13 June 2023

ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, is scheduled to convene court at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, June 27, 2023, at Lindenwood University’s Hyland Arena, 209 Kingshighway, in St. Charles in conjunction with Missouri Girls State and Missouri Boys State. At the docket, attorneys will argue an appeal in front of the approximately 1,500 students attending both Missouri Girls State and Missouri Boys State. The court sessions are open to the public.  

“We are excited to hold a special docket for these students so they have the opportunity to see an appellate court in action,” Chief Judge Michael E. Gardner said. “Observing the oral argument will be a wonderful learning experience for them.”

Two judges from the court of appeals will be participating: Gardner and Judge Thomas C. Clark II. St. Louis County Circuit Judge Heather Cunningham also will be sitting with the court as a special judge. The judges will sit as a panel of three to hear oral arguments from attorneys involved in a criminal case appealed from the St. Louis city circuit court.  

Gardner was appointed to the court of appeals in 2020 after serving as a circuit judge for the 32nd Judicial Circuit (Bollinger, Cape Girardeau and Perry counties) for five years and practicing law in Cape Girardeau. Clark was appointed to the court of appeals in 2021 after serving as a circuit judge, an associate circuit judge and an assistant circuit attorney in the city of St. Louis. Cunningham was appointed an associate circuit judge in 2020 and then a circuit judge in 2022 for the 21st Judicial Circuit (St. Louis County).  She previously served as a family court commissioner in the juvenile division for the 21st Judicial Circuit.

Missouri Boys State is sponsored by the American Legion, and Missouri Girls State is sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary. They exist to teach the fundamentals of citizenship, government and politics to high school juniors in the state of Missouri.  Participants learn first-hand the innerworkings of the three branches of state government – the executive, the legislative and the judicial.

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, is the state’s largest appellate court, with offices in the historic Old Post Office in downtown St. Louis. There are 14 judges on the court, which regularly hears cases in St. Louis, Hannibal, Cape Girardeau and other locations in the Eastern District. 

Contact: Laura Thielmeier Roy, clerk of the court

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District

(314) 539-4300