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MO chief justice wants to shrink prison population

Chief Justice Richard Teitelman
mo.gov
Chief Justice Richard Teitelman

One day after Governor Jay Nixon made his State of the State Address, the annual State of the Judiciary Address was delivered to Missouri lawmakers Wednesday.

Chief Justice Rick Teitelman kept his speech short, but did call for the General Assembly to pass changes to the state’s probation and parole system in order to ease Missouri’s prison population.

“I support your effort to help make sentencing practices more cost effective, helping Missouri to become, as Judge Price stressed so often and so eloquently, both tough and smart,” Teitelman said.

The changes could save the state as much as $16.6 million over five years and reduce the state prison population by about two percent. A state work group that included two judges made the recommendations in December. Teitelman did not address the court's recent decision to strike down a map of new state Senate districts just weeks before candidates are to begin filing for office.

It was Teitelman’s first address since becoming Chief Justice last summer.  He also praised court employees from across the state who took time off to aid in relief efforts in Joplin following last year’s devastating tornado.

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.
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