51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Activists, advocacy organizations and former inmates have joined forces this summer to ramp up pressure on officials to shutter the 51黑料 Medium Security Institution, known more informally as the City Workhouse.

In a report released Thursday morning by the Close the Workhouse campaign, organizers make their case as to why 51黑料 Mayor Lyda Krewson, Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and the 51黑料 Board of Aldermen should shut down the facility at 7600 Hall Street, which holds roughly 550 people, the vast majority of whom are awaiting trial.

City officials say it isn鈥檛 feasible to close an institution that houses hundreds of people facing felony charges but add they are taking steps to reduce the jail population without risking public safety. They鈥檝e also pushed back against recent complaints about jail conditions, offering reporters a tour of the facility in March. The building may be old, said Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards at the time, but it is clearly functional.

The Close the Workhouse report says that contradicts the 鈥渦nspeakably hellish鈥� conditions former inmates, several of whom are now organizers, experienced while they were inside.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e talking about isn鈥檛 a broken toilet or some mold on one wall. Everyone we鈥檝e talked to who has been in the workhouse echoes the same horror stories over and over,鈥� said Rebecca Gorley, a spokeswoman for the campaign and for , a nonprofit civil rights law firm.

That sort of testimony isn鈥檛 exactly new. Much of the 42-page report is devoted to more than 30 years of controversy surrounding the jail, dating to a lawsuit filed over conditions in 1974. The city was sued again over the jail in 1990.

In 2009, an American Civil Liberties Union report said the jail was overcrowded and unsanitary and that staff and officials allowed inmates to assault each other, ignored sexual harassment and provided negligent medical care. In 2012, guards were accused of setting up gladiator-style fights between inmates.

In November, the city was sued once again, this time by seven former workhouse inmates alleging mold, oppressive heat and rat and insect infestations in the facility, which was built in 1966. The suit, filed by ArchCity Defenders in U.S. District Court, argues that 51黑料 officials have ignored the problems for years and seeks a judge鈥檚 order that would close the workhouse or fine the city $10,000 per day until problems are fixed.

That lawsuit is pending.

鈥淚 say all the time that the workhouse is a hopeless place. When you first walk in, you can feel the hopelessness,鈥� said Inez Bordeaux, who once spent 30 days in the workhouse awaiting a probation violation hearing. 鈥淵ou can feel the desperation.鈥�

But the city鈥檚 jail population, including both the workhouse and the Justice Center downtown, is shrinking. It dropped 12 percent in the last year, said Koran Addo, a spokesman for Krewson.

鈥淲e are committed to reducing the population in our city鈥檚 jails in safe and responsible ways,鈥� Addo said. 鈥淲e are continually looking for ways to keep the facilities at MSI up to date.鈥�

Krewson also has convened meetings with judges, the circuit attorney鈥檚 office and corrections officials to urge them to explore new bail policies and flexibility for certain inmates, such as those only in jail for technical probation violations.

While some in the workhouse are held on high bails because of criminal records or potential flight risk, critics of the jail say most are simply unable to afford even modest bail 鈥� and the city鈥檚 poor, black residents are usually the ones disproportionately stuck in the troubled facility for months on end.

More people should be released based on their promise to appear in court, the report argues, as pretrial incarceration can lead to the loss of a job, income, housing or custody of children, even if a charge is ultimately dismissed.

The campaign urges Krewson to follow the example of Philadelphia officials, who pledged this year to close one of the city鈥檚 decaying jails by 2020.

Gardner, the circuit attorney, could also choose not to prosecute low-level offenses and expand diversion programs, organizers say, or the Board of Aldermen can stop funding the workhouse altogether in the city budget. The money saved would be better spent on things like affordable housing, mental health care or employment and after-school programs, they said.

Organizer Montague Simmons said the first phase of the campaign will be educational, building public support for the jail鈥檚 closure. Pointing out how much the $16 million the city spends to incarcerate people not yet convicted of low-level crimes is part of that.

鈥淚 think we鈥檝e entered a phase where the public is taking a more serious look at what is happening in their city government and how their money is spent,鈥� Simmons said. 鈥淭he city is spending millions on a place that hasn鈥檛 gotten better.鈥�

The Justice Center, which opened in 2002, has a capacity of 860 people, compared to MSI鈥檚 capacity of 1138. A total of 1,297 people are confined in both facilities,

The mayor鈥檚 office also cites coming improvements at the workhouse, thanks to funding from Prop 1, a $50 million bond issue voters approved in August. A total of $6.5 million has been earmarked for repairs and upgrades to 51黑料鈥� correctional facilities, including permanent air conditioning at the workhouse. Temporary units have been placed in the jail since protests erupted during a heat wave last year.

But Simmons says the city hasn鈥檛 proved capable of reforming the jail, and its had its chance over several decades.

鈥淭his isn鈥檛 going to be a campaign that鈥檚 just led by the organizations. It鈥檚 going to be led by impacted folks, based on their real experience,鈥� Simmons said. 鈥淲e want to make sure their stories are heard.鈥�

Robert Patrick of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.