20 January 2000

NOTE: The Missourinet discontinued this service in 2006. Effective in September 2007, the Supreme Court of Missouri began providing live and archived streaming of its own arguments. To access the live stream, visit the main Dockets and Oral Arguments page.

Missourinet, a state-wide radio network serving 65 affiliate stations, has begun offering the Supreme Court's arguments, live in real time, on its website www.missourinet.com.

"The Supreme Court is pleased that Missourinet has taken the initiative, and used the access that we provide, to bring the arguments to the people," said Chief Justice William Ray Price, Jr. 

"The Supreme Court decides some of the most controversial and important legal issues affecting peoples' lives," said Judge Price.  "Missourinet's service will enable people to listen to the same arguments the judges hear in deciding these cases--without having to invest the time in traveling to the courthouse or rely on second-hand accounts."

Supreme Court oral arguments are open to the public in the Supreme Court Building in Jefferson City, Missouri.  The Court also permits broadcast coverage of oral arguments on request under its rules, specifically Administrative Rule 16.  Since 1995, Missourinet news director Bob Priddy has served as a local representative of the media to assist other local area media, including their competitors, in covering the arguments. 

"The cooperation between the Supreme Court and Missourinet makes Missouri one of the first handful of states to offer arguments on the Internet," said the Court's Communications Counsel, Tracy Synan.  "Some other states are planning it, but we are doing it."

A summary of all upcoming cases appears on the Court's webpage www.courts.mo.gov/sup/index.nsf under "Dockets" about five days before arguments begin.  The Court's decisions also appear under "Opinions" on that page.

For more information, contact Tracy Synan, Communications Counsel, Supreme Court of Missouri, (573) 751-0178, tracy_synan@courts.mo.gov.

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