Parker v. City School Superintendent, 54678
| Decision Date | 09 March 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 54678,No. 2,54678,2 |
| Citation | 451 S.W.2d 10 |
| Parties | Merle E. PARKER, Appellant, v. CITY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT William Kottmeyer; Assistant Superintendent Clyde Miller; Robert M. Young, Principal of Southwest High School; John Close, Assistant Principal of Southwest High School, Respondents |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Merle E. Parker, pro se.
Leo Lying, Russell N. MacLeod, St. Louis, for respondent.
BARRETT, Commissioner.
Merle E. Parker, a property owner in Douglas and Ozark Counties and a resident of Thornfield in Ozark County, instituted in his own behalf, this suit to recover $250,000.00 damages. The defendants are William Kottmeyer, city superintendent of schools in the City of St. Louis, Clyde Miller, assistant superintendent, Robert M. Young, the principal of Southwest High School and his assistant, John Close. While the suit is to recover damages in his behalf he alleges that he is motivated by his interest in law enforcement and the morals of young people in general. The theory, allegedly, of his suit, one of a series by Mr. Parker, is that the defendants, public servants paid by public funds, 'flouting' the laws of the state have entered into a conspiracy 'to teach, entice and encourage minor children to indulge in practices which are forbidden by the laws of the State of Missouri.' Specifically he refers to Sections 563.880 and 563.890, RSMo 1959 (Laws Mo.1903, p. 164; Laws Mo.1909, p. 447), making the sale or the supplying of cigarettes and the public smoking of cigarettes by any person 'over the age of ten years and under the age of eighteen years' a misdemeanor. It is not alleged that these school officials, the superintendent and the principal and their assistants, sold or supplied children in their care cigarettes or tobacco but that Mr. Kottmeyer by 'proclamation' for the guidance of principals of schools decreed that 'a room in each school could be set aside as a 'smoking lounge' for high school students. And it is alleged that Mr. Young and his assistant, pursuant to the superintendent's proclamation, set aside a room in Southwest High School as a 'smoking lounge. " All this conduct by the defendants is alleged to be a 'conspiracy' and a violation of law 'which can lead to a gradual and complete breakdown of law and order.' As to the plaintiff Parker it is said that the conduct of the defendants, its cumulative effect and pervasiveness, is so far-reaching 'that the damage to Plaintiff is such that it would be difficult to place a maximum figure upon it' but whereof he prays in his own behalf damages of $250,000.00. The trial court, on motion, dismissed the petition for failure to state a claim or cause of action and the plaintiff Parker has appealed.
In his brief the appellant makes four rather abstract points as to the responsibilities of citizens, of which he is an example, 'to aid in the administration of justice and in the...
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Parker v. Wallace
...Plaintiff again represented himself in the trial of this case, as he has done on a number of other occasions. See Parker v. City School Superintendent, Mo., 451 S.W.2d 10; Parker v. Chamber of Commerce of Ava, Mo., 447 S.W.2d 280; Parker v. Moody, Mo., 446 S.W.2d 596; Parker v. Lowery, Mo.,......