JEFFERSON CITY - The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that executing minors or persons convicted of crimes while juveniles violates the Constitution. In a 4-3 ruling, the court overturned the death sentence of Christopher Simmons, 27, of St. Louis, instead sentencing him to life in prison. At age 17, Simmons was convicted of murdering Shirley Cook. The case is now expected to head to the U.S. Supreme Court.

JEFFERSON CITY - A bill aimed at restricting unsolicited commercial e-mail, commonly known as "spam," takes effect today.

The bill requires spammers to indicate that an e-mail is an advertisment in the message's subject line and to provide a method for recipients to get removed from a spammers e-mail mailing list. Spammers who send e-mail to people who have requested not to be contacted can be fined as much as $5,000 per message.

Rather than establishing a registry of addresses spammers are forbiden to contact, as in the state's "no call" list, the bill requires individuals to contact each spammer seperately and request not to be contacted again.

JEFFERSON CITY - Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell told reporters Tuesday that he was dropping his campaign for re-election because of his wife's illness.

Maxell said his wife was suffering from an undiagnosed illness that was causing her severe pain that had moved from her hips to her ribs.

Maxwell said the time and energy required to assist his wife prevent full concentration on a re-election campaign.