Joan Bray v. Missouri Department of Corrections

Four Missouri taxpayers filed suit in the Circuit Court of Cole County, alleging that the State’s lethal-injection protocol for executing inmates violates federal and state law. The circuit court dismissed the Taxpayers’ claims, finding that they lacked standing, that the Missouri Supreme Court had exclusive jurisdiction over the case, and that the Taxpayers’ petition failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The Taxpayers appeal. We affirm.

Factual Background

■ Joan Bray, Jeanette Oxford, Elston McCowan, and Mary Ann McGivern (the “Taxpayers”) filed a Verified Petition for…