The St. Louis Observer: June 11, 2021
Eleventh hour fights over the City Corrections budget; Veiled Prophet Parade permit approved; continued conflict over Circuit Attorney's prosecution of Eric Greitens
Editor’s Note
St. Louis’s Veiled Prophet is a story that captures headlines, clicks, and the attention of the public, but in reality, the institution affects far fewer St. Louisans than the City’s continued commitment to detaining people without a trial.
The aldermanic debate over the closure of the Medium Security Institution (MSI; also known as “The Workhouse”) that has dominated budget hearings consistently circles back to questions about capacity at the City’s second jail, the City Justice Center (CJC). Locks need to be fixed, there aren’t enough guards, and the CJC doesn’t have enough blocks to appropriately isolate juvenile and female detainees. Alderpersons who oppose closing the Workhouse say, think of the detainees who will be transported outstate and away from their families, or the guards who will be less and less able to maintain order within the jail. The real issue - that of pretrial detention - is rarely raised by those same alderpersons or by the media covering the debate. The City’s responsibility to keep people behind bars always seems to be assumed.
Rarely noted in these aldermanic debates is that the detention of people pre-trial, held either on no bond or excessive bond, has always been a choice. Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and her office make recommendations to the Court that the people - who they have criminally charged - be held on bond while awaiting trial, in some cases for years, subjecting men and women to unsafe, unsanitary conditions without a trial or conviction. At any point in this budget process, the Circuit Attorney could announce a plan to address the CJC capacity issues by allowing for pretrial release of certain City detainees. Today, no such plan has been announced. And we are still waiting.
In the News
Clashes over Corrections budget continue less than two weeks before MSI’s scheduled closure
New footage was released by Senior Advisor for Public Safety Heather Taylor showing bugs, leaks, mold, other unsanitary conditions in the Medium Security Institution (The Workhouse), backing observations made by elected officials on a tour of the facility earlier this year. 1 [Riverfront Times / Danny Wicentowski]
Aldermen on the Ways & Means Committee criticized the Mayor’s established timeframe for closure of the Workhouse within her first 100 days in office, questioning CJC capacity and claims about conditions in MSI. Corrections officials said they have begun transferring some Workhouse inmates to other facilities, including the St. Louis City Justice Center.2 The acting Corrections Commissioner expects to close the facility before July 1 target, tentatively by June 20. 3 [St. Louis Public Radio / Chad Davis]
Aldermen also questioned the legality of the FY22 Corrections budget. Board President Lewis Reed argued at Thursday’s Ways & Means Committee meeting that Corrections’s effort to phase out the housing federal detainees, in an effort to address capacity issues at CJC, should be accounted for in the FY22 budget, or risk violating the state’s “balanced budget” rule for cities.4 The MSI is set to close in 10 days. [Ways + Means Cmte., 4/6/21]
Kemper apologizes for Veiled Prophet ties; City still approves parade permit
The Veiled Prophet Organization released a statement shortly after Ellie Kemper’s social media apology, acknowledging publicly for the first time her participation in the Veiled Prophet Ball in 1999. Her statement referred to the event as a “debutante ball,” calling the Organization “undeniably racist.” [Riverfront Times / Daniel Hill]
The day after Kemper’s statement, the City’s Board of Public Service (BPS) met to review outstanding items, including a pending special event permit for this year’s Veiled Prophet Parade.5 The permit was approved as a larger blanket approval by the Board of Public Service, where no discussion was had by members of the Board, and the public was not given the opportunity to testify about the issuance of the permit. [BPS 6/8/21]
More conflicts over Circuit Attorney Gardners’ lawsuit against Eric Greitens
St. Louis City Comptroller Darlene Green refused to pay legal fees for the special prosecutor appointed in the prosecution of William Tisaby, a special investigator involved with the prosecution of then-Governor Eric Greitens. Comptroller Green has stated that her office has not received invoices from Carmody MacDonald - the firm appointed to prosecute Tisaby in Circuit Attorney Gardner’s place - since 2019. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch / Joel Currier]
In a twist, Carmody MacDonald has filed its Motion to Withdraw from the prosecution of Special Investigator Tisaby. Confounding legal experts with the request to leave the case, the Carmody request comes after already receiving hundreds of thousands of St. Louis City taxpayer funds, a very favorable plea deal extended to Tisaby, and a change in the City’s Board of Estimates & Apportionments, which must approve any funds going to the outside law firm. [Riverfront Times / Ray Hartmann]
Further reading
Missouri Republicans are setting the stage for a legal clash with St. Louis & Kansas City leadership, following both cities’ reallocation of funds from police departments into other city services. Calling for a special session to attempt to retake the St. Louis Police Department, Republican lawmakers may seek to undermine local control, originally removed from St. Louis & Kansas City during the Civil War and only recently restored to St. Louis in 2012 via statewide ballot initiative. [Fulton Sun/Rebecca Rivas & Allison Kite]
Residents and elected leaders of Kinloch detailed the blight, land misuse, and problem property ownership by the largest holder of residential lots in the municipality: St. Louis City. Divestment from Missouri’s first and oldest Black town, caused primarily by the growth of Lambert International Airport, has created a “multi-governmental failure” that extends beyond the dereliction of St. Louis City- & County-owned properties. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch / Nassim Benchaabane]
Protesters responded to a white St. Charles County judge’s order for probation for a white would-be domestic terrorist who had been charged with possessing explosive devices and planning a targeted attack on Black Lives Matter protesters. Despite three guilty pleas and indications of a hate crime, Judge Deborah Allesi sentenced Cameron Swoboda to two consecutive seven-year suspended prison sentences and credit for time served, along with five years of probation, meaning that his completion of probation will result in the dismissal of the sentences & failure to comply will trigger the 14-year prison sentence. [St. Louis American / Dana Rieck]
A white St. Louis City judge acquitted a white former St. Louis City police officer of second-degree assault and armed criminal action after he was captured on bystander video footage approaching the Black victim and breaking his jaw without provocation. Judge Elizabeth Hogan found that, despite video footage of the encounter, Adam Feaman was “justified” in his use of force, including striking Jamal White in the head with a flashlight and punching his face. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch / Joel Currier]
Inconsistent, racially-biased data collected by Missouri officials has led to less-than-effective efforts to vaccinate Black and Latinx communities throughout the state. Although state officials have been aware of the incorrect and inaccurate data for months, there have been no efforts to fix the bad data or explain what is causing the inconsistencies. [Riverfront Times / Alex Smith]
Quote of the Week
Acting Corrections Commissioner Carson notes the role of the Circuit Attorney in maintaining the City’s jail population before the Ways & Means Committee late last week:
I can’t release anyone without a court order or the Circuit Attorney. That’s the way it has to go. Once they bring them to the jail, by state and local ordinance I have to accept them.
Legal Update
City of St. Louis
Ways & Means hearings continued for the FY22 budget. Aldermen on the committee have requested feedback from the Mayor’s office regarding plans to reconcile the budget as the City jail’s federal detainee population declines and anticipated loss of federal reimbursements to the Department of Corrections [Pres. Reed, BB 1]
Alderwoman Rice’s bill to regulate city use of surveillance technology, at the request of Ald. Rice, did not receive a hearing in the Public Safety Committee. She indicated that the bill is pending feedback from City department representatives [Ald. Rice, Ward 8, BB 31]
Five real estate development bills passed the general assembly this week, approving proposals to provide tax breaks to a downtown Hilton hotel, a riverfront fertilizer manufacturer, a daycare facility on the south side, and several residential projects. Eight aldermen voted “no” on the Hilton bill. Said bills will require final approval and signature by the Mayor’s office [Ald. Vacarro, Ward 23, BB 8; Ald. Davis, Ward 19, BB 9; Ald. Coatar, Ward 7, Res. 12; Ald. Clark-Hubbard, Ward 28, BB 25; Ald. Middlebrook, Ward 2, Res. 34]
State of Missouri
Attorney General Schmitt filed a responsive brief in Missouri Healthcare for All’s suit, arguing that Amendment 2 (which expanded Medicaid eligibility in Missouri) could not legally appropriate funds to cover the voter-approved expansion. The case is set to begin hearings June 18 [Missouri Independent / Rudi Keller]
A federal appeals court on Wednesday has upheld the trial court’s block of a Missouri law criminalizing abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy without exceptions for rape or incest.6 Attorney General Eric Schmitt plans to ask the US Supreme Court to review the case [Missouri Independent / Jason Hancock]
Take Action
Criticisms of the City’s timeline for closing the Workhouse, particularly capacity concerns at CJC, incorrectly assume that the population of detainees held pre-trial at city jails must remain constant. In reality, Circuit Attorney Gardner has the power to ease the City’s jail capacity by recommending that detainees currently held at MSI/CJC be allowed to return home awaiting trial, and to end the use of cash bail moving forward. No such plans have yet been released.
Read more about strategies for reducing our city’s incarcerated population from Arch City Defenders and 8 to Abolition.
This tour was launched in response to efforts by City aldermen to cast doubt on observations made by Mayor Jones, Rep. Bush in a tour earlier this year. The Riverfront Times recounted the efforts led by pro-police Alderman Joe Vaccaro, to undermine complaints by detainees, community activists, and Black elected officials.
It has previously been reported that there are active negotiations over the transfer of detainees to St. Louis County facilities, with similar concerns about jail capacity being raised. Plans to facilitate the pretrial release of detainees being transferred from MSI or currently held in CJC still have not been announced by the City or Circuit Attorneys’ office.
MO Rev Stat § 67.010 requires “balanced budgets” for cities and counties, prohibits municipalities from passing budgets in which proposed expenditures from any fund exceed the estimated revenues. DOC expects to lose approximately $5.7 million in associated federal reimbursements as a result of reductions in federal detention, which are currently reportedly being spent on personnel, healthcare, meals, other jail services. The potential impact, including loss of reimbursements as well as savings on food, healthcare, and personnel from the reduction is not contemplated in the FY22 budget. The FY22 budget does not note plans to phase out federal detainees as a result of closing MSI or otherwise. It’s unclear if this was included in DOC’s budget planning assumptions.
We previously reported on this in our first guest piece, Dethrone the Veiled Prophet, in which Devin O’Shea and the editorial team make the case for denial of the permit.
The subject law, the Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act, would criminalize physicians that perform abortions after the eight-week gestational period with between 5 and 15 years in prison.