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Russell reflects on term as chief justice of Missouri Supreme Court

Mary Russell discusses her tenure as chief justice with reporters Tuesday.
Marshall Griffin | St. Louis Public Radio
Mary Russell discusses her tenure as chief justice with reporters Tuesday.

Mary Russell says she's mostly satisfied with her two-year term as chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, which ends next week on June 30.

She took over as chief in July 2013 after fellow Supreme Court Judge Richard Teitelman wrapped up his two-year term.

Russell's tenure coincided with the resumption of executions in Missouri, which have been on a record pace as 16 convicted killers have been put to death since November 2013.  Russell says the increase is due to several factors.

"There's been a backlog of people with the death penalty with appeals pending in the federal courts, and some of those appeals were pending in-state because of a controversy over the method of execution, the drug that was to be used," Russell told a group of reporters Tuesday.

Executions had also been suspended due to difficulty obtaining enough doses of propofol, the state's former designated execution drug.  The decision by Missouri to use that drug led the German-based manufacturer to threaten to cut off shipments of propofol, which is primarily used by hospitals as an anesthetic.

Executions in Missouri resumed after the state began using pentobarbital, which can be compounded at local pharmacies.

Mary Russell discusses her tenure as chief justice with reporters Tuesday.
Credit Marshall Griffin | St. Louis Public Radio
Mary Russell discusses her tenure as chief justice with reporters Tuesday.

Russell also said the High Court only issues execution orders once all appeals and motions have been exhausted, and that each order request originates from the state Attorney General's office.

"It's not anything that we relish," Russell said.  "It's not that we agree or disagree with the death penalty; it's the law, and ... we take an oath to follow the law, whether we like the law (or not), which is written by the legislature -- that's their policy."

Russell also oversaw a rule change that requires municipal court judges to give people more time to pay fines if they can demonstrate they are unable to pay it.  The new rule came in the wake of last year's unrest in Ferguson.

"(We made it) crystal clear that no one could be put into jail for failure to pay a fine," Russell said.  "We do not have debtor's prisons in Missouri."

Her tenure also included expanding the use of "21st century technology" to make Missouri's court system more efficient.

"We started e-filing in September 2011, here with this court," Russell said.  "Now we have 82 courts that are e-filing, we expect to have a hundred by the end of this calendar year, and by a year from now we expect to have all courts (in Missouri) with e-filing."

Russell also discussed things she wanted to accomplish that did not happen, including expanding virtual courts statewide and making it easier for citizens to participate in jury duty.  She also wanted to see more of an increase in court-appointed special advocates for kids in Missouri who suffer abuse.

"We have 14,000 children in foster care in Missouri right now, and that's due to no fault of the child," Russell said.  "It's because of some abuse or neglect that's occurred to the child … only 3,000 of these children have an advocate speaking for them."

She's also past president of the Missouri chapter of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).

Russell was appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court in September 2004 by then-Gov. Bob Holden.  She served as a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, from 1995 to 2004. She will remain on the state Supreme Court after Patricia Breckenridge takes over as chief justice on July 1.

Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter:  @MarshallGReport

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

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.
Marshall Griffin
St. Louis Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a native of Mississippi and proud alumnus of Ole Miss (welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!). He 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 an 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 Liberty Belle, and their cat, Honey.
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