And, No, It’s Not Up for Debate
Johnny Gabbert, Z Gorley, Maureen Hanlon, and Blake Strode contributed to this piece.
April 4, 2025
At ArchCity Defenders, our understanding about the problems within jails is based on firsthand accounts from those incarcerated, their family members, service providers, and public defenders who routinely hear horrifying accounts. We also follow every piece of available information including discovery from our lawsuits.
But over the past several months, we’ve seen local pundits employ tactics of deflection, conflation, exaggeration, and deception that mislead the public about basic facts related to St. Louis’ jails. We offer this list as a corrective to that misinformation.
Below are the six reasons why blaming issues at the City Justice Center (CJC) on the Workhouse closure is wrong, and some additional context:
1. Problems at the CJC Started Before the Workhouse Closed in 2021.
Let’s be clear about the actual timeline here. The push to close the Workhouse started in 2017 following heat temperatures so high that people were hanging out the windows screaming for help. We sued for inhumane conditions, and the campaign to close the jail started in 2018. The first publicly reported uprisings at the CJC occurred in late 2020 and early 2021. The Workhouse was still open at the time. In fact, as a “punishment” for the riots, the City sent some people to the Workhouse. So, the idea that the Workhouse closure caused these events is flatly wrong.
2. The Same Staff Worked at Both Jails.
The same employees worked at both the Workhouse and CJC, had the same training, procedures, (lack of) supervision, and medical providers. Problems such as abusive behavior and inadequate medical care were present at both facilities. The only difference is that the Workhouse had additional issues.
3. Overcrowding Did Not Create the Problems at CJC.
The reported capacity of the jail is 1,067 and is much higher than the number of people detained in the CJC—755 as of April. Following the defunding of the Workhouse (2021–2023) the jail population was historically low. Between 2012 to 2022, the average number of people jailed in St. Louis City dropped 72%, to around 550 detainees. At that time, capacity at CJC was approximately 860.
Source: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/data/dashboards/inmates/index.cfm
4. St. Louis Never Needed Two Jails.
Cities like Baltimore or Detroit, with similar populations, manage with a single jail the size of CJC. St. Louis County, with almost 700,000 more residents than the City, operates just one jail. Not to mention, St. Louis City’s population has decreased since the 1950s and currently sits below 300,000.
5. Staffing Increased After the Workhouse Closure.
When the Workhouse closed, staff were transferred to the CJC, which should have increased staff at the CJC, not reduced it.
6. The Workhouse and SUrrounding Land Are Environmentally Hazardous.
In addition to litigation, recent reports detail the site’s toxicity. A 2023 environmental study found dangerously high levels of arsenic, lead, benzene, and other harmful chemicals, all of which can cause cancer and organ damage.
At a City Hall meeting last year, our colleague Rachel Hurtado testified:
“One of the neighboring parcels of the Workhouse, 7455 Hall Street, is so toxic that it is listed on the registration of confirmed uncontrolled hazardous waste disposal sites in Missouri. This is because even after remediation in the ‘90s with not just gravel but paved asphalt, the site testing still shows that the land is extremely toxic for human health.”
A 2024 community report on the future of the Workhouse site states the industrial, remote surroundings, environmental toxicity, and trauma associated with the jail render the site unsuitable for residential use or recreation.
Furthermore, the City has cited asbestos, lead, and other toxins as reasons for delaying Workhouse demolition, as the building is too hazardous to tear down without remediation.
And, last but not least— the Workhouse was a dilapidated facility, far worse than the CJC. Our legal team reviewed thousands of documents and held numerous depositions in our lawsuit against the Workhouse. The City is lucky to have it off their hands. The City’s Corrections Commissioner testified that dangerously high temperatures were a major, constant concern: staff of the Workhouse testified that they measured temperature as high as 115 degrees inside the jail. Detainees’ written complaints show persistent issues with mold exposure, vermin and bug infestations, sewage problems, leaking roofs. At times, there would only be one working toilet in a dorm for 50 men, and that, due to plumbing issues, only one shower could be used at a time. The staff of the Workhouse admitted to the presence of cockroaches, rats, bedbugs: one correctional officer testified she saw multiple mice a day, and another testified to roaches in the food.
In late 2020 and into 2021, ArchCity Defenders received hundreds of calls from detainees in both jails, sharing horror stories of neglect and abuse.
The calls we get today about CJC are very similar: lack of medical care, excessive force by officers, long periods confined in cells, limited access to resources needed, and cruel treatment by prosecutors.
These problems are severe, and the lack of progress underscores ACD’s fundamental conviction that jails are not spaces for care, rehabilitation, or development. Jails are cages.
And for anyone who is still thinking the Workhouse wasn’t that bad, our guess is that you have not spent any time there or listened to the accounts of people who have.