From Missouri Digital News: https://mdn.org

JEFFERSON CITY - Usually it is the spouse of a prisoner who seeks a divorce.

But on Tuesday, Sept. 8, Missouri's Supreme Court handed down a decision that rejected an effort by an inmate for an immediate divorce from his wife.

A lower court had rejected the divorce petition based on John McNeal's inability to leave the Jefferson City Correctional Center to be present for the court divorce hearing.

A state law restricts inmates from appearing in court for civil cases, but gives the judge authority to hold a non-jury trial with the inmate remaining in the prison.

But in McNeal's case, the circuit court simply dismissed his case for failure to appear.

McNea, who had represented himself in the case,l appealed directly to the state high court.

But in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court held that the appeal should have filed with the appellate court because the state high court does not have original jurisdiction to hear divorce appeals.

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Laura Stith wrote that the circuit court's dismissal of McNeal's divorce case raised a significant issue of constitutional rights that was a valid issue for the state high court to consider on direct appeal.

"The constitutional validity of the application of these Missouri statutes in a manner that denies the right to dissolve a marriage to prisoners such as Mr. McNeal who are unable to be present in court due to their incarceration presents a real and substantial issue," Stith wrote.

However, McNeal's divorce case is not finished.

Instead, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Western District Court of Appeals.

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