China, Biden, schools: A reader’s guide to Missouri AG Eric Schmitt’s major lawsuits
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Who is Eric Schmitt?
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has drawn national attention for lawsuits challenging COVID-19 rules and the Biden administration. But has he always been like this?
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Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has filed a pile of lawsuits in recent months, challenging COVID-19 rules and President Joe Biden’s administration.
The pace of litigation has been torrid, especially as Schmitt seeks the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. He faces candidates with established right-wing track records, such as former Gov. Eric Greitens, U.S. Reps. Vicky Hartzler and Billy Long and St. Louis lawyer Mark McCloskey.
The attorney general’s office continues its traditional work, going after targets like scammers and illegal dog breeders. But the highest-profile litigation carries a distinctly ideological message.
As the court filings stack up, it can be difficult to keep track. Here’s a list of more than a dozen lawsuits and other significant legal filings from the past year.
Vaccine mandates
The action: Joining coalitions of attorneys general, Schmitt filed three lawsuits against federal vaccine rules. One challenges an executive order requiring federal contractors to ensure their workers are vaccinated by early December. Another, from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, requires workers at most large businesses to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing beginning in early January. A third challenges a vaccine mandate for workers at health care facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid.
The argument: The federal contractor order doesn’t follow procurement law, which requires that the federal government have “an economical and efficient system for” purchasing goods and services. The OSHA rule unconstitutionally infringes on the states’ power over mandatory vaccination. And the health care mandate will exacerbate staff shortages.
The message: Employees of federal contractors shouldn’t have to choose between a vaccine and their jobs. The OSHA rule is federal overreach.
Status: The contractor lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The OSHA challenge is in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The health care mandate lawsuit was just filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Family Planning
The action: Schmitt joined 10 other Republican AGs, led by Ohio’s Dave Yost, in seeking to reimpose a 2019 Trump administration rule that family planning clinics be physically and financially independent of abortion facilities. They must also refrain from referring patients for abortions. The directive was tossed by the Biden White House.
Called a domestic “gag rule” by critics, it was especially threatening to organizations like Planned Parenthood that offer a range of reproductive health services in addition to abortion. Planned Parenthood withdrew from the federal funding, called Title X, as a result.
The argument: The Family Planning Services and Population Research Act of 1970 funded family planning clinics, called Title X clinics, to increase low-income Americans’ access to contraceptives and preventive health services. But the law prohibits federal funds from being “used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.”
The message: Missouri Republicans have spent more than two decades trying push Planned Parenthood out of the state because it offers both abortions and reproductive health services. Any opportunity for Schmitt to associate himself with that effort is one he’ll take.
Status: Pending in the U.S Southern District of Ohio.
Border wall
The action: Schmitt and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued in October to force the Biden administration to resume construction of a wall along the U.S. southern border. Biden halted the work in January, and the Department of Homeland Security canceled construction contracts in October.
The argument: Biden is legally bound to spend the $1.4 billion Congress appropriated for the wall.
The message: Nothing resonates with core Trump voters like the border wall.
Status: Pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Kevin Strickland
The action: Schmitt has filed several motions in the case over whether Strickland is innocent, fighting efforts by Strickland and Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker to free the 62-year-old inmate, who has spent more than 40 years in prison.
The argument: In court filings, Schmitt’s office contends Strickland is guilty. His motions sought to delay the case or move it out of Jackson County.
The message: Schmitt is tough on crime and is putting up a fight to keep a convicted criminal behind bars.
Status: None of his motions were successful. In an evidentiary hearing this week, Peters Baker argued for Strickland’s exoneration.
Rae’s Cafe
The action: In September, Schmitt filed an amicus curae (“friend of the court”) brief in the Blue Springs restaurant’s lawsuit against Jackson County. Authorities shut Rae’s down over its refusal to follow the county mask ordinance. In turn, the cafe reopened as a private club.
The argument: Rae’s was in compliance with local rules and Jackson County violated the due process rights of owner Amanda Wohletz.
The message: As senator, Schmitt will protect Missourians from government overreach and meddling, nanny state, or county bureaucrats.
Status: Pending in Jackson County Circuit Court. Rae’s Cafe has announced plans to reopen in Independence, which doesn’t have a mask mandate.
Expelled migrants
The action: A brief in September supported a lawsuit challenging exemptions to what are called Title 42 expulsions. During the pandemic, the Trump administration expelled migrants, citing the possibility of communicable disease. The Biden administration wants to create more exemptions for the program, including for unaccompanied minors and family units
The argument: Exemptions will encourage human traffickers to exploit loopholes in the rules.
The message: Biden is weak on the border, and Schmitt is fighting for Missouri.
Status: Pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Masks in schools
The action: Schmitt sued in August to stop public schools in Missouri from requiring students to wear masks. He sued Columbia public schools but asked that the suit be made a reverse class action, which would allow him to challenge mask orders at all public schools across the state.
The argument: Mandatory mask rules are arbitrary and capricious and can be harmful to children, causing them distress.
The message: Schmitt is fighting against government overreach.
Status: His request to designate the lawsuit a reverse class-action was denied, but it is still pending against Columbia schools in Boone County Circuit Court.
Local mask orders
The action: Schmitt filed a series of lawsuits in July and August as cities and counties once again issued mask mandates in response to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases. Kansas City, Jackson County, St. Louis City and St. Louis County were defendants.
The argument: Local leaders lacked justification to issue the mandates, which were arbitrary.
The message: Schmitt will stand up to government tyranny and overzealous local officials.
Status: Schmitt was successful in temporarily blocking enforcement of St. Louis County’s order amid questions over whether it was properly issued. But some of the lawsuits may end up being moot as cities and counties end their mandates. Kansas City dropped its mandate on Nov. 4, replacing it with a new one that applies only to schools and leaving the future of Schmitt’s lawsuit in doubt. On Friday, Jackson County leaders voted to end their mandate.
St. Louis County COVID restrictions
The action: Schmitt sued St. Louis County Executive Sam Page in May over local COVID-19 restrictions.
The argument: The county was imposing significant restrictions on personal and religious freedoms. It cited requirements for outdoor mask wearing at events.
The message: Page and other county officials had overstepped their bounds and Schmitt wouldn’t let it stand.
Status: The lawsuit was dropped after St. Louis County began lifting restrictions.
‘Remain in Mexico’
The action: Schmitt and Texas’ Paxton sued in April to force the Biden administration to reinstate a policy called “Remain in Mexico” that required asylum-seekers to stay outside the United States while their claims are processed.
The argument: Biden’s decision to end the policy violated a federal law on administrative procedures
The message: Schmitt is working to preserve some of the core elements of Trump’s hardline approach to immigration
Status: The Biden administration, pending cooperation with the Mexican government, must restart “Remain in Mexico” following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Tax cuts and COVID relief
The action: Schmitt sued Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in March over an interpretation of how states could use federal COVID relief aid.
The argument: The federal government’s interpretation of the provision in the American Rescue Plan against using aid to offset revenue loss due to tax cuts was overly broad.
The message: The Biden administration was threatening the power of states to lower taxes
Status: A federal judge tossed the lawsuit in May, saying that Missouri hadn’t proved it would be harmed by the law.
Election challenge
The action: Schmitt spearheaded a legal brief in favor of a lawsuit brought by Paxton that sought to overturn presidential election results in Pennsylvania and other key swing states won by Biden.
The argument: Paxton challenged election procedures in other states. Some Republicans have advanced a legal theory that only state legislatures can set election rules.
The message: Schmitt was willing to fight for Donald Trump to the end.
Status: The Supreme Court tossed the lawsuit on Dec. 11. In a brief order, the court said Texas lacked standing to sue. The decision effectively ended any chance Trump might have had of overthrowing Biden’s victory in the courts.
This story was originally published November 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
