This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 24 2009 - Inmates at the St. Louis City Jail and Workhouse are subject to abuse ranging from assaults by guards and other prisoners to sexual misconduct to systematic covering up of incidents, according to a report released Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri.
The ACLU investigation, prompted by complaints of abuse at the two institutions, included interviews with six corrections officers and nine inmates along with media coverage of an incident where two emergency medical technicians ran into interference while trying to treat a dying inmate.
All six corrections officers interviewed wished to remain anonymous because of what the report called the atmosphere of retaliation and intimidation in which they work.
The report, which the group terms preliminary, calls the findings "an important wake-up call, delivered by credible participants with long records of service to our community."
Asked to respond to the report, Patricia Hageman, city counselor and acting chief of staff to Mayor Francis Slay, questioned the credibility and thoroughness of the work done by the ACLU.
Noting that the city employs 350 corrections officers and houses 1,300 inmates, she said the number of those interviewed for the report was very small. She refused to comment on the particulars of the report, saying that it was "reduced to rumor and innuendo."
Hageman said the report would be turned over to the U.S attorney's office for study, but she did not give it much credence at this point.
"The city is always happy to cooperate as we do on a regular basis with other organizations in a meaningful and unbiased and thorough and objective review of the practices at our jail facilities," she said. "I don't think this report is any of those things."
According to the ACLU, the interviews show that "human dignity is contemptuously disregarded, and civil liberties violations and physical abuse of residents are covered up regularly by officials at both facilities. The accounts of both the COs and inmates are consistent."
Further, it noted that "the failures documented herein could well result in an increasing number of serious legal actions claiming civil liberties and human rights violations. Lawsuits of this kind could cost St. Louis dearly."
Among the abuses cited in the report are:
* Inmate assaults by guards or other inmates directed by guards
* False reporting or the failure to make reports
* Sexual harassment and misconduct
* Squalor, overcrowding and medical neglect resulting in death
* Inmates stripped naked and subjected to extremes in temperature
* Intimidation
* Questionable hiring and training
The report cites one example where "a juvenile was beaten for making a joke and he was originally denied medical attention. No proper report was filed." In another instance, "a woman in need of psychiatric attention was physically mishandled and unnecessarily left naked on repeated occasions."
Guards said that officers who try to enforce policy face retaliation and that Commissioner Eugene Stubblefield and Acting Deputy Superintendent Reginald Moore condone and even encourage favored guards to ignore policy and avoid filing reports of misconduct.
Given the environment at the two institutions, the report said, "it is remarkable that any information was provided at all by the individuals contributing to this preliminary investigation."
Noting that it does not have the staff for a more complete investigation or the authority to require testimony, the ACLU concluded:
"Some combination of independent investigation, oversight, litigation, and advocacy must compel the reforms here. ... Hope for those who are suffering in silence rests in the faith that citizens who know the facts will push for reform."
Click here to read the entire 74-page report, as well as an executive summary.