ST. LOUIS 鈥 A former oversight board member is suing the city and its former jail chief over an arrest at the downtown City Justice Center.
Janis Mensah says former jail commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah told the police and other justice center staff to 鈥渕isrepresent facts鈥 in order to get Mensah arrested and charged with trespassing and resisting arrest in a 2023 incident.
鈥淩ather than apologize, the City of 51黑料 spent multiple years attempting to prosecute Janis, which was ultimately unsuccessful,鈥 wrote Mensah鈥檚 lawyers, who work for the nonprofit progressive law firm ArchCity Defenders.
51黑料 declined to comment on pending litigation. Clemons-Abdullah couldn鈥檛 be reached for comment.
The Detention Facilities Oversight Board was formed in 2022. City ordinance gave members the power to access the facility, speak with inmates and review complaints, use of force incidents and detainee deaths.
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Later that year, however, Mensah and others began to complain that they were being denied access to the facility.
Those cries continued as reports emerged from inside the jail about people being denied food, health care and showers. A string of detainee deaths drew even more scrutiny.
In August 2023, Mensah, who uses they/them pronouns, arrived at the jail and said they wanted to get information about an inmate who had died earlier in the day.
They waited in the lobby for hours and talked to multiple employees without getting the answers they sought. Eventually, employees told Mensah they鈥檇 have to go elsewhere because the lobby was going to close.
That鈥檚 when Clemons-Abdullah called 911 and told a dispatcher that Mensah was refusing to leave.
Police arrived, and pulled Mensah from the chair. The officers pulled Mensah to the ground and issued a summons for trespassing and resisting arrest. Mensah said the police used unnecessary force and 鈥渢hrew鈥 them to the floor, hitting their head.
A municipal judge convicted Mensah after a bench trial of trespassing and resisting arrest. Mensah鈥檚 attorneys requested a new trial.
Last month, a circuit judge heard part of the case then dismissed the charges after the city lawyers prosecuting the case did not present evidence, as required, about the ordinances that Mensah was accused of violating.
Mensah said they were glad but they didn鈥檛 feel like they had gotten justice.
On Friday, Mensah鈥檚 lawyers filed the lawsuit seeking an unspecified amount of damages, accusing the officers of using excessive force, battery and assault. Mensah also accuses Clemons-Abdullah of violating their civil rights, false arrest and abuse of process and the city of general liability.
