Missouri

Bobby Bostic embraces freedom in Missouri — and the judge who sentenced him to 241 years

Published

2 years ago

November 29, 2022

Bobby Bostic embraces freedom in Missouri — and the judge who sentenced him to 241 years

On November 9, Bobby Bostic walked out of the Algoa Correctional Middle in Jefferson Metropolis. Sporting a brand-new blue swimsuit, he approached a crowd of cheering relations and supporters — however the first individual he embraced was retired choose Evelyn Baker.

“It was a surreal second. Once you stroll out within the sunshine, and also you’re free now — no handcuffs, no nothing,” Bostic instructed St. Louis on the Air. “To be getting out of jail is a miracle inside itself. However that is the very girl who instructed you that you’ll die in jail, that is the primary individual hugging you? It’s like making one thing proper that was mistaken.”

Bobby Bostic says he by no means stopped believing that he could be free.

In 1997, Baker had presided over the trial of a then-18-year-old Bostic as he confronted felony fees for his position in an armed theft in St. Louis two years prior. Discovered responsible by a jury on a number of counts, Baker ordered Bostic serve them consecutively, back-to-back, for a complete of 241 years.

“I by no means believed I used to be going to die in jail. That is what stored me going,” Bostic stated. “The entire thing was a miracle principally; I stored holding on, in opposition to all odds, however there was some darkish days.”

Although not technically sentenced to life in jail, Bostic’s a number of felonies meant he had no likelihood at parole. For all sensible functions, his 241-year sentence meant he would die behind bars. But, in 2021, a Missouri legislation that was impressed by Bostic’s case granted him new hope for launch. Below the legislation, inmates who dedicated crimes (excluding homicide) as juveniles deserve an opportunity at parole — so long as they’ve already served 15 years in jail.

By then, Evelyn Baker had retired from the bench — and she or he had skilled a change of coronary heart. She wasn’t the one one: Over the intervening many years, a sequence of selections handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court docket had steadily altered the way in which the justice system treats juvenile offenders. Citing scientific analysis into how the brains of kids and youngsters are totally different from these of adults, the court docket dominated that juvenile offenders couldn’t be sentenced to dying or life in jail. In 2012’s Miller vs. Alabama, the court docket wrote that a teen’s actions, even when dangerous, are “much less prone to be proof of irretrievable depravity.”

This was not the way in which Baker had approached Bostic’s sentencing in 1997, when she instructed the teenager at sentencing, “You’ll die within the Division of Corrections.”

Baker in the end turned Bostic’s advocate at his parole listening to in 2021. And she or he was there to greet him as he left jail earlier this month. For Bostic, it was a second that he had solely dreamed of turning into actual.

“I believe that God permits sure issues to occur for folks to be taught classes,” he stated. “I needed to be taught a lesson the exhausting means, and she or he was the automobile that God used to show me that harsh lesson.”

For extra on the story behind the case of Bobby Bostic, together with his time spent in jail as a young person, turning into a printed creator, and founding a nonprofit from inside his cell, hearken to the complete dialog with Bobby Bostic on St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or by clicking the play button beneath.

“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the tales of St. Louis and the individuals who stay, work and create in our area. The present is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Avery Rogers is our manufacturing assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Ship questions and feedback about this story to speak@stlpr.org.

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Missouri

Bill to boost National Guard recruitment awaits Missouri Governor’s signature

Published

28 mins ago

July 5, 2024

Press Room

Bill to boost National Guard recruitment awaits Missouri Governor’s signature

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Missouri Governor Mike Parson has just a few more days to either sign or veto all the bills passed by the legislature this year. One of the bills on his desk would ease the process for Missouri National Guardsmen to pay for their higher education.

The current program that helps National Guard members supplement the cost of college draws federal dollars, but not enough, according to Major General Will Blaylock, who leads the Missouri National Guard Association.

“The federal level doesn’t fund it completely, and so [Senate Bill 912] closes the loop so that we have soldiers and airmen who can go to college basically at no cost,” Blaylock said.

The bill also waives the tax liability on recruitment bonuses and re-enlistment bonuses for the National Guard and U.S. Armed Forces.

“It’s a cleanup of a system that we have had in place, but it needed to be corrected because it is hurting our recruiting,” Blaylock added.

A healthy job market with many lucrative alternatives, Blaylock believes, is one of the main contributing factors to a recent recruitment slump.

SB 912 also affects veterans, making it easier for them to obtain a special parking placard, creates a new program to help address veteran suicides, and renames a section of highway in Osage County after U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Paul Hasenbeck, a Missourian who went missing in action during the Vietnam War.

On Friday, Governor Parson’s office announced a list of bills he plans to sign in the coming days, but SB 912 was not among them. Parson has until July 14 to take action on bills passed by the legislature.

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Missouri

Missouri set for SEC Network Takeover on July 6

Published

6 hours ago

July 5, 2024

Press Room

Missouri set for SEC Network Takeover on July 6

Over the course of the next two weeks, all 16 SEC teams will be given a “SEC Network Takeover” day. This will allow schools to showcase their favorite games from the past calendar year. Missouri has been assigned Saturday, July 6th, and the schedule they’re putting out is loaded with classics.

Our time‼️ Relive some of the best moments from this past year on July 6th on the SEC Network!#MIZ🐯 pic.twitter.com/LAHN2u0G6U
— Mizzou Athletics (@MizzouAthletics) July 2, 2024

Beginning at 11:00 PM on Friday night, Missouri will take center stage on SEC Network. They’ll showcase 11 different sporting events from the past year, highlighted with two primetime events on Saturday evening.

The first primetime event will be aired at 6:30 PM, showcasing Missouri’s gymnastics meet vs LSU. The #9 ranked Missouri Tigers hosted a record-setting 7,336 fans. This was a top-ten showdown as the #3 ranked LSU Tigers came to Columbia, MO in a battle of Tigers.

Immediately airing after the gymnastics meet will be one of the greatest games of the University’s history. This of course is a reference to the 2023 Goodyear Cotton Bowl. Missouri clashed with Ohio State in a new years six bowl game. The program-changing game is one that any fan of Missouri athletics would be ecstatic to watch again.

I’d be remised to not mention the fact that at 4:00 AM, they’re airing a men’s basketball game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. This is of course due to the fact that Missouri failed to win a conference game this past year. Hopefully next year there will be more options for the men’s basketball program.

This will be the tenth consecutive summer with the “SEC Network Takeover”, which has given all 16 schools an opportunity to program a full day on air. The SEC has done a great job of giving all different sports a platform with this takeover. It will be fun for fans of all sports to tune in on Saturday, July 6th, when Mizzou takes over the network.

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Missouri

Missouri attorney general files suit against New York

Published

12 hours ago

July 5, 2024

Press Room

Missouri attorney general files suit against New York

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has filed a lawsuit against the state of New York, claiming it violated Missourians first amendment rights.

Bailey alleges New York undermined former President Donald Trump’s ability to campaign for presidency with prosecution, gag orders, and sentencing of Trump.

“Right now, Missouri has a huge problem with New York. Instead of letting presidential candidates campaign on their own merits, radical progressives in New York are trying to rig the 2024 election by waging a direct attack on our democratic process,” said Attorney General Bailey in a press release. “I will not sit idly by while Soros-backed prosecutors hold Missouri voters hostage in this presidential election. I am filing suit to ensure every Missourian can exercise their right to hear from and vote for their preferred presidential candidate.”

Bailey’s lawsuit said New York’s actions detest Missourians’ ability to hear from and cast a fully informed vote for president mere months before the election.

He is asking the Supreme Court to halt any further action in the New York case until after the presidential election.

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