On Monday, September 12, the Freedom Center of Missouri asked a St. Louis County judge to reconsider her decision to dismiss one of its cases. This lawsuit asks whether Hazelwood, Missouri, has violated its citizens’ constitutionally-protected property rights by prohibiting kids from selling cookies from a temporary stand in their own driveway. The judge’s original order had stated that the Court would not consider the family’s challenge to the cookie stand prohibition unless they first went before the Hazelwood Board of Zoning Adjustment. The problem, as explained by the Freedom Center’s Motion to Amend Judgment, is that the Board of Adjustment is only permitted to consider certain types of appeals – none of which is presented by the Mills family’s case. Additionally, the Missouri Supreme Court has repeatedly said that citizens need not “exhaust administrative remedies” where their lawsuit only presents questions of law, which can only properly be answered by the courts.
