News and Commentary on St. Louis City’s Workhouse (Medium Security Institution), Close the Workhouse Campaign, Bail, and related topics from 2017 to Present.
Updated 2/24/2020
2/20/2020 St. Louis Post-Dispatch- Tony Messenger: Close the Workhouse movement to St. Louis aldermen- Choose a side
2/18/2020 Board of Aldermen via YouTube: February 18, 2020 Public Safety Committee, Board of Aldermen, Hearing on Resolution 205 to defund City Workhouse.
2/13/2020 Student Life (Washington University): Students rally behind Close the Workhouse campaign
2/5/2020 St. Louis American: ‘We don’t want this Workhouse fully funded’ – Board of Aldermen move to starve notorious city jail of funding
2/2/2020 Fox 2 News: City’s public safety director refutes claim St. Louis would save $16M by shutting down Workhouse
1/14/2020 Close The Workhouse Report 2.0, a plan to close The Workhouse
1/30/2020 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Krewson administration pushes back against call by aldermen to close the workhouse
1/30/2020 St. Louis American- Commentary: Question what Krewson is saying about the Workhouse
1/17/2020 St. Louis Public Radio: As Campaign To Close The Workhouse Gains Support, Krewson Considers ‘Repurposing’ St. Louis Jail
1/17/2020 Fox 2 News: Alderman proposes closing St. Louis Workhouse; Krewson, Reed not in favor
1/14/2020: Riverfront Times: How St. Louis Could Close the Workhouse and Save Money
12/19/2019 St. Louis American: Clergy call for closing the Workhouse
12/12/2019 Courthouse News Service: Fight Over St. Louis Bail System Hits Eighth Circuit
11/22/2019 Riverfront Times: St. Louis Mayor Touts ‘Transformed’ Workhouse, But Jail’s Critics Call BS
11/20/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis mayor gets pushback for highlighting report calling jails ‘professionally run,’ ‘clean’ and ‘transformed’
9/27/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch- Tony Messenger: Unconstitutional application of cash bail makes St. Louis less safe, conservative group argues
9/7/2019 KSDK Channel 5: St. Louis treasurer calls on mayor to close the Workhouse
8/29/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Protest calls for closing of Workhouse jail
8/26/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch- Tony Messenger: Want to help cure violence in St. Louis? Close the Workhouse.
8/8/2019 Fox 2 News: 35-year-old inmate dies at the St. Louis Workhouse jail
7/30/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch- Tony Messenger: New plan to transport federal prisoners in St. Louis might be illegal — says city’s own memo
7/19/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Fewer people in St. Louis jails, city’s top prosecutor tells town hall meeting
7/14/2019 St. Louis Public Radio: Public Safety Director, St. Louis Resident And Co-Founder Of Ben & Jerry’s Talk Workhouse, Cash Bail
7/6/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Punitive. Predatory. Dehumanizing. Criminal justice in St. Louis area has changed, but is it enough?
6/14/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch- Tony Messenger: Connecting the dots between dead kids, closing the Workhouse, and landmark bail ruling
6/14/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Federal judge blasts St. Louis officials, judges for failure to comply with cash bail order
6/14/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis officials ask for delay in judge’s ruling; say they can’t hold 700 bond hearings for inmates in 1 week
6/12/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Judge rules that St. Louis jails can’t hold inmates who can’t pay
6/12/2019 The Missouri Times: Federal judge says St. Louis jails can’t hold inmates unable to afford bail in underscore of new Supreme Court rules
6/12/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Ben and Jerry’s joins campaign to close St. Louis city workhouse
6/12/2019 St. Louis American: Close the Workhouse finds allies in federal judge, Ben & Jerry’s
6/12/2019 Associated Press: Judge- St. Louis jails can’t hold inmates who can’t pay
6/10/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch- Commentary: Guilty until proven wealthy: It’s time to close the Workhouse and end cash bail
4/16/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch- Tony Messenger: Nobel Prize winning “Jailed for being poor is Missouri epidemic” columns
4/12/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Even with fewer prisoners in St. Louis, top officials don’t want to close the workhouse
4/9/2019 St. Louis American- Commentary: Close the Workhouse campaign gains momentum
4/9/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch- Tony Messenger: Close the workhouse, says city comptroller — it ‘is the right thing to do’
3/15/2019 St. Louis American: Mayor’s office, organization leaders write letters to St. Louis aldermen about the Workhouse
3/14/2019 St. Louis American: Circuit attorney, public defender work together against pretrial detention
3/10/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch- Tony Messenger: The math adds up, says head public defender in St. Louis – close the Workhouse
2/19/2019 The Appeal: ‘I am a human and I just ask to be treated as one’ -A lawsuit challenging cash bail in St. Louis could help close a notorious jail.
2/7/2019 Riverfront Times: Paying Bail in St. Louis? Better Have $45,000 Cash, on a Weekday
2/2/2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Mixed first round result for workhouse inmates who sued St. Louis over cash bail
1/28/2019 Riverfront Times: St. Louis’ Cash Bail System Comes Under Fire in New Class-Action Lawsuit
12/21/2018 St. Louis Public Radio: St. Louis Workhouse inmate died of fentanyl overdose, autopsy shows
10/24/2018 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis County gets $2.25 million, city gets $50,000 to cut jail population, reform justice system
10/22/2018 St. Louis Post-Dispatch- Commentary: City Workhouse is a glaring example of institutional racism
10/1/2018 The Root: For Decades, This St. Louis Jail Held Hundreds of Impoverished Black People. Activists Are Working to Shut It Down
9/24/2018 The Guardian: ‘A hopeless place’: St Louis workhouse denounced as a modern-day debtors’ prison
9/13/2018 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Efforts grow to close ‘unspeakably hellish’ St. Louis workhouse
9/4/2018 Riverfront Times: Captain Was Fired After Complaining About Workhouse Conditions, Lawsuit Says
9/4/2018 KSDK Channel 5: Captain at ‘The Workhouse’ says he was targeted, fired for complaining about conditions
8/15/2018 St. Louis American: ‘Close the Workhouse’ -Louis Payton died in a city jail, and his family and activists demand answers – and actions
8/9/2018 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Mother wants answers after death of inmate at St. Louis City Workhouse
8/8/2018 St. Louis Public Radio: Calls to close the St. Louis Workhouse amplified after death of inmate
8/2/2018 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis inmate dies after collapsing at City Workhouse
7/3/2018 St. Louis Public Radio: Activists launch campaign to close the Workhouse, reduce St. Louis jail population
6/18/2018 The Appeal: ‘You never want to go to the Workhouse’ – Activists launch a new campaign to close an infamous St. Louis jail.
5/28/2018 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Inmate found hanging from bed sheet at City Workhouse in apparent suicide
3/26/2018 St. Louis Public Radio: Inside the Workhouse- Conditions, treatment and time served remain under scrutiny
3/17/2018 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis officials hold tour of City Workhouse to respond to inmate complaints
11/13/2017 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Heat, mold, rats and spiders: Former workhouse inmates sue St. Louis over ‘hellish’ conditions
8/7/2017 Riverfront Times: ‘This Place Is Hell’- An Undercover Trip Inside St. Louis’ Workhouse
7/26/2017 St. Louis Public Radio: What’s the Workhouse? Here’s what you need to know about St. Louis’ Medium Security Institution
7/24/2017 Fox 2 News: St. Louis medium security `Workhouse` gets temporary air conditioners St. Louis medium security `Workhouse` gets temporary air conditioners
7/22/2017 Riverfront Times: St. Louis Workhouse Getting A/C as Inmates Beg for Heat Relief
7/19/2017 Riverfront Times: St. Louis Workhouse Inmates Beg for Help from Blistering Heat
8/18/2012 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Suit claims St. Louis ‘workhouse’ inmates forced by guards to fight
The Great State of St. Louis 