Much has been happening in the City of St. Louis’ criminal justice system, so I thought it would be a good time to start a blog and provide an insider’s view of what’s really going on. I am a criminal defense attorney and every day I deal with the Circuit Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff’s Department, the courts, the Work House, the Justice Center. etc. These are solely my perspectives, opinions, and insights.
I will also use this blog to comment on news and other developments that pertain to the City’s criminal justice system.
For example, did you see the following story:
It seems that in 2019 the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department sought charges in 7,045 cases. The Circuit Attorney’s Office, after reviewing those, only filed charges in 1,641 of those cases. That’s a 23% filing rate. The police are frustrated because in over 75% of the time they seek criminal charges, the Circuit Attorney’s Office declines to prosecute. It’s gotten to the point where St. Louis area state legislators want to allow the police to take cases to the Attorney General’s Office for criminal prosecution — in other words, to do an end run around the Circuit Attorney’s Office.
Presently, the feds are already picking up quite a few of these city cases. Almost every gun and/or fentanyl case from the city now ends up with the feds. They have also started taking over many carjacking cases. Unless things change, I only see this trend continuing.
This problem was created by Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. She wants to reform the criminal justice system. Many of us support various justice reforms. But justice reform is not achieved by simply refusing to issue charges or refusing to work with the police. When that happens, other agencies will step in to fill the void. Then, any of your reforms will be sidestepped, your efforts at reform will be in vain.
As this news article demonstrates, the City and it’s criminal justice system is interconnected with other justice systems, including the County, St. Charles, the feds, the municipalities, etc. Criminal justice reform is not just a local City issue, and unlike how Ms. Gardner suggests, you can’t approach it like it is. For real changes to occur, all of these groups must work together, towards common, agreed-upon reforms, otherwise they will be working at cross-purposes with each group frustrating the goals of the others.