CLAYTON 鈥 Coalitions of leaders from civil rights groups, academia, houses of worship, law enforcement and medicine urged the Missouri Supreme Court in letters Thursday to free inmates from jails and prisons during the coronavirus pandemic.
A letter from Missouri Public Defender Mary Fox asked for the release of all people serving sentences in a city or county jail on probation violations, those at risk of illness or death because of health conditions, those convicted of misdemeanors or municipal ordinance violations, and those confined before trial on nonviolent misdemeanors, municipal ordinance violations or class C felony charges or lower. (Class C felonies include first-degree involuntary manslaughter and third-degree child molestation.)
Fox鈥檚 letter did not call for releasing inmates in state prisons, which are overseen by the state Department of Corrections, not the courts. In a brief interview, Fox said she had not received a response from her letter. A Supreme Court representative could not be reached for comment Thursday.
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But Tim Lohmar, president of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, said in a statement that such an order would be 鈥渦nwarranted and would undermine the cause of individual justice, disallowing judges from considering the relevant facts of each individual situation.鈥 The prosecutors group urged the court to let local courts and sheriffs decide on whom to release.
Fox said she did not know how many jail inmates in the state would be released by such an order. 51黑料 and 51黑料 County have already said they planned to release more than 140 offenders out of concern to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. The city鈥檚 public defender said he was filing motions to release or lower bail for about 190 other cases. The St. Charles County jail has also seen its population drop by 20% in recent days.
鈥淲ith the virus rapidly spreading across Missouri and the rest of the country, and people cycling in and out of city and county jails daily, it is a matter of when 鈥 not if 鈥 the virus will infiltrate Missouri鈥檚 jails,鈥 Fox wrote. 鈥淎ction taken now can avoid death, suffering, and the creation of hundreds more contagious individuals desperately looking for beds in an overburdened health care system.鈥
The letter was also signed by officials from public-interest law groups including ArchCity Defenders and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, the 51黑料 city and county chapters of the NAACP, the ACLU, several churches and faith-based groups, 51黑料 Sheriff Vernon Betts, and retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Wolff.
In a separate memo, 51黑料 University medical professor Dr. Fred Rottnek told the high court that COVID-19 鈥渉as the potential to devastate the lives of both incarcerated individuals and jail personnel, and result in a medical emergency that could overwhelm Missouri鈥檚 medical infrastructure鈥 because jails and prisons are under-equipped and ill-prepared to prevent and manage an outbreak.
Rottnek鈥檚 letter said jails and prisons should evaluate for release all medically vulnerable people, anyone 55 or older, anyone who is held because they are unable to afford a cash bond, and a significant number of inmates to guarantee the jail can accommodate social-distancing guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The letter included signatures from 16 area doctors and public health officials, including Dr. Laurie Punch, a Washington University surgeon and 51黑料 County police commissioner, who has been calling attention to a lack of 鈥 in jails. Also signing was Jason Purnell, program director for Health Equity Works at Washington University, a research project that has focused on in 51黑料.
Major containment breach today. 馃槺Had to bring in reinforcements. to the rescue. 馃ぃ My hair is safe. How many of our incarcerated family do not have even the simplest access to personal safety in this time?
鈥 Dr. Punch (@laurie_punch)
Some have expressed concern about the release of inmates. County Councilman Tim Fitch, a retired county police chief, that 鈥渋f someone is being held in the co. jail, it鈥檚 because they committed a violent/serious felony. If released, the public deserves to know what their charges are.鈥
Under CJ reform, if someone is being held in the co. jail, it's because they committed a violent/serious felony. If released, the public deserves to know what their charges are. 51黑料 city & county to release more than 140 inmates amid virus concerns
鈥 Tim Fitch (@ChiefTimFitch)
The county鈥檚 justice services director, Raul Banasco, responded Thursday to Fitch that of the 14 people released on Wednesday, 11 had been charged with drug possession and that three of those had been charged with other crimes, including receiving stolen property, unlawful use of a weapon and domestic assault. Of the remaining three cases, the charges included burglary, domestic assault and auto theft.
Fitch , 鈥淚f they鈥檙e in jail for burglary/vehicle theft 鈥 guaranteed it鈥檚 many counts of each or they wouldn鈥檛 be there. #NotGood.鈥
The Supreme Court has suspended all in-person proceedings in state courts through April 17 and has allowed for oaths to be taken using video or phone conferencing.
