JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, a Republican from St. Charles, has filed a bill asking for the ability to intervene in lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of state laws in cases where the attorney general declines to appeal or request a stay of the court ruling, the Associated Press reports.
The proposed legislation would give Dempsey and Missouri House Speaker John Diehl (R - Town and Country) the authority to intervene in cases challenging state laws.
Dempsey says Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has failed to fully defend the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in some recent cases.
Koster, a Democrat and candidate for Missouri governor in 2016, is a supporter of marriage equality but has said it is his job as attorney general to defend state law.
While Koster challenged back-to-back St. Louis state and Kansas City federal court decisions declaring Missouri's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, he did not appeal an earlier Jackson County decision in October 2014 that recognized same-sex marriages performed in other states.
According to Dempsey General Assembly leaders should have the right to intervene in such cases to defend state laws.
In December 2014, a Jackson County judge rejected efforts by the Missouri GOP leadership in the legislature to stop Kansas City from recognizing same-sex marriages from other states.