State Judge to take charge of city cases in Ferguson - NY Times

A state judge will take over municipal court cases in Ferguson, Mo., the Missouri Supreme Court announced Monday evening. The change comes days after the federal Department of Justice sharply criticized municipal courts in the St. Louis suburb for acting largely as a fund-raising operation that disproportionately fined and jailed black people.

Ronald J. Brockmeyer, the current municipal judge, resigned his post effectively immediately, according to a news release sent by a lawyer in his firm.

Judge Roy L. Richter, who had been serving on a state appeals court, will move to the Circuit Court in St. Louis County and hear the Ferguson cases.

“Judge Richter will bring a fresh, disinterested perspective to this court’s practices, and he is able and willing to implement needed reforms,” Chief Justice Mary R. Russell of the State Supreme Court said in a statement.

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