Robert True Donnelly (August 31, 1924 – June 16, 1999) was a judge on the Missouri Supreme Court from 1965 until 1988, and the chief justice of that same court twice, from 1973 to 1975 and again from 1981 to 1983. He was educated at the public schools of

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

and also did graduate work at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

. During his 23 years on the court, he authored 546 opinions. While Chief Justice, he drew headlines by criticizing the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

for interpreting the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constituti ...

beyond what the Founding Fathers "had envisioned."Terry Ganey, "Robert T. Donnelly, former Missouri Chief Justice." ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'', page D12. June 18, 1999. He also claimed that modern education was failing because it didn't "teach religious and moral values." He once called the Miranda Rule, "an example of tipping the balance in favor of the accused.""Our Rights in Court: How They've Changed." ''U.S. News & World Report'', page 40. November 1, 1982.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Robert True 1924 births 1999 deaths Politicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri University of Missouri alumni 20th-century Missouri state court judges Lawyers from Tulsa, Oklahoma 20th-century American lawyers Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Missouri