St. Louis Observer: December 10, 2021
Defining "abolition;" St. Louis City challenges police bill of rights; mega-developers seeking TIFs put on notice across the metro region; proposed ward map approved by City Counselor
Editor’s Note
For our Editor’s Note this week, we would like to revisit the term “abolition” and to share with our readership how that term influences our weekly newsletter.
At the St. Louis Observer, we believe that a world without prisons and police is possible and we support efforts - locally, statewide, and federally - to tear down those institutions. We view the current criminal legal system as a remnant of slavery, propped up by post-Civil War constitutional amendments that have authorized forced labor and human trafficking under a different name. We recognize that our current legal system does nothing to deter murders, sexual assaults, and other violent crimes. In the words of Ruth Wilson Gilmore, “[e]veryone who says it’s unrealistic to demand more willfully ignores the fact that to use law enforcement, as the U.S. does, to manage the fallout from cutbacks in social services and the upward rush in income and wealth is breathtakingly expensive, while it cheapens human life.”
We believe that the abolition movement can create an equitable world that addresses the root causes of crime, rendering incarceration obsolete. Abolition underscores three pillars to achieving this vision: a moratorium on building new facilities, decarceration of those presently behind bars, and excarceration, or the redirection of persons away from circumstances where they may interact with police and/or prisons.
To that end, our weekly newsletter focuses on several core components of abolition in the St. Louis area, including police and prosecutorial accountability; the laws and policies that that impact communities of color; healthcare and social support access; public education; and economic development.
We believe that each of these facets is critical within the abolition movement and that St. Louis has both a history and a future therein.
In the News
Police and prosecutorial accountability
St. Louis City is challenging the “Police Bill of Rights” passed by the Missouri General Assembly last session, which gave officers accused of misconduct advanced notice before internal investigations begin and placed arbitrary timeframes on those investigations. The law is being challenged on the basis that it conflicts with the St. Louis City Charter and the police disciplinary procedures established by the City under that document. [Missouri Independent/Rebecca Rivas; St. Louis American/Dana Rieck]
A former St. Louis Metropolitan police officer has pleaded guilty to three mail fraud charges after admitting to falsifying time sheets to City Wide Security, a private security company that contracts with Tower Grove South Concerned Citizens Special Business District. Federal prosecutors have alleged that Brad Stephens failed to show up for shifts and collected more than $50,000 before he was fired in August 2019. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Robert Patrick]
Former Franklin County detective Ryan Shomaker pleaded guilty to statutory sodomy after sexually assaulting a 13-year old boy over the course of three (3) years. St. Louis County Circuit Judge Joseph Dueker - spouse of St. Louis Police Officers Association attorney and lobbyist Jane Dueker - sentenced Shomaker only to five years of probation for his years-long sexual abuse of the teenager, which took place across several counties. [EMissourian/Ethan Colbert; St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Staff Reports]
A St. Charles state representative has pre-filed a bill to return St. Louis City’s police department to state control and to eliminate the position of St. Louis Circuit Attorney. In a move identical to the racist pro-slavery governor who originally removed local control of St. Louis’ police department during the Civil War, Rep. Nick Schroer also has proposed to merge the 21st and 22nd judicial circuits in direct retaliation against Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Jack Suntrup]
The merger of St. Louis’ three separate 911 systems - one each for police, fire department, and emergency medical services - has been delayed as the City continues to hire sufficient staff while relocating the dispatch center to 1225 Spruce Street. Only around 62% of calls to 911 in St. Louis City were answered within 10 seconds, slightly below the national average of 64% of calls. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Erin Heffernan]
Economic development in St. Louis City and County
The new administration of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones has caused a shake-up in the St. Louis City development community - putting builders and developers on notice that the City no longer will engage in “sweetheart” deals as previous mayors have. By employing harder negotiation stances, the Jones Administration has been able to promote more equitable development policies by leveraging the economic strength of the Central Corridor to redirect tax incentives toward under-developed parts of the City. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Jacob Barker]
Webster Groves City Council rejected a rezoning change that effectively killed a $320 million development proposal that would have placed 800 housing units and 100,000 square feet of retail space in a flood plain. Webster Groves residents vocally protested the plan because of the $35 million in tax incentives and the eminent domain required to build the project. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Steph Kukuljan]
Further reading
Black political power is being threatened in St. Louis County as white Republican County Council members propose a bill for nonpartisan elections. The County Council’s proposal does not include approval voting, a 2020 measure that passed in St. Louis City, where racial demographics and political affiliation differ greatly from the County. [Missouri Independent/Rebecca Rivas]
St. Louis City Counselor Sheena Hamilton has approved of a ward redistricting plan as proposed by the Board of Alderman, stating that she believed the new map would withstand any potential legal challenges based on federal voting rights laws. The final map creates seven majority-Black wards and seven majority-white wards and population deviations within the map fall within federally-established thresholds. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Mark Schlinkmann]
Reproductive healthcare clinics in the St. Louis area are preparing for potential legal backlash from expected Supreme Court opinions that may impact Roe v. Wade. Granite City’s Hope Clinic expects more than 14,000 patients traveling from Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Tennessee to seek healthcare, if Mississippi’s restrictive abortion ban is upheld by the Court and effectively ends a person’s right to abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy. [Riverfront Times/Jenna Jones]
A prefiled bipartisan bill in the Missouri Senate aims to expand healthcare coverage for low-income women from the current 60 days to a full year after giving birth. Missouri women enrolled in the state Medicaid program are four times more likely to die in childbirth compared to women with private health insurance, and Black women in Missouri are four times more likely to die within a year of childbirth compared to white women. [Missouri Independent/Tessa Weinberg]
Minimum wage in Missouri is set to increase to $11.15 an hour in 2022, as part of 2018’s Proposition B, passed statewide. Despite state Republican efforts to slow the gradual phases of increasing the minimum wage, the state minimum wage will see its final increase of $0.85 in 2023. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Jack Suntrup]
A coalition to legalize recreational marijuana use in Missouri aims to obtain enough signatures to place an initiative on the ballot in 2022. The initiative would include an automatic expungement for persons convicted of nonviolent marijuana charges and would vacate all sentences currently being served by individuals incarcerated under Missouri marijuana criminal statutes. [Riverfront Times/Danny Wicentowski]
In an effort to tap into federal COVID-19 funds that have gone undistributed to much-needed housing and education programs, Gov. Mike Parson has proposed that all state jobs enact a $15 minimum wage and other state employees receive a 5.5% cost-of-living pay raise. Parson previously has vetoed legislation passed by the General Assembly that would have raised the wages and salaries of state employees, but did approve of raises for the embattled Missouri Department of Corrections earlier this year. [Missouri Independent/Rudi Keller]
Evictions in St. Louis County and St. Charles County have restarted in the absence of a federal, state, or local moratorium protecting renters during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the State of Missouri fails to timely distribute much-needed federal housing assistance, the number of evictions have started to rise. St. Louis City Sheriff Vernon Betts announced in mid-November that his office would be freezing evictions through the end of the holidays. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Janelle O’Dea]
A prefiled bill in the Missouri House of Representatives would remove law enforcement’s ability to cite to “the odor of marijuana” to conduct warrantless searches of vehicles, homes, and other private property. Rep. Ian Mackey of Richmond Heights cited to the state’s recent adoption of medical marijuana and the harassment faced by patients when police unlawfully search them on the basis of smell. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Jack Suntrup]
Quote of the Week
For our Quote of the Week, the chaos is too … well, chaotic … to transcribe for you here. We instead direct our readers to watch this clip from St. Louis PoliticClips of the Board of Alderman’s coin toss on December 8, 2021, to determine how the new wards would be numbered.
Watch the full coin toss mayhem here:
Legislative & Legal Update
City of St. Louis
BB 19, introduced by Ald. Joe Vaccaro (Ward 23), would establish a Detention Facility Oversight Board for the St. Louis City Jail. The bill was passed by the full board on December 3 and has been delivered to the Mayor’s Office.
BB 101, introduced by Ald. Vollmer (Ward 10) and President Reed, would allow the Board of Aldermen to redraw their own ward boundary lines in consideration of voter-approved ward reduction and recent census numbers. The bill has been perfected as of December 8.
BB 118, introduced by Ald. Jesse Todd (Ward 18) would allocate $1.1 million received under the federal YouthBuilds grant program, distributing the first $80,000 received to SLATE. This bill was passed out of Committee on December 7 had its second reading during Committee on December 8.
BB 119, introduced by Ald. Todd and Ald. Ingrassia (Ward 6), would repeal the City’s current loitering ordinance and would provide a legal defense for the amended criminal charge of loitering. This bill has been held in the Public Safety Committee since November 16, 2021.
BB 132, introduced by Ald. Bret Narayan (Ward 24), would repeal local ordinances related to the possession of cannabis and paraphernalia in the City of St. Louis. The bill further would reorganize law enforcement priorities and amends the standards of “probable cause” & “reasonable suspicion” used by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The bill was passed by the full Board of Aldermen and delivered to the Mayor’s Office for signature.
State of Missouri
The Missouri State Legislature is on recess until January 5, 2022.
Take Action
St. Louis Winter Outreach continues its preparation efforts and is seeking volunteers to work with the collective to provide shelter and winter gear to unhoused St. Louisans.
The Jewish Community Relations Council has partnered with Winter Outreach and State Representative Kimberly Ann Collins for a Winter Supply Drive. The coalition is collecting donations of new and gently used blankets, pillows, coats, hats, scarves, gloves, boots, and clothes as well as new underwear, socks, towels, washcloths and toiletries. Information about drop-off locations and more may be found in the below post.