ST. CHARLES COUNTY — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit in which state Rep. Justin Hicks accused a Missouri House candidate of releasing “private facts†when the candidate shared copies of protective orders filed by a woman who said Hicks assaulted and harassed her.
St. Charles County Circuit Judge W. Christopher McDonough Friday that the files had remained public for 11 years before being sealed in 2021 and none of their contents should be considered private.
“By electing to pursue a career in politics, (Hicks) necessarily chose to make details of his life, including the 2010 Order of Protection, a matter of public interest,†McDonough wrote.
“The individual right to privacy must give way to the general principle that matters of legitimate public concern may be published.â€
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Hicks, a Republican from Lake Saint Louis who is now running for Congress in Missouri’s 3rd District, filed the lawsuit last year against Max Calfo, a substitute teacher who is running to replace Hicks in the Missouri House.
Calfo, also of Lake Saint Louis, had published copies of protection orders on his website in which a woman accused Hicks of attempting to choke her and checked boxes saying he “caused harm to me,†“harassed me†and “placed me in fear or apprehension of immediate harm.â€
Calfo said in a text message Saturday that the lawsuit was “legally and morally wrong.â€
“Hicks was grossly unfit to hold public office,†he said, “and I’m thankful I don’t live in Iran or Turkey where something like this could’ve succeeded.â€
Hicks did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Saturday.
The lawsuit was initially filed in September 2023 under seal in St. Charles County, meaning that only attorneys or others with elevated access levels on the state’s court records website were able to access it.
The case was unsealed in April. The petition argued that Hicks was a minor at the time the protection order was filed and he was never charged. He also argued that he was a private citizen and was not running for office at the time the protection orders were sealed.
In a motion to dismiss the case, however, Calfo’s attorneys argued that Hicks’ “interest in confidentiality certainly does not outweigh the overriding constitutional interest in freedom of speech.â€
McDonough ordered the case be dismissed with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be re-filed.
Hicks is running against seven other Republicans for the GOP nomination in the 3rd Congressional District. Calfo has one challenger in the Republican primary to succeed Hicks in the Missouri House.