30, 2014
- ↑ Your Missouri Courts, "Roper v. Simmons Opinion"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cornell Law School, "Justice Scalia's Dissent in Roper v. Simmons"
- ↑ Cornell Law School, "Justice O'Connor's Dissent in Roper v. Simmons"
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Missouri, Western District of Missouri • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Missouri, Western District of Missouri
State courts:
Missouri Supreme Court • Missouri Court of Appeals • Missouri Circuit Courts • Missouri Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Missouri • Missouri judicial elections • Judicial selection in Missouri
