Medium Security Institution Explained

Prison Name:Medium Security Institution
Location:7600 Hall St, St Louis, Missouri
Status:Defunct
Classification:Medium
Capacity:1,138
Population:185
Populationdate:August 7, 2021
Opened:1966
Director:N/A
Closed:2021

The Medium Security Institution, commonly referred to as The Workhouse, was a medium-security penitentiary located in St. Louis, Missouri, and was owned and operated by the municipal department of Public Safety and Corrections. Opened in 1966, the prison was long controversial for its poorly ventilated rooms, debt bondage, inadequate food, forced labor, and other human rights violations.[1] On June 17, 2021, the jail was closed and its inmates moved to the City Justice Center.[2]

History

Built in 1966, the prison gained its nickname "The Workhouse" from an 1840s city ordinance that allowed forced labor as a punishment for criminals sentenced in law court who couldn't pay their fines.[3] [4] [5]

The Workhouse became infamous for its poor living conditions, prisoner abuse, and penal labor.

On July 4, 2018, Close the Workhouse, a prison-abolition group, held demonstrations outside city hall to protest the inhumane conditions of the prison.[6] [7] [8] [9]

In 2019, Arch City Defenders, a public defender organization, filed a class-action lawsuit against the facility's inhumane living condition.[10] The lawsuit alleged that the civil rights of detainees within the facility had been violated by the poor sanitation, limited ventilation, and poor medical care.[11] The lawsuit said temperatures in the prison sometimes surpassed 120 degrees. In response, St. Louis spent $40,000 on temporary portable air conditioning for the prison. [12] [13] [14] [15]

In 2021, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones proposed closing the Workhouse on her first day in office.[16] The Workhouse was later closed on June 17, less than a month into her term.

See also

2014 unrest caused by the shooting of an unarmed black male by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bouscaren . Durrie . What’s the Workhouse? Here’s what you need to know about St. Louis’ Medium Security Institution . news.stlpublicradio.org . 3 March 2019 . en.
  2. Web site: Rice . Rachel . June 17, 2021 . Detainees moved out of workhouse as the St. Louis jail closes . 2021-06-26 . Saint Louis Dispatch.
  3. Web site: Wicentowski . Danny . 'This Place Is Hell': An Undercover Trip Inside St. Louis' Workhouse . Riverfront Times . 3 March 2019 . en.
  4. Web site: 'This Place Is Hell': An Undercover Trip Inside St. Louis' Workhouse. River Front Times. Danny Wicentowski. English. 7 August 2017. 26 November 2021.
  5. Web site: A brief history of the Workhouse in the 19th century. St. Louis. Chris Naffziger. English. 26 November 2021. 26 November 2021.
  6. Web site: 4 July 2018. Activists push for closure of Workhouse. FOX2now.com. en. 3 March 2019.
  7. Web site: Branigin. Anne. For Decades, This St. Louis Jail Held Hundreds of Impoverished Black People. Activists Are Working to Shut It Down. The Root. 3 March 2019.
  8. Web site: Hidalgo. Carolina. Activists launch campaign to close the Workhouse, reduce St. Louis jail population. news.stlpublicradio.org. en. 3 March 2019.
  9. Web site: American. Jessica Bassett Of the St Louis. ACLU releases scathing report on abuses in City jails. St. Louis American. en. 3 March 2019.
  10. Web site: York . Clark Randall Jamiles Lartey in New . 'A hopeless place': St Louis workhouse denounced as a modern-day debtors' prison . The Guardian . 3 March 2019 . 24 September 2018.
  11. Web site: Staff . KMOV com . Lawsuit cites inhumane conditions in St. Louis 'workhouse' . KMOV.com . 4 March 2019 . en.
  12. Web site: Inside the St. Louis ‘Workhouse’ . KMOV.com . 3 March 2019 . en.
  13. Web site: Voices From the Sweltering Inside . jacobinmag.com . 3 March 2019.
  14. Web site: ACLU blasts conditions in city jail, workhouse . news.stlpublicradio.org . 3 March 2019 . en.
  15. Web site: Lisenby . Ashley . Inside the Workhouse: Conditions, treatment and time served remain under scrutiny . news.stlpublicradio.org . 3 March 2019 . en.
  16. Web site: Byers. Christine. April 21, 2021. St. Louis mayor proposes closing The Workhouse in budget filed on her first day on the job. April 26, 2021. KSDK.

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