Do you want armed "Rangers" in your kids schools?

I'm Anna Garcia, host of True Crime News, the podcast. Every week, we bring you in-depth coverage on cases making headlines, as well as those that go under the radar. Tune in for murders that defy explanation, mystery seeking exploration, and shocking secrets that will leave you breathless. Each week, we honor the victims by going beyond the salacious in our search for justice. Crime never stops. And neither do we. Listen to true crime news available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to Total Information AM here on KMOX. I'm Megan Lynch. Do you want armed rangers in your kids' school? That's what legislation sitting on Governor Mike Kehoe's desk would do. KMOX legal analyst Brad Young partner at Harris Young and Kaiser joins me now for our weekly visit. Good morning, Brad. Good morning, Megan. So apparently this measure, approved by the Missouri House and Senate, would allow schools to either bring in a volunteer or paid guards called Missouri Rangers. They could carry a gun on school grounds. They'd have specialized training in close quarter combat and bomb and arson techniques. What legal questions does this raise in your mind if the governor signs it? Well, the legal questions, Megan, aren't so much about whether this is legal, but what happens afterwards? When you look at the actual bill, it requires that these Missouri Rangers, they have to go through the exact same. It's called post-training, the peace officer standards and training commission. So they have to go through the same training as regular police officers have to go through. Obviously, I don't think that there's going to be any big legal challenge to this. But the question becomes later. I mean, for example, if something happens at a school and these rangers are involved, the questions are going to be, did a school district follow the statute? Did a ranger comply with federal school zone gun laws or did the ranger use reasonable force? And if a student, parent, or bystander is hurt, who's liable? Is it the ranger, the school district, or both? Those are questions that we have. that really apply after something happened more so than before. The other question that I have for you, and I think a lot of parents whose kids go through these drills, intruder drills on a regular basis, know the stress it puts on kids. Could a parent sue a school district for psychological distress if a district has an armed ranger and it creates more stress for kids? Yeah, I don't see that that type of litigation would be successful because legally, Missouri, as all states do, have the right to provide security for school districts. The question, though, becomes... As I said before, what happens after an incident if a school, if a Missouri Ranger did something improperly, does that then create liability for the state because of psychological problems that students may have as a result of the actions of the Ranger? We don't know that yet. That's not contained in this particular statute, and that would have to be decided by a court later on.

Brad, there was an update this week in the Luigi Mangione case. Of course, he's the man accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk. He's lost his attempt to keep a gun out of evidence in his trial. Talk about, you know, what was excluded, what's not, and why. This is really making a masterclass in how evidence is admitted and how it's excluded. Because if we've all seen a video of him being arrested at the McDonald's, what happened procedurally is that the police handcuffed Luigiini, moved the backpack away from him and then searched the backpack without a warrant. The judge held that that was improper because it was outside of the defendant's control. So there couldn't have been a gun in there and he couldn't have used it to harm the police officers. However, later on. when it was at the police station, the police could search the bag in order to inventory what was with him at the time of his arrest. And that's when they found the gun. They found a silencer. They found a notebook and writings that are relevant to motive and planning and identity. And so those things get to come into evidence. So it's a mixed bag for the defense in terms of how the judge ruled. Now with any of this, depending on what happens in this trial ultimately, are all these things appealable if he's convicted? Yeah, what's appealable, it depends on how the verdict turns out in terms of whether it's appeal or not. But remember that up on appeal, judges on appeal. and courts on appeal, don't determine whether someone's guilty or innocent. All they determine is, did the judge make the right decision when it comes to these procedural issues? And so that could be an appealable issue if a later court feels that the judge, rather, made the wrong decision in terms of excluding and admitting evidence. One last thing I want to talk to you about is an article that caught my attention. New research is showing that more people are using AI to try to represent themselves in court without an attorney. What are your thoughts on this and the risks this poses? Well, I'm actually dealing with this right now myself with pro se litigants who are using AI. And it allows them to create documents that look like they should be good for the courts. But the AI isn't a lawyer, did not go to law school and doesn't know how to do this. So this is something that's being driven by cost because it's cheap for a litigant to use AI. But it doesn't necessarily mean that the documents being filed with the courts are correct, legitimate. or persuasive when it comes to making a judge reach a decision. Now, some people are concerned that this is going to overload the courts with cases. Do you have that same concern?

I do. I do because when people can't hire attorneys, many times it's because their case doesn't warrant hiring an attorney. And so being able to use AI to file and to proceed with litigation that shouldn't really have been brought in the first place, that's going to make the courts even busier than they already are. And that obviously is a problem. What do people do if, for example, they do have a case, but they legitimately cannot find or cannot afford adequate representation? Well... For example, right here in Missouri, the Missouri Bar and the St. Louis Bar Association both have legal referral services for individuals who can't afford to hire an attorney. And some of that can be subsidized depending on the type of litigation. So there are legal avenues for people to pursue litigation when they simply can't afford it. But even then, Megan, it's important to know that that litigation in of itself has to be valid, has to be something that the courts can resolve. And for those situations, where people cannot find attorneys because their case isn't valid, AI is really going to create an avenue for them to litigate invalid cases. All right. That is Camelwax legal analyst Brad Young, partner at Harris Young, and Kaiser joins us every Wednesday morning. Thank you so much, Brad. My pleasure, Megan. As the school year ramps up, so does the time your family spends online, whether it's helping with homework, managing busy schedules, or staying connected. It's a great time to refresh your digital life, but you need a digital sidekick that works quietly in the background without slowing you down. That's where WebRute comes in. WebRut offers flexible protection for individuals and families, from standalone products to all-in-one bundles. While you handle the back-to-school rush, WebRut works to block harmful websites before you click. Keeps your password secure and easy to manage and even optimizes your devices to keep them running smoothly. It's fast, light, and effective protection designed for your everyday life. Go to webroot.com slash odyssey to get 60% off today. That's webroot.com slash odyssey. Live a better digital life with web route. Because peace of mind shouldn't be optional. Visit webroot.com slash odyssey today to get 60% off. Again, that's webroot.com slash odyssey. Make money from your podcast with the Odyssey Creator Lab. You create the show. We bring the advertisers. Apply now at creators.odicy.com.