St. Louis Observer: January 21, 2021
Bill to abolish death penalty introduced at #MOLeg; STL BOA targets nonpartisan elections; MO DOC accused of covering up inmate's violent murder; Ferguson officer pleads guilty to falsifying records
Editor’s Note
Mere days after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday - a day that memorializes the Civil Rights movement leader - the U.S. Senate voted to reject the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would have restored and strengthened the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Both Missouri Senators Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley voted against the bill.
Blunt’s and Hawley’s votes against the John Lewis Voting Rights Act align with the political positions of their predecessors Missouri: starting with Thomas Hart Benton, the state’s first senator who actively promoted white supremacy and architect of the genocidal Manifest Destiny movement, to Waldo P. Johnson and former governor Trusten Polk, both proslavery and expelled for supporting the Confederacy, Missouri senators have a storied history of preserving the status quo and protecting racist institutions to the benefit of white Anglo-Christians (men, especially). Many antebellum Missouri senators participated in human trafficking and exploited slave labor. Although Missouri senator John B. Henderson co-authored the Thirteenth Amendment to generally abolish slavery in the U.S., it’s worth remembering the loophole within the Amendment that still permits the enslavement of persons who are incarcerated and the exploitation of their labor.
We shouldn’t be surprised by Blunt’s and Hawley’s rejection of solidifying voting rights and access; after all, we live in a state that has yet to send a Black senator to represent us in Congress. But among the out-of-context quotes and misstating of Dr. King’s words by Missouri Republicans on Monday, one fact was certain: Missouri’s legacy of white supremacy, upholding racism in all its forms, is alive and well. Absent an incentive to change, for example, State Representative Nick Schroer and Attorney General Eric Schmitt will continue to twist Dr. King’s words to undermine racial justice and equity efforts. State Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman will once again unironically post Dr. King’s “Letters from a Birmingham Jail,” blissfully unaware that she is the very embodiment of the white power structures referenced in the letters.
Missouri is the literal and metaphorical heart of the United States, and for better or worse, we serve as the “thermometer” of the nation on social and political issues. Our state legislators are the personification of this “thermometer,” routinely introducing bills that ban the accurate teaching of the racial history of our country, or prohibiting women from accessing vital healthcare, or limiting the educational or employment opportunities for Black and brown Missourians.
We then see those values reflected at the national level; we observe the political stagnation that allows white supremacy to persevere.
In the News
Police and prosecutorial accountability
Former Ferguson police officer Jackie Matthews has pleaded guilty to the federal charge of falsifying records in a federal investigation. During a hearing in the Eastern District, Matthews admitted to beating a handcuffed man who posed no threat to the officer and then lied in his following police reporting, recommending charges against the victim of assaulting a law enforcement officer and property damage. Matthews faces 15 - 21 months incarceration and is scheduled for sentencing on April 20. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Robert Patrick]
Republican State Rep. Tony Lovasco of O’Fallon has introduced H.B. 1612, which would abolish the death penalty for all future criminal charges in the State of Missouri (the bill does leave previously-ordered death sentences unaffected). Two executions (Walter Barton in May 2020 and Ernest Johnson in October 2021) have put Missouri in the national spotlight as carrying out death sentences for unreliable and questionably-obtained convictions. [eMissourian/William Skipworth]
St. Louis County has agreed to pay former jailer Kurtis Bromeier $160,000 related to injuries allegedly received when Bromeier and another jailer beat a disabled inmate. Both jailers were indicted on state criminal charges related to the beating, but only Bromeier was offered a two-year probation agreement by County Prosecutor Wesley Bell. Bromeier’s charges related to the assault are expected to be dismissed upon successful completion of his probation. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Joel Currier]
Economic development in St. Louis City and County
In a move unfamiliar for most St. Louis-area developers, Alderperson Tina Pihl (Ward 17) has chosen to stay silent about the “price” for her support of major developments within the Cortex project in Midtown. Pihl has cited a 2021 report that identified the need for more affordable housing in St. Louis and she already has renegotiated a development deal with the City Foundry project that included a $1.8 million pledge to the City’s affordable housing trust fund. Her position on including more equitable provisions in central corridor development contracts has been supported by the Mayor’s Office. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Jacob Barker]
Further reading
The St. Louis County Jail is now distributing Narcan kits to persons released from county detention, courtesy of a federal Department of Justice grant to address a rise in opioid overdose deaths. The grant also funded additional jail staff, including a full-time case manager and a part-time law clerk. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Joel Currier]
Understaffing at a Missouri Department of Corrections facility led to the violent murder of inmate Joshua Hewitt, after other inmates were allowed to brutally beat Hewitt for 40 minutes before correctional staff intervened. The DOC acknowledged that Hewitt sustained serious injuries but refused to release details related to the internal conditions which enabled Hewitt’s death. [Riverfront Times/Ryan Krull]
Alderwoman Sharon Tyus (Ward 1) has introduced a bill at the Board of Aldermen to repeal the City’s recently-implemented nonpartisan approval voting system, which overwhelmingly passed in 2020 with nearly 70% of voters approving the measure. Tyus’ bill, co-sponsored by Board President Lewis Reed and other “Establishment” aldermen, would reinstate partisan primaries and would move the dates of municipal elections in the City. [St. Louis American/Dana Rieck; St. Louis Public Radio/Rachel Lippmann]
Republican State Representative Michael Davis of Kansas City has introduced a bill that would amend the state law that blocks the federal “Right to Try Act,” which would allow certain Missouri patients to legally use psychedelic compounds like psilocybin and MDMA. The bill would also reduce the state-level criminal sentences for possession of psychedelic compounds but does not include any retroactive provisions that would apply to individuals currently serving sentences related to possession of psychedelics. [Riverfront Times/Danny Wicentowski]
Plans to place one of the City’s successful intentional encampments for unhoused persons were halted after Alderman James Page (Ward 5) raised issues about the placement. Previous City-established encampments have provided mental health services, healthcare, job training, pathways to transitional housing, and other vital services. Page told the Post-Dispatch that he has to consider business owners of Downtown before supporting an encampment in his ward. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Mark Schlinkman]
Legislative & Legal Update
City of St. Louis
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. On January 14, the language of the bill was finalized and passed by the full Board. The bill now awaits the Mayor’s signature.
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, with no further action taken.
Resolution 159, sponsored by Aldermen Sharon Tyus (Ward 1), Jeffrey Boyd (Ward 22), and Pamela Boyd (Ward 27), would resolve that any new or expanded facility for unhoused persons be constructed in wards that do not already have facilities. This resolution was assigned to the Health and Human Services Committee on January 14, 2022.
State of Missouri
The Missouri State Legislature resumed on January 5, 2022. Below are some of the bills that were either pre-filed or made movement in the first few days of session.
HB 1476, introduced by Rep. Nick Schroer (R-St. Charles), would remove the City of St. Louis’ control over its own police department and return to state control. The bill was read a second time on January 6, 2022.
HB 1897, introduced by Rep. Kimberly-Ann Collins (D-St. Louis), would establish a Corrections Nursery Program, to keep incarcerated mothers and their infants together. A public hearing was completed on the bill on January 12, 2022.
HB 2333, introduced by Rep. Rasheen Aldridge (D-St. Louis), would reform the state’s current cash bail system and would require county jails to conduct risk assessments of persons detained within 24 hours of arrest. The bill was read a second time on January 10, 2022.
HB 2338, also introduced by Rep. Aldridge, would decriminalize certain prostitution offenses and would redefine “unlawful commercial sex act” within state law. The bill was read a second time on January 10, 2022.
HB 2431, introduced by Rep. LaKeySha Bosley (D-St. Louis), would make Juneteenth an official state holiday. The bill had its second reading on January 13, 2022.