St. Louis County Racial Justice Improvement Project (RJIP) (October 2014 update)

The Task Force The Honorable Shaun R. Floerke, Chief Judge of the Sixth Judicial District Mark S. Rubin, St. Louis County Attorney Daniel Lew, Chief Public Defender, Sixth Judicial District The Honorable John E. DeSanto, Judge of the Sixth Judicial District Ross Litman, St. Louis County Sheriff Anne Clancey, Duluth Police Department Deputy Chief Kay Arola, Executive Director, Arrowhead Regional Corrections Wally Kostich, Arrowhead Regional Corrections Donna Ennis, Community Representative Mark Stodghill, Projects and Initiatives for St. Louis County Attorney’s Office

Objective in 2010 To address the perceived disproportionate number people of color, charged with felony offenses, incarcerated in pre-trial detention facilities in St. Louis County.

St. Louis County Largest County east of the Mississippi River Part of the Sixth Judicial District Population – 226,000 ◦ American Indian – 2.2% ◦ African American – 1.4% ◦ Hispanic/Latino – 1.2% ◦ Caucasian – 93%

Initial Data Compiled and Analyzed by Dr. Robert Weidner Revealed preliminarily that there was a greater likelihood that people of color would be subject to pre-trial detention when compared to Caucasian arrestees. Pre-trial numbers also suggested bail may be disproportionately higher for minorities

Assistance from American Bar Association Travel to and meetings with the Pre-Trial Justice Institute(PJI) in Washington, DC Arrangements for training for court personnel Financial support

Training in St. Louis County All 16 judges in the Sixth Judicial District were initially interviewed to determine training needs and bail considerations. Judges, probation, corrections, law enforcement, and attorneys personnel gathered for formal training by PJI held in Duluth, Minnesota in 2013

Proposed Policy Reform Developed by the Task Force To address the racial disparity, a comprehensive and racially valid method of enabling judges was created to make more fair and equitable decisions when setting bail and other conditions of pre-trial release.

Implementation of the Reform A comprehensive check-list in laminated form was created and placed on the bench of all judges as well as the desktop of their computers.

REFORM

RJIP in St. Louis County Next Steps Track and measure the effectiveness of the proposed reform through collection of data and comparison with pre-reform numbers. Dr. Robert Weidner will be called upon again to assist in this next phase of: ◦ Data mining ◦ Tracking ◦ Reporting

Intensive Supervised Release (IPTR) Created by Arrowhead Regional Corrections (ARC) Initial budget support ($1 million) provided by St. Louis County Sheriff Ross Litman Forfeiture funds provided by St. Louis County Mark Rubin to purchase bullet-proof vests and computers for SR agents Track and measure the results of the District’s newly implemented pre-trial option of Intensive Pre-Trial Release (IPTR) Promising results in 9 months ◦ 141 people released ◦ 10, 000+ days on the program versus jail ◦ 4,700+ days on electronic monitoring ◦ 6% decrease in pre-trial jail population ◦ Addressed chemical and mental health pre trial ◦ Over ½ of all participants were active in seeking or maintaining employment

Recognition of Need for Additional Training The Task Force intends to offer additional training to: Assure new players in the system know what has been done Assure compliance with Reform measures Continue to explore alternative measures of pre- trial release (e.g., IPTR) Learn from the additional report of IPTR

Definition of Success? Assurance that every judge is utilizing the checklist Assure the judges and players in the system have confidence in pre-trial alternatives such as IPTR Assure that every Defendant appearing in the District will be treated equally and fairly

Shift to Direction/Leadership The original grant was applied for and directed by the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office Success has been achieved through participation and a mutual respect between all major players in the Criminal Justice System The group recognizes the need for the judiciary to be the true “driver of the bus” for continued reform Chief Judge Shaun Floerke, Chief Public Defender Daniel Lew, and St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin will continue Phase II