Why Missouri Lawmakers Canceled the State of the Judiciary Address
Why Missouri Lawmakers Canceled the State of the Judiciary Address
The Missouri State of the Judiciary address was canceled this year, and the reaction was immediate.
What is usually a ceremonial speech was scrapped after lawmakers refused to proceed with a joint session, effectively shutting the event down. Liberal media outlets predictably lost their minds.
It looked dramatic.
But it didn’t happen out of nowhere.
What the Cancellation Signaled
The State of the Judiciary address assumes a healthy relationship between lawmakers and the courts. That assumption has been under strain for years.
Missouri legislators have watched courts step into political disputes, rewrite ballot language, and strike down laws passed by elected representatives. Over time, the frustration that usually stays behind closed doors became impossible to ignore.
Canceling the address was a way of saying what many already felt. Business as usual no longer makes sense.
A Pattern Missourians Recognize
This moment landed because it fits a broader pattern.
Missouri courts have frequently intervened in election law and ballot measure disputes, including rewriting ballot summaries and limiting what voters are allowed to decide. Those interventions shape outcomes before a single vote is cast.
Missouri courts are more likely to rule in ways that align with liberal policy outcomes, particularly in ballot and election cases.
For many Missourians, this feels like the courts putting their fingers on the scales.
Why the System Matters
Missouri’s judicial selection system plays a role in these outcomes.
Under the current structure, judicial nominating commissions dominated by legal insiders control who reaches the bench. Governors choose from limited lists. Voters see judges only in retention elections that rarely result in change.
This structure limits transparency and weakens accountability.
Over time, structure shapes behavior.
Judges are accountable to the legal elites who select the candidates, not the people of Missouri.
What Reform Looks Like
That is why court reform is now on the table.
House Joint Resolution 5 would change how appellate judges are selected in Missouri by eliminating unelected nominating commissions and allowing the governor to appoint judges with Senate confirmation.
Missouri is not alone. In Kansas, a ballot measure to eliminate the state’s judicial nominating commission and elect Supreme Court Justices directly will go before voters in August.
The momentum is clearly on the side of court reformers.
The Big Picture
The State of the Judiciary address was canceled because the relationship between Missouri’s courts and lawmakers is out of balance.
Courts shouldn’t be imposing their politics from the bench. They’re supposed to be calling balls and strikes.
The canceled speech was not the story. It was the signal.
To right the ship in Missouri, we must reform the courts.
It may not happen this session, but we’re making progress.
It’s on all of us to make sure that the issue stays in front of legislators and voters.
Andy Bakker
Executive Director
Liberty Alliance USA