Medium Security Institution
Location7600 Hall St, St Louis, Missouri
StatusDefunct
Security classMedium
Capacity1,138
Population185 (as of August 7, 2021)
Opened1966
Closed2021
Managed byPublic Safety Department - City of St. Louis
DirectorJennifer Clemons-Abdullah

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.[2]

See also

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

References

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