Missouri judge rules child abuse registry unconstitutional News
Missouri judge rules child abuse registry unconstitutional

[JURIST] A Missouri circuit court judge ruled Thursday that the state's child abuse registry is unconstitutional because it does not allow alleged abusers a due-process hearing before being placed on the list. The registry is not available to the general public, but child care facilities and other employers can use the list to screen current and potential employees. Judge Richard Callahan said the current process caused damage to suspected offenders' reputations and careers, and said these individuals are entitled to a hearing with witnesses before being put on the list. The judge also said that the hearings must use a "preponderance of the evidence" standard rather than "probable cause," which has already been changed by a 2004 law. The Missouri Department of Social Services [official website] said it is considering appealing the decision to the Missouri Supreme Court [official website] and Judge Callahan's ruling will not go into effect until the appeals process is complete. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

White supremacists overthrow government in Wilmington, North Carolina

A group of white supremacists overthrew the government of Wilmington, North Carolina on November 10, 1898, killing at least dozens of Black people in the process. The city's Republican government resigned after the 500-2,000 strong white mob burned the offices of a Black-owned newspaper and terrorized black neighborhoods. The new state Democratic government passed laws in 1899 disenfranchising Black voters across North Carolina. Learn more about the 1898 Wilmington Coup.

Supreme Court limited free speech in wartime

On November 10, 1919, the US Supreme Court ruled in Abrams v. United States that the federal government could criminalize speech if it was of a type tending to bring about harmful results, in this case, resistance to the United States war effort. In a powerful dissenting opinion, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes countered that even during wartime, free speech could only be curtailed when there was clear and "present danger of immediate evil or an intent to bring it about."

Leonid Brezhnev dies

On November 10, 1982, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev died of a heart attack. He had served as leader of the USSR from October 1964 until his death. Following his death, the Soviet Union cycled through three more leaders during the 1980s until Mikhail Gorbachev allowed the country to dissolve in 1991. Read an obituary of Leonid Brezhnev from the New York Times.