The St. Louis Observer: July 2, 2021
Victims of police violence seek justice; a landmark legal victory for Sunshine Law & transparency advocates; Missouri Supreme Court schedules execution for man with intellectual disabilities
Editor’s Note
In a cruel twist this week, leading up to Independence Day, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld two Arizona laws that chipped away at the very foundation of this country: our right to vote. Gutting what remained of the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court determined that restrictive absentee ballot laws had a “minor” impact on Black and Latine communities and that states didn’t have to wait for (albeit non-existent) voter fraud to occur in order to enact restrictive voting laws.
This weekend, many Americans will celebrate the birth of the United States, founded as much on the preservation of slavery and genocide of indigenous peoples as the promise of freedom. Let us remember that, right now, we are not truly free.
So long as Black Americans continue to be disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system, robbed of another year of reparations, and targeted by state violence -- none of us are truly free. So long as Americans of AAPI descent continue to be mercilessly attacked in the streets, targeted by rising violence and hateful rhetoric -- none of us are truly free.
So long as Latine children are held in cages by multiple U.S. presidents, detained indefinitely without their parents, proper medical care, or adequate education -- none of us are truly free.
Emma Lazarus, author of “The New Colossus” poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty, said, “until we are all free, we are none of us free.” This Fourth of July, we challenge you to consider what independence truly means for all Americans.
In the News
Victims of police violence seek accountability
The family of Donald R. Clark, Sr. - an elderly Black veteran who was murdered by the St. Louis Police Department after police executed an unlawfully obtained no-knock warrant at Clark’s house - has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of St. Louis and some notorious police officers (including repeat civil rights defendant Nicholas Manasco). The lawsuit alleges that SLMPD officers lied and fabricated evidence to obtain the search warrant for Clark’s home; Judge Barbara Peebles in St. Louis City signed the warrants. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Robert Patrick, Taylor Tiamoyo Harris]
The U.S. Supreme Court revived a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Nicholas Gilbert, a 27-year-old man who died in SLMPD custody from what police claimed to be a “suicide attempt.” The highest court’s ruling found that the appeals court had not considered “police department guidance on moving a handcuffed person off his stomach or whether restraining someone in the prone position was constitutional if that person appears to be resisting police.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Joel Currier]
Normandy Police Chief Mark Hall is refusing to resign from his office after a Sunshine Request revealed a police reporting detailing domestic abuse while Hall worked as a St. Louis Metropolitan police officer. In a state where police misconduct is not tracked and officers are able to jump between departments, Hall’s history in law enforcement is not atypical: after leaving SLMPD, Hall worked as an officer in University City and in private security until the City of Normandy hired him in December 2020. [KMOV/Lauren Trager]
Missouri Senate Bill 26, establishing a “police bill of rights” in the State, awaits Governor Mike Parson’s signature. The bill would severely restrict a city’s ability to decrease its police budget, directly attacking the Defund the Police movement, and would close police misconduct records under RSMo. §610, also known as the Sunshine Laws. [KSDK/Uncredited Author(s)]
FY22 budget goes into effect, public investment in City, County jails continues
St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s FY22 budget began on Thursday, July 1. After the Board of Aldermen was unable to pass any amendments to the Board of Estimate & Apportionment’s proposed budget, SLMPD lost approximately $4 million of its $171 million budget to homeless services, housing support, and crime victim support programs, among others. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Mark Schlinkmann]
The City continues to improve conditions inside of the City Justice Center (CJC) as the Workhouse remains closed and the Department of Public Safety continues to assess decades of neglect and poor repairs within both facilities. The Workhouse was officially defunded starting at the start of the City’s fiscal year, Thursday, July 1. [Riverfront Times/Jenna Jones]
In launching its investigation into the St. Louis County Justice Center, the St. Louis County Jail Advisory received only one bid from a third-party investigator. The search comes after former St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce conducted an internal review of the St. Louis County Justice Center, where the former jail director was heavily blamed and no practical recommendations to improve the conditions of the facility for those detained inside of it. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Nassim Benchaabane]
Victories for data and public records transparency advocates
A week after local media reported that St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department had not published crime data for more than six months - in a time period where police reform and department budget cuts rule the headlines - SLMPD finally updated its data. The Post-Dispatch’s coverage includes an interactive map where readers can compare rates of crime across the City; year-by-year comparison, however, is not yet available. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Erin Heffernan]
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in favor of transparency advocate Elad Gross and against Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Governor Mike Parson, finding that attorney’s fees cannot be charged by a government for redacting public records. Parson’s office demanded nearly $4,000 for the production of open public records requested by Gross, with attorney’s fees for redaction comprising the majority of those fees. [Missouri Independent/Tessa Weinberg]
Further reading
St. Louis City Circuit Court Presiding Judge Michael Stelzer has appointed Johnson County Prosecutor Robert W. Russell as “Special Prosecutor” in the ongoing prosecution of William Tisaby, the private investigator hired by Circuit Attorney Gardner’s Office during her criminal investigation of disgraced former Governor Eric Greitens. Johnson County is a mostly rural, mostly white county southwest of Kansas City and includes a population of fewer than 50,000 people. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Joel Currier]
The U.S. House voted 285-120 to remove from the Capitol a bust of Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, who wrote the 1857 Missouri-based Dred Scott decision that stripped all Black persons living in the U.S. of their citizenship. Taney’s bust will be replaced by that of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who was the first Black person appointed to the Supreme Court. [Missouri Independent/Laura Olson]
A North County apartment complex has been accused by tenants of violating the federal and local eviction moratorium. Tenants of Oak Park Apartments in Spanish Lake, owned by a Colorado company, report that they have received fake eviction notices with phony case numbers and that the management company refuses to accept CDC declarations from tenants. [KMOV/Chris Nagus]
Police data shows that nearly 70% of all homicides in St. Louis took place in low-income neighborhoods with little to no access to a grocery store within a half-mile radius. Community-rooted organizations like Heru Urban Farming, Hyde Park Market, and EVOLVE work in coalition to address the “food apartheid” of North St. Louis and organize around the “root causes that leave communities unable to access fresh, healthy foods.” [Missouri Independent/Hurubi Meko]
A federal judge has ruled that the residency requirement under Missouri’s medical marijuana laws was unconstitutional, opening the door for out-of-state corporations and investors to have greater participation in the expanding market. [Missouri Independent/Jason Hancock]
Quote of the Week
Defendant Strode requested and received “no knock” warrants in 100% of the 27 search warrant applications Plaintiffs’ counsel identified in the year prior to Mr. Clark’s killing, highlighting his indiscriminate authorization of SWAT without a reasonable basis.
Read more of the federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the family of Donald R. Clark, Sr. The family is represented by ArchCity Defenders and civil rights attorney Jerryl T. Christmas.
Legislative & Legal Updates
City of St. Louis
The FY22 Budget as passed by the Board of Estimate & Apportionment took effect on Thursday, July 1, without further amendments by the Board of Aldermen. Ongoing political stunts prevented the Board’s Ways & Means Committee from meaningful movement on Board Bill 1, leaving the E & A Board’s version to take effect at the start of the City’s fiscal year.
Note: the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen breaks for summer recess on Friday, July 16, and the aldermanic committees are meeting prior to the break.
We ask that in the next two weeks, that you consider reviewing the City’s Aldermanic Committee Calendar and signing up to either present oral testimony or submit written testimony on board bills that impact all of us.
We echo our call-to-action last week because there are several incredibly important pending Board Bills that St. Louis needs, including Board Bill 2 (distributing American Recovery Act funds to St. Louisans; presently held up in HUDZ Committee); Board Bill 22 (legislatively halting evictions in St. Louis City; currently stalled in Public Safety Committee); and Board Bill 31 (regulating security and access to data collected by SLMPD; also stalled in Public Safety Committee).
Take Action
Earlier this week, the Missouri Supreme Court issued an execution warrant for Ernest Johnson, a man who is intellectually disabled and who has been on Missouri’s death row for more than 20 years. Although Mr. Johnson meets the three-part test to determine that he is intellectually disabled, the state’s highest court nevertheless proceeded forward with executing Mr. Johnson.
Missouris for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (MADP) is coordinating actions and organizing next steps to support the ongoing legal fight to save Mr. Johnson. Follow them on social media @MADPMO and read “10 Things You Can Do in the Wake of an Execution” to learn more about advocating for those on Missouri’s Death Row.
Mr. Johnson’s execution has been scheduled for October 5, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. at the Eastern Reception and Diagnostic Correctional Center in Bonne Terre.