Well,
the
good
news
for
Jay
Ashcroft
is
that
he
didn’t
get
held
in
contempt
by
the
Missouri
Supreme
Court.
The
Missouri
Secretary
of
State
shambled
out
of
his
disastrous
attempt
to
abort
the
abortion
amendment
ballot
initiative
without
terminating
his
license
to
practice
law.
So,
congrats,
big
guy!
But
other
than
that,
it
was
an
ignominious
shitshow
debacle,
typical
of
nationwide
efforts
by
Republican
officials
to
protect
the
ballot
from
the
voters.
Ashcroft,
son
of
Bush-era
Attorney
General
John
Ashcroft,
certified
the
abortion
initiative
for
the
ballot
on
August
13.
The
proposed
amendment
says:
No
person
shall
be
penalized,
prosecuted,
or
otherwise
subjected
to
adverse
action
based
on
their
actual,
potential,
perceived,
or
alleged
pregnancy
outcomes,
including
but
not
limited
to
miscarriage,
stillbirth,
or
abortion.
Nor
shall
any
person
assisting
a
person
in
exercising
their
right
to
reproductive
freedom
with
that
person’s
consent
be
penalized,
prosecuted,
or
otherwise
subjected
to
adverse
action
for
doing
so.
Days
later,
anti-choice
activists
sued
Ashcroft,
claiming
that
the
ballot
language
violated
Missouri’s
constitutional
requirement
that
a
proposed
amendment
specify
exactly
which
laws
it
will
repeal.
Missourians
for
Constitutional
Freedom,
the
group
that
spearheaded
the
petition
process,
was
allowed
to
intervene,
since
Ashcroft,
a
staunch
opponent
of
abortion
who
has
already
been
ordered
to
stop
lying
about
the
ballot
in
official
communications,
would
have
been
only
too
happy
to
countermand
his
prior
administrative
certification.
On
September
6,
Cole
County
Circuit
Court
Judge
Christopher
Limbaugh
agreed
with
the
plaintiffs,
holding
that
the
failure
to
specifically
state
that
the
law
would
repeal
Missouri’s
draconian
abortion
ban
doomed
the
initiative.
Yes,
the
judge is
the
cousin
of
the
deceased
conservative
talkshow
host
—
because
what
this
story
needs
is more
reminders
that
the
90s
were
a
soul-sucking
dress
rehearsal
for
today’s
nightmare
political
hellscape.
Judge
Limbaugh
ordered
the
amendment
struck,
but
stayed
his
ruling
until
Tuesday,
the
deadline
to
print
the
physical
ballots.
Many
people
are
under
the
impression
that
a
stay
requires
the
parties
to not
do
stuff,
particularly
since
the
state
Supreme
Court
issued
its
own
stay
on
Sunday
instructing
the
parties
that
“The
circuit
court’s
stay
remains
in
effect
until
further
order
of
this
Court.”
But
Jay
Ashcroft
knew
better,
so
on
Monday
he
put
out
a
letter
purporting
to
have
unilaterally
decertified
the
initiative
and
removed
it
from
the
ballot.
“I
administratively
certified
Amendment
3
for
inclusion
on
the
ballot
on
the
backdrop
of
serious
concern
about
whether
the
proposed
petition
satisfies
the
legal
requirements
for
adequate
notice
to
the
public,”
he
wrote.
“On
further
review
in
light
of
the
circuit
court’s
judgment,
I
have
determined
the
petition
is
deficient.
Therefore,
this
office
has
decertified
the
petition
for
the
November
5th
2024
ballot.”
The
petitioners
were mad
impressed.
In
a
motion
filed
the
next
day
requested
that
the
court
hold
the
Secretary
in
contempt.
“Secretary
Ashcroft’s
letter
directly
tends
to
interrupt
this
Court’s
proceeding
and
impair
respect
for
this
Court’s
authority,”
they
argued.
“Secretary
Ashcroft
should
be
held
in
contempt
and
ordered
to
maintain
the
status
quo
and
rescind
his
contumacious
letter.”
That
was
not
meant
to
be.
The
next
day,
the
high
court
denied
the
contempt
motion.
But
it
did
tell
Ashcroft
to
quit
acting
like
such
a
bloody
idiot
and
put
the
initiative
back
on
the
ballot.
“Respondent
Ashcroft
certified
the
petition
as
sufficient
prior
to
that
deadline,
and
any
action
taken
to
change
that
decision
weeks
after
the
statutory
deadline
expired
is
a
nullity
and
of
no
effect,”
the
court
wrote
in
a
terse
order
filed
just
hours
before
the
printing
deadline.
They
promise
a
longer
opinion
is
coming,
and
presumably
it
will not
praise
the
secretary
for
his
creative
legal
stylings
and
responsible
public
service.
Meanwhile,
polling
showed
a
bare
majority
in
support
of
the
amendment
last
month.
But
perhaps
that
will
change
thanks
to
Ashcroft’s
dogged
efforts
to
keep
the
story
front
and
center
for
several
more
news
cycles.
Coleman
v.
Ashcroft
[MO
Supreme
Court
Docket]
Liz
Dye lives
in
Baltimore
where
she
produces
the
Law
and
Chaos substack and podcast.