Criminal Legal System
Jeff City Clean Slate Day
March 5, 2025
On Wednesday, March 5, seven members of Women’s Voices traveled to the Capitol in Jefferson City for Clean Slate Day. Karen Coulson, Karen Francis, Anne Litwin, Leslie McCormick, Nancy Price, Rochelle Kaskowitz, and Ellen Wentz went to over 50 Senators’ and Representatives’ offices.
They talked to the legislators or their assistants about Clean Slate generally and the current bills pending in the Missouri House and Senate. Mary Schuman provided participants with information about the legislators, and she and Michele Steinberg prepared informative flyers to distribute to legislators. Those who WVR members spoke with generally supported Clean Slate.
Clean Slate would give a second chance to individuals convicted of certain nonviolent crimes who have served their time and paid any penalties. The law would automatically expunge the convictions, giving the individuals an opportunity to obtain employment, find housing, and lead productive lives, rather than encountering barriers for a lifetime.
Update on Clean Slate Bills: HB 953 has been voted out of the Economic Development committee with a “Do Pass” recommendation, has acquired two new sponsors, and is scheduled for executive session before the Administrative Rules Committee on March 13; SB 19 has been heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee and SB 435 is before that committee.
We are hoping for a Clean Slate Law this year!
Everyone Deserves a Second Chance
December 5, 2024
How often this season do we ask family members and friends, “What do you want for the holidays?” For hundreds of thousands of Missourians with criminal records, the answer is a second chance.
Behind every criminal record is a person with hopes, dreams, and the potential to contribute to society. However, having a criminal record, even after you have served your time and stayed out of trouble since your release, may prevent you from getting a job, finding adequate housing, and supporting your family.
500,000 Missourians with criminal records are eligible under current state law to have certain nonviolent misdemeanor and felony records sealed. However, the existing process is costly and complex, and only 1-2% succeed each year. A solution is on the horizon.
Bipartisan legislation (a Clean Slate Act) will again be filed by multiple sponsors for Missouri’s 2025 legislative session. A Clean Slate Act would make criminal record clearing automatic for certain nonviolent convictions, and would create an automated process to do so.
Clean Slate will give individuals more opportunities for legitimate employment and stable housing. After records are sealed, average annual incomes have been found to rise by more than 20%. Additionally, recidivism rates fall, making communities safer.
Businesses will be able to fill hiring shortages and expand their local workforces with people ready and eager to work. Economists and all major Missouri Chambers of Commerce support Clean Slate.
Each new year begins with hope for a fresh start. Passage of a Clean Slate Act in 2025 will give thousands of Missourians and their families hope — and a second chance.
Women’s Voices is a partner in the Missouri Clean Slate Campaign.
Statement on Treatment Lamarr Pearson, Paralyzed Detainee
April 18, 2024
Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice condemns the cruel and dehumanizing treatment of Lamarr Pearson, a paralyzed detainee in the St. Louis City Justice Center. No human being should ever be treated with such callous disrespect for their rights and for their humanity. We call on the St. Louis Sheriff’s Office and the Division of Corrections to jointly take responsibility for this horrendous abuse and take immediate action to ensure no other person ever again experiences this treatment.
Ryan Krull first reported this story, when he shared the graphic photo of Lamarr Pearson lying on the floor, taken by Pearson’s attorney, Susan McGraugh, Riverfront Times, April 2, 2024. Danny Wicentowski interviewed McGraugh, where they discussed the fallout from her distribution of the photo she took, St. Louis on the Air, April 16, 2024.
Clean Slate Buzz and Mosquitoes
March 29, 2024
The Missouri Capitol has been buzzing with activity around four bipartisan Clean Slate bills. The Racial Justice Committee’s task force on Criminal Legal System Reform has been researching this initiative for more than three years. Women’s Voices joined the Missouri Clean Slate Campaign a year ago to use our voices to advocate for passage of Clean Slate legislation.
On March 6 task force members visited more than 50 legislators at the Capitol to encourage their support in moving the four bills currently under consideration forward. Soon after, public hearings were scheduled in committees and were held last week. Susan Glassman, co-chair of the task force, traveled to the Capitol on March 25 to testify on behalf of Women’s Voices in support of Senate Bills 763 and 1161. Written testimony in support of House Bills 2108 and 2555 was submitted on behalf of Women’s Voices for a hearing on March 26.
What do mosquitoes have to do with Clean Slate? Our representatives have hundreds of bills to review and take positions on in a short four months. They NEED to hear from their constituents about our priorities. One may believe that an email or phone call will not make a difference, but there is a saying that comes to mind: “If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito.” No one is suggesting that we set out to annoy our legislators, but we are asking our 400+ members and nearly 2,000 email subscribers to email or call your own representatives in support of Senate Bills 763 & 1161 and House Bills 2108 and 2555. Numbers are meaningful to legislators, and a swarm of calls from constituents supporting Clean Slate legislation will have an impact.
Make those calls or emails today! Find contact information for your legislators here!
Provide Testimony on Clean Slate Bill up for Hearing in #MOLEG Tuesday, March 26, 2024!
March 24, 2024
A bill to automate the expungement process for eligible individuals will be up for public hearing in the Missouri legislature on Tuesday, March 26 at 2 p.m. Women’s Voices has submitted a letter of organizational support. Individuals can testify in person at the Capitol or submit testimony online to urge lawmakers to pass Clean Slate legislation in Missouri.
Clean Slate legislation will:
- Improve employment and housing options for Missouri families.
- Make Missouri communities safer by reducing recidivism.
- Expand the economy by opening the workforce to people eager and able to work.
More information about the benefits of Clean Slate is available at mocleanslate.org.
House General Laws HB 2108
Tuesday, March 26, 2 p.m.
Missouri House General Laws Committee, Missouri State Capitol, House Hearing Room 7
Submit testimony online by midnight on Tuesday, March 26 here!*
* You must click the confirmation email you receive to ensure your statement is submitted.
Read recent local news coverage here:
FirstAlert 4 interview with Empower Missouri’s Gwen Smith: Expungement bills look to seal minor convictions for hundreds of thousands of Missourians
St. Louis Public Radio report: Thousands of Missourians could have criminal records sealed under Clean Slate Initiative
Women’s Voices Members Lobby #MOLEG in Support of Clean Slate
March 6, 2024
A group of twelve Women’s Voices members visited the Missouri State Capitol to meet with legislators to encourage support of a Clean Slate Act. Working in pairs, members were able to visit 50 offices, where they shared information about the benefits of Clean Slate and left literature of members of the MO House and Senate.
Women’s Voices Works for Passage of a Clean Slate Act
February 1, 2024
Clean Slate. Two Words. Our Voices.
Those two words describe bipartisan Clean Slate Legislation that creates an automated process for expunging certain nonviolent misdemeanors and felonies. The automated process would follow the same requirements for eligibility that are contained in current state law on expungements. Crimes such as murder, sex crimes, serious or violent felonies, and hate crimes are NOT eligible.
Those two words also describe an opportunity for Women’s Voices members to put our mission of working for social justice into action through advocacy. Two excellent and identical Clean Slate bills have been introduced in the MO State Senate by Senator Brian Williams (D) (SB 763) and Senator Curtis Trent (R) (SB 1161). Representatives Phil Christofanelli (R) (HB 2108) and Justin Hicks (R) (HB 2555) have introduced other versions in the MO House of Representatives.
Lawmakers will read and vote on hundreds of bills this session, so they need to hear from us on policy issues we care about. PLEASE, call your representative and senator and simply ask if she/he is aware of SB 763 or SB 1161 and tell them that you support it. An email is fine, a phone call or written letter is better, and of course, an in-person visit is ideal. Imagine the interest that will be created among St. Louis area legislators if 500+ constituents make those simple one-minute calls! Look up your legislators here.
The Criminal Legal System Reform (CLSR) Task Force of the Racial Justice Committee has been following this initiative for three years. We have noted in our previous Loud & Clear articles that a criminal record can mean a lifetime of blocked opportunity, and that it is a major driver of poverty and racial inequality. More than 500,000 Missourians are currently eligible for expungement of their criminal records, but due to Missouri’s expensive, drawn-out petition process, only about 1% successfully obtain one each year.
We have set out the reasons we believe Clean Slate legislation is smart on crime, makes good business sense, and will boost local and state economies. Most of all, it is about fairness. We believe everyone who qualifies should get the “clean slate” they’ve earned. Call now!
Volunteers Needed for Lobbying Efforts to Pass Clean Slate Act
The primary focus of the Criminal Legal System Reform Task Force in 2024 will be passage of a strong Clean Slate Act in the upcoming Missouri legislative session. The committee is currently planning a lobby day on Wednesday, March 6 to meet with legislators in Jefferson City.
The task force is seeking volunteers to join this in one or both of the following ways:
- Research to aid in developing a lobbying strategy (including determining members of key legislative districts, as well as voting records and potential positions of members of targeted committees).
- Join the task force in Jefferson City on Wednesday, March 6 to meet with key legislators to encourage passage of a strong Clean Slate bill in 2024 (limited to 15 members).
Women’s Voices is a partner in the Missouri Clean Slate Campaign.
Visit our website for information about our support for this initiative. And for more information about joining the task force, contact Mary Schuman or Susan Glassman, co-chairs, at criminaljustice@womensvoicesraised.org.
Clean Slate Can Help Make Communities Safer
January 5, 2024
Clean Slate. Two Words. Safer Communities.
Those two words describe communities where individuals have more opportunities to secure legitimate employment and stable housing to provide for themselves and their families.
Those two words also describe bipartisan legislation (a Clean Slate Act) that would make criminal record clearing automatic for certain nonviolent convictions, and would create an automated process to do so. Clean Slate bills have been filed in the Missouri Senate and House for the 2024 legislative session, and the Criminal Legal System Reform Task Force is focused on advocating for their passage. Stay tuned for quick and easy ways you can advocate in coming months.
Each year in Missouri, approximately 97% of incarcerated individuals (13,000) return to their communities where they face obstacles that limit employment opportunities and access to housing. So many obstacles exist that many give up. According to the Missouri Department of Corrections, 69% of those who are unable to find full-time employment return to prison within 2 years. Other states experience similar levels of recidivism, but localities that have cleared people for employment through expungement have seen recidivism rates drop to 20-30%.
Clean Slate legislation requires that someone remain crime-free for a set period of time before their record is sealed. Studies show that people who remain crime-free for prescribed periods of time after incarceration are no more likely to commit crimes than people without criminal records. In fact, studies have shown that five years after expungement, formerly incarcerated individuals were less likely than members of the general public to be convicted of a crime.
The stigma of a criminal record is a major driver of poverty and racial inequality. It is in our community’s best interest to have healthy, self-sufficient individuals and families who, with obstacles removed, are more likely to engage in their neighborhoods, seek more education, vote, volunteer at their children’s schools, and pay taxes. Clean Slate can help make our community safer.
Women’s Voices is a partner in the Missouri Clean Slate Campaign.Visit our website for information about our support for this initiative. And for more information about joining the task force, contact Mary Schuman or Susan Glassman, co-chairs, co-chairs, at criminaljustice@womensvoicesraised.org.
Clean Slate in 2024?
December 1, 2023
Clean Slate. Two Words. Second Chances.
Those two words also describe bipartisan legislation (a Clean Slate Act) that would make criminal record clearing automatic for certain nonviolent convictions, and would create an automated process to do so. On December 1, Clean Slate bills with multiple co-sponsors were pre-filed for Missouri’s 2024 legislative session.
How often this season do we ask family members and friends, “What do you want for the holidays?” For hundreds of thousands of Missourians with criminal records, the answer is a second chance.
A criminal record, even after you have served your time and stayed out of trouble since your release, may prevent you from getting a job in your field, or maybe any job at all. 90% of employers do background checks. Women’s Voices member, Susan Glassman, has never forgotten her dismay years ago when company policy required her to turn away a qualified job applicant because of a shoplifting conviction when he had been 19. Eliminating candidates based solely on past mistakes has created a large pool of diverse talents that has essentially been taken out of circulation.
Clean Slate will give individuals more opportunities for employment. Average annual incomes have been found to rise by more than 20% after records are cleared, making it easier to support families and find adequate housing.
Businesses will be able to fill hiring shortages and expand their local workforces with people ready and eager to work.
Economists and all major Missouri chambers of commerce support Clean Slate. An analysis based on projected increases in wages after currently eligible Missourians have their records cleared shows an annual impact of $2.9 billion in increased economic activity in Missouri.
Each new year begins with hope for a fresh start. Let’s pass a Clean Slate Act in 2024 to give thousands of Missourians and their families a second chance.
Women’s Voices is a partner in the Missouri Clean Slate Campaign.
Visit our website for information about our support for this initiative. And for more information about joining the task force, contact Mary Schuman or Susan Glassman, co-chairs, at criminaljustice@womensvoicesraised.org.
Clean Slate Benefits Extend to Families
November 1, 2023
Clean Slate. Two Words. Stable Families.
Those two words are about thriving families, productive lives, and safer communities.
Those two words can have generational impacts on thousands of Missouri families.
Those two words describe legislation (a Clean Slate Act) that would make criminal record clearing automatic for certain nonviolent convictions, and create an automated process to do so. Those two words do NOT include murder, sexual crimes, violent felonies or hate crimes.
Nearly half of American children have a parent with a criminal record. Criminal records can follow one for life, and can sentence families to poverty with a multiplier effect for decades.
Many family members, especially children, are traumatized by the incarceration of a family member and long to be together again. For the incarcerated who have had the continued support of family members, the goal of reuniting with loved ones is powerful. Release from incarceration should be a joyful one.
For many families, reality quickly sets in. 80% of landlords screen out applicants with criminal records. Families face eviction or are denied housing when a formerly incarcerated family member returns home. Family reunification is made difficult if the returning adults cannot live with their family. Employment obstacles make it difficult to pay child support, housing costs or otherwise provide for their families.
Passage of a Clean Slate Act is not a panacea. Those who are eligible for record clearing must remain crime-free for a set number of years. However, a Clean Slate Act would provide hope to the half million Missourians who are currently eligible. Most importantly, the children of current and future eligible individuals, finally free to build a future, will be more likely to grow up in a household with a productive working parent as a role model in their lives.
Women’s Voices is a partner in the Missouri Clean Slate Campaign. https://mocleanslate.org The Racial Justice Committee’s task force on criminal legal system reform is focused on making 2024 the year the Missouri Legislature passes a Clean Slate Act. Look for monthly updates in this newsletter with more information on the proposed legislation and on its progress. For information about our support for this initiative: https://womensvoicesraised.org/position-clean-slate-initiative/ And for more information about joining the task force, contact Mary Schuman or Susan Glassman, co-chairs, at criminaljustice@womensvoicesraised.org
Criminal Legal System Reform Task Force to Work for Passage of a Clean Slate Act
October 1, 2023
Clean Slate. Two Words. Big Impact.
Those two words are about fairness, second chances and safer communities.
Those two words describe legislation (a Clean Slate Act) that would make criminal record clearing automatic for certain nonviolent convictions, and would create an automated process to do so.
Those two words can have life-changing impacts for thousands of Missourians and their families.
Put yourself in the place of Missourians who have committed various nonviolent or nonsexual misdemeanors and felonies. Maybe you wrote a bad check, or, when you were 17, you could not resist taking those CDs you had been wanting for a long time. Maybe you were arrested for an incident, but were never convicted. (Yes, that can result in a criminal record.)
You have served your time.
You have had no other criminal incidents in the three years since your release.
Despite that, you cannot get a job in your field, or maybe any job at all. Landlords will not rent to you. Access to education is limited. All because of a mistake you made at one point in your life.
The fictitious you is not alone. There are an estimated half-million Missourians right now who are eligible under current Missouri law to have their records expunged. So why don’t they? The current process requires a costly and time-consuming process, so difficult that only 1-2% of eligible people are successful each year.
Women’s Voices is a partner in the Missouri Clean Slate Campaign. https://mocleanslate.org The Racial Justice Committee’s task force on criminal legal system reform is focused on making 2024 the year the Missouri Legislature passes a Clean Slate Act. Look for monthly updates in this newsletter with more information on the proposed legislation and on its progress. For information about our support for this initiative: https://womensvoicesraised.org/position-clean-slate-initiative/ And for more information about joining the task force, contact Mary Schuman or Susan Glassman, co-chairs, at criminaljustice@womensvoicesraised.org.
Volunteers Needed for CourtWatch
September 19, 2023
The Women’s Voices Criminal Legal System Reform Task Force is working to improve pretrial detention. Part of this effort involves observing bail hearings. Observers are needed to assist with this effort and can volunteer with CourtWatch, a collaborative extension of ongoing court monitoring efforts in St. Louis City’s 22nd Judicial Court.
CourtWatch is a program of the Freedom Community Center, which was founded after The Bail Project and works to improve our criminal legal system. In attending bail setting hearings, they aim to hold courts, judges, and prosecutors accountable to the law and to the people. The center collects demographic and anecdotal data to inform citizens about the inner workings of St. Louis’s pretrial process as a tactic to dismantle the criminal legal system. They produce monthly reports providing statistical data to track – in real time – how prosecutors are carrying out the circuit attorney’s legal responsibilities and campaign promises around use of cash bail in St. Louis in an effort to interrupt the violence of pretrial detention on all fronts!
If you are interested in learning more about the program, you can read the organization’s reports and data drops. Register here for training to volunteer with CourtWatch.
Criminal Legal System Reform Task Force Expands Focus to Learn About Pre-Trial Detention and Private Probation
May 1, 2023
Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice believes our federal and state criminal legal systems need major reform if we are ever to achieve unbiased criminal justice that does not discriminate against anyone because of race, religion, nationality, gender or sexual orientation. The Criminal Legal System Reform Task Force of the Racial Justice Committee is currently working on three areas of reform in Missouri: Clean Slate legislation, Privatized Probation System, and Pre-Trial Detention practices. Clean Slate legislation has been introduced and is under consideration in the Missouri State Legislature, and our efforts have moved into advocacy steps.
Our newest areas of study are Pre-Trial Detention, where we have learned that 80% of people in Missouri local jails have not been convicted and are held because they cannot afford the arbitrary bail set by individual courts; and Privatized Probation, a system of unregulated for-profit agencies used for individuals under supervision for misdemeanors. The private probation system traps people in a cycle of poverty and inequality when they cannot afford the unregulated costs imposed.
Please email co-chair Mary Schuman at CriminalLegalReform@womensvoicesraised.org to join us in our work to educate the public and advocate for criminal legal system reform in Missouri.
Women’s Voices Submits Testimony on MO Clean Slate Initiative (HB 352)
March 27, 2023
Criminal Legal System Reform Task Force co-chairs Anne Litwin and Mary Schuman submitted testimony to the MO House Judiciary Committee in support of HB 352.
HB 352 would establish an automatic record-clearing process for the closing of certain records not excluded from eligibility for expungement and would create the “Missouri Expungement Fund,” which would be dedicated to the creation, operation, and maintenance of the program. Read the full bill text here.
Members heard from speakers Phil Christofanelli, MO State Representative, District 104 and Jeff Smith, executive director, Missouri Workforce Housing Association about Missouri’s Clean Slate Initiative at the March 24 Lunch & Learn.
If you missed the program, you can watch the recorded Lunch & Learn: MO Clean Slate Initiative video here.
MO House Bill 352 was heard by the MO House Judiciary Committee on Monday, March 27.
Support passage of HB 352:
- Contact your elected representative to let him/her know you support HB 352.
- Contact Judiciary Chairman, Rep. David Evans and Judiciary Vice-Chairman, Representative, Rudy Veit, to urge a vote on HB 352.
- Contact individual members of the MO House Judiciary Committee (you will need to scroll down and choose “Judiciary Committee” from the committee list) to urge them to support HB 352.
- Contact Rep. Dean Plocher, Speaker of the House & Rep. Jonathan Patterson, Majority Floor Leader to advocate for HB 352 to be heard on the House floor.
Find a sample letter supporting HB 352 from Women’s Voices here. Feel free to copy and paste it as is or modify it and personalize it as much as you would like.
Learn more about the Missouri Clean Slate Campaign here.
A Criminal Record Need Not be a Life Sentence
February 1, 2023
Any criminal record, even an arrest that never led to a conviction, restricts access to jobs, housing, education and other basics. Of the 1.9 million Missourians who have criminal records, an estimated 518,000 are currently eligible to have certain nonviolent records expunged. However, the current petition process is expensive and complex, and only 1% of petitioners are successful each year.
Happily, there is a solution on the horizon, making this a perfect time to become involved with the Racial Justice Committee’s task force on Criminal Legal System Reform (CLSR). “Clean Slate” bills have been introduced in the Missouri House and Senate. Passage of these bills will make expungement of eligible, nonviolent convictions automatic once someone has remained crime free for a set time period, thus removing many of the life-long obstacles faced by formerly incarcerated people.
The CLSR task force has joined Empower Missouri and its coalition members in a campaign to pass a Clean Slate Act for Missouri. The CLSR task force will be accelerating its education and advocacy efforts on this issue, and we invite you to join us in those efforts. Participation in advocacy activities can be in any way you wish:
- write letters to editors;
- meet with, send or email letters to legislators;
- help write an opinion editorial;
- monitor implementation in other states;
- suggest/facilitate presentations to groups.
And there is more! The task force is examining the problem of unsupervised for-profit probation agencies that charge the offender for required tests and programs; inability to pay risks reincarceration. The CLSR task force is also focusing on the injustice of pre-trial detention when a person, legally presumed innocent, is unable to pay even a low bail for minor, nonviolent misdemeanors. Detention for even a few days can have a devastating impact, especially on the poor.
To learn more about the CLSR task force and its system-reform priorities, contact criminaljustice@womensvoicesraised.org.
Facts About Clean Slate
December 2, 2022
One in three Missourians has a criminal record. Did you know? Any criminal record – even an arrest that never led to conviction – restricts access to jobs, housing, education and other basics. 518,000 Missourians are currently eligible to have certain non-violent records cleared, but only 1% are able to navigate the State’s current petition process due to expense and complexity.
What is Clean Slate?
A Clean Slate Act would make record-clearing automatic for eligible non-violent convictions once someone has remained crime-free for a set period of time. This would be done through an automated process.
Who Will Benefit from Clean Slate?
Who Will Benefit from Clean Slate?
- Justice-involved individuals will be able to earn a decent living, obtain stable housing, and provide for their families.
- Missouri’s courts and prosecutors’ offices will not be burdened with the costs of record-clearing petitions, saving taxpayer dollars.
- Employers will be able to expand their workforce with people eager and able to work.
- Missouri will save taxpayer dollars by bringing more people into the workforce and interrupting the cycle of recidivism and reincarceration.
- Communities will be safer due to lower recidivism rates as more people are able to move on with their lives and provide for their families.
- Communities will benefit because the stigma of a criminal record, which limits employment opportunities and access to housing, is a major driver of poverty and racial inequality.
What are Other States Doing and How is It Working?
- Pennsylvania and Utah have implemented Clean Slate Acts; Michigan, Oklahoma, Virginia, Colorado and California have passed legislation, but not fully implemented them; 10 other states, including Missouri, are taking steps with Clean Slate Initiatives. Clean Slate legislation will be introduced in the upcoming session of the Missouri Legislature.
- When Utah implemented its automated Clean Slate Act on February 10, 2022, nearly 400,000 historical criminal records were cleared that day. Pennsylvania has sealed more than 40 million records since the implementation of their automated Clean Slate Act in 2019.
- Nationally, 70% of Americans across both parties support Clean Slate policies, and Clean Slate Initiatives have had overwhelming support on both sides of the aisles in states that have passed them.
- A Federal Clean Slate Act was passed on September 21, 2022, by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support.
Learn More:
Missouri Clean Slate Campaign www.mocleanslate.org
The Clean Slate Initiative www.cleanslateinitiative.org
Task Force Works to Seal Nonviolent Criminal Records
September 1, 2022
The Racial Justice Committee’s task force on Criminal Legal System Reform (CLSR), co-chaired by Anne Litwin and Mary Schuman, has been researching the obstacles faced by formerly incarcerated people when they return to their communities. Having a criminal record creates ongoing obstacles to employment, housing, education and family well-being. Many types of nonviolent criminal records are already eligible to be sealed in Missouri, but the current petition process is expensive and time intensive; only 1% of eligible individuals on average are able to complete the process. Clean Slate legislation, already passed in several states, streamlines the process with the help of technology, making record clearing of eligible, nonviolent convictions automatic once someone has remained crime free for a set period of time.
This bipartisan initiative has the potential to change the lives of thousands of Missourians, and we are excited to see this aggressive campaign by Empower Missouri and UMKC-Law to bring Missouri on board. The CLSR task force will be accelerating our education and advocacy efforts on this issue, including taking an active role in the Clean Slate campaign when appropriate.
For more information on the campaign, visit www.mocleanslate.org. For information on the CLSR task force and its other system-reform priorities, contact Mary Schuman at or Anne Litwin.
Women’s Voices Address Passage of MO Senate Bill 600 (SB600)
July 7, 2020
Members of Women’s Voices are dismayed that Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is signing SB600, a punitive, regressive crime bill that does absolutely nothing to further the cause of criminal justice reform. This bill will increase mandatory minimum sentences and the time that prisoners spend behind bars. It could add another 2,500 prisoners in the next 20 years, which will mean that Missouri will need more prisons.
More prisons do not result in less crime. We need thoughtful, intelligent solutions to improve public safety by funding improved education, health care, housing, and social services for those who are living in impoverished communities.
Already devastated communities, especially Black communities, will be further damaged by this unnecessary and hurtful legislation. Missouri lawmakers need to find a better way to serve their constituents.
Racial Justice Co-Chairs Urge Veto of SB600
July 4, 2020
Barbara Finch and Jenny Birgé write in the St. Louis American that we do not need more minimum mandatory sentencing! Read their letter here.
Ask Gov. Parson to veto SB600 – 573-751-3222
Women’s Voices Urges Gov. Parson to Veto SB600
June 30, 2020
Women’s Voices co-president, Ruth Ehresman, submitted a letter on behalf of Women’s Voices urging MO Gov. Parson to veto SB600. Read the letter here.
Close the Workhouse Campaign Claims Victory
June 30, 2020
Women’s Voices has called for closing the St. Louis medium security prison, “the workhouse”. It is reported that the Board of Aldermen may take action on the issue.
Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed will file a pair of board bills that would close St. Louis’ Medium Security Institute, also know as “The Workhouse”, and redirect funds to crime reduction programs. The first bill calls for officials to immediately start assessing the potential cost of outsourcing housing of the people currently held at The Workhouse, determine possible new uses for the facility and land and develop a plan to close the facility no more than 150 days from the effective date of the bill. The bill would also create the Neighborhood Crime Reduction Fund. Money from that program that would be “allocated to neighborhoods with high violent crime” which Reed said would be administered by a participatory budgeting process, also known as a citizen budget. Policy experts say citizen budgets are when a group of citizens makes the spending decisions for a portion of a municipality’s budget.
Women’s Voices Addresses the Murder of George Floyd
May 27, 2020
George Floyd
It is with a combination of revulsion and outrage that members of Women’s Voices acknowledge the taking of another black life. The murder of George Floyd by four policemen in Minneapolis adds to the list of lives (Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, etc.) brutally taken by those who are supposed to “protect and serve.” We are equally appalled by the self-styled vigilantes who stalk and murder innocent black men and boys (Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, etc).
People keep saying, “This has got to stop.” Indeed, it must stop. But it will not stop until our system of so-called “criminal justice” learns that a black life is every bit as valuable as a white life. It will not stop until young white men, armed with weapons of war, put down those weapons and learn that black lives matter.
These lives matter to us. We weep with our black brothers and sisters and re-commit our efforts to seek a better, fairer, most just society for all.
Women’s Voices joins Organizations to Urge State Leaders to Accommodate Re-entry
April 10, 2020
In a letter to Gov. Parson, and Missouri Department of Corrections Director, Anne L. Precythe, organizations outlined a funding avenue and recommendations to accommodate re-entry for persons exiting state prisons and local jails during the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
1. Identify incarcerated persons who are 60 or older and/or immune compromised, who meet the requirements for compassionate release pursuant to RSMo 217.250 and grant release.
2. Identify persons currently incarcerated who are within one year of release from incarceration and immediately release those persons from incarceration, implementing house arrest, electronic monitoring, or other measures as necessary for the balance of the term of incarceration.
3. Identify persons currently incarcerated due to a technical violation and immediately release those persons from incarceration, implementing house arrest, electronic
monitoring, or other measures as necessary for the balance of the term of incarceration for the violation.
4. Halt all arrests and detentions for technical violations of probation or parole and suspend in-person meeting requirements.
5. Identify persons who have completed three years of supervision and transfer that person to administrative supervision or terminate supervision as appropriate. Suspend fines and fees for formal, informal, and administrative supervision.
6. Allow and encourage those with families and loved ones who can house them to return directly to their families, even if that housing is public housing, without requiring a stay in transitional housing. Use the Governor’s emergency powers to house people in available and vacant buildings that have kitchen facilities and other necessary infrastructure such as hotels, motels and college dorms.
Women’s Voices joins Statewide Organizations and Medical Professionals Call on the Missouri Supreme Court to Prevent a COVID-19 Public Health Crisis in Jails by Releasing People
March 26, 2020
From the press release distributed by ArchCity Defenders, “Due to growing concerns of the spread of the Coronavirus, particularly among people who are incarcerated, a coalition of over 30 organizations and medical professionals, sent a letter to the Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, the Honorable George W. Draper III, outlining the need for decarceration, and requesting the Supreme Court act timely to order the release of people from jails statewide. The primary letter was enclosed with supporting documents, including a memo written by Dr. Fred Rottnek, Professor and Director of Community Medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, which received broad endorsement from the medical and public health community.”
Citing the Supreme Court’s authority under Article V, Section 4 of the Missouri Constitution, signatories requested judges act immediately to release the following groups of inmates during the pendency of the COVID-19 pandemic:
(i) those currently serving sentences in any city or county jail in Missouri pursuant to a conviction for a misdemeanor offense;
(ii) those currently serving sentences in any city or county jail in Missouri pursuant to a conviction for a municipal ordinance violation;
(iii) those confined pretrial on nonviolent misdemeanor, municipal ordinance violation, or nonviolent C, D, and E felony charges;
(iv) those confined on technical probation violations or probation violations based on allegations of a nonviolent felony and
(v) those in high-risk categories likely to face serious illness or death, such as pregnant women, immunocompromised persons, and those over 60 who pose no threat to the public.
Read the full press release here.
Women’s Voices advocates for clemency for Patty Prewitt
December 14, 2019
Ruth Ehresman, co-president of Women’s Voices, submitted a letter to Gov. Mike Parson on behalf of Women’s Voices requesting clemency for Patty Prewitt.
Learn more about Patty’s case:
Feb. 2, 2019 St. Louis Post-Disptach by Editorial Board
Dec. 13, 2018 Kansas City Star Op-ed by Jane Prewitt Watkins, oldest daughter of Patty Prewitt
Dec. 26, 2017 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Op-ed by Tracy McCreery, MO State Representative, St. Louis
Learn more about how you can take action here.
Close the Workhouse finds allies in federal judge, Ben & Jerry’s
June 12, 2019
“[Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream,] and his massive team have gotten behind the local St. Louis advocates who are trying to close the Medium Security Institute, known as the Workhouse, that has long been decried for inhumane conditions.”
The same week that Ben & Jerry’s came to town to spread the message about the effort to Close the Workhouse, a federal judge handed down a decision that bars St. Louis jails from holding inmates simply because the cannot pay bail.
Read the article from The St. Louis American here.
Women’s Voices on the Death Penalty
Members of Women’s Voices voted unanimously in March 2007 to endorse a resolution calling for a moratorium on death penalty executions in the state of Missouri.
