St. Louis settles lawsuit over inhumane jail conditions at closed Workhouse facility.
For years, the Workhouse in St. Louis was a place that many people feared. Officially called the St. Louis Medium Security Institution, the jail was the focus of complaints for a long time. Thousands of people passed through its doors over the years, and most of them were there not because they had been convicted of a crime, but because they couldn’t afford bail. Many of these people were in for non-violent charges, yet they found themselves stuck in filthy, overcrowded, and deeply uncomfortable conditions.
Now, the city has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a lawsuit about how those people were treated. The settlement covers about 16,000 people who were jailed at the Workhouse for five or more days between 2012 and 2022. The place was finally shut down in 2022, and demolition began earlier this year. If the court approves the agreement, the people who were held there may be able to get some money for what they went through. The city didn’t admit it did anything wrong, but it did agree to settle.
People who were jailed there described disturbing conditions. One former inmate, Jasmine Borden, said, “They treat dogs at the shelter better than they treated us.” She went on to explain how hard it was to be away from her children while stuck in such a place. Another person, James Cody, said he once found mouse droppings in the cake they were served and that jail staff would just scrape it off like it was no big deal. Cody said he shared a dorm with 69 other men and only one working toilet, sink, and shower. In the summer, the heat inside the jail would rise to around 125 degrees. At one point, city officials brought in portable air conditioners, but only after people protested the dangerous temperatures.

Most of the original people who filed the lawsuit are Black, and so were most of the people locked up in the Workhouse, even though St. Louis itself is only about half Black. That raised serious questions about who ends up in jail and why. According to Blake Strode from ArchCity Defenders, the group that helped bring the lawsuit, the jail became a symbol of how the justice system treats poor people and people of color. He said, “This jail became known for injustice and racism.”
Now, nearly three years after the jail closed its doors, the settlement offers a small sense of relief to those who were locked inside. While the money may never make up for what they went through, some former inmates say it’s at least an acknowledgment that what happened to them wasn’t right. It doesn’t erase the time they lost or the mental toll it took, but it’s something. With the building being torn down and the money on its way, people are hoping this chapter of St. Louis’ history will finally come to an end and that something better, safer, and more humane might take its place for future generations in the city.
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St. Louis agrees to pay $4M to settle lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions at now-closed jail
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