Amendment 3 Opponents To Gather in Columbia at Tiger Hotel, Birthplace of the Missouri Plan, for Watch Party

Originally posted on Monday, November 5th, 2012

On election night, Tuesday, Nov. 6, the opponents of efforts to overturn the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan will gather in Columbia at the birthplace of the Missouri Plan, the Tiger Hotel.

The leading opponents of Amendment 3, the Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts Committee, are hosting the watch party, which will start at 8:30.

On December 11, 1937 more than 80 civic leaders from across Missouri and from across the political spectrum met at the Tiger Hotel to confront a threat that was crippling our great state. Fed up with corrupt judges and politically-motivated courts ruled with an iron fist by political bosses like Tom Pendergast, this group went about devising a system for selecting judges aimed at taking politics and partisanship out of our courts.

That group wrote and filed an initiative petition that created the Nonpartisan Court Plan. In Nov. 1940 Missouri voters approved this ballot measure, making Missouri the first state in the country to adopt a merit-based judicial selection system.

Amendment 3 seeks to overturn the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan by giving politicians more power to pick our judges.

MFICC, the leading opponent of Amendment 3, has brought together a diverse coalition of retired judges, business leaders and community leaders to educate voters on why putting politicians and special interests in charge of Missouri’s judicial selection process is dangerous.

The Honorary Co-Chairs of MFICC are former Missouri Supreme Court judges William Ray Price, Jr., Ronnie L. White, John C. Holstein, Ann K. Covington, Michael A. Wolff and Edward D. “Chip” Robertson, Jr. To learn more about MFICC, please visit www.mofaircourts.com

Reporters unable to make it the Victory Party but wanting comment on election night, should contact Skip Walther, the MFICC Treasurer and former Missouri Bar President, at (573) 268-3579.

No on Amendment 3 Watch Party
Tiger Hotel, Black and Gold Room
23 S. 8th Street
Columbia, MO