St. Louis agrees to pay $4M to settle lawsuit alleging inhumane
conditions at now-closed jail
[May 07, 2025]
HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
St. Louis has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class action lawsuit
alleging that inmates at a former medium-security jail were housed in
“inhumane conditions” that included rodent feces in food, infestations
of bugs and snakes, and unbearable overcrowding.
The nonprofit ArchCity Defenders announced the settlement on Tuesday as
it filed a motion in federal court seeking authorization to begin
notifying people who were incarcerated at the St. Louis Medium Security
Institution that they could be eligible for damages.
Demolition of the troubled jail, known as the Workhouse, began earlier
this year. Around 16,000 people jailed there for five or more days from
November 2012 through June 2022, when it closed, may be eligible to file
a claim if the settlement is approved.
The agreement, signed April 10, said that the city denied any wrongdoing
or liability.
Mayor Cara Spencer, who was sworn into office five days after the
agreement was reached, declined to elaborate during a news conference
Tuesday. “I can’t really speak to those decisions before I was sworn
into office,” she said.
All seven of the original plaintiffs who sued in 2017 are Black, as were
the vast majority of inmates at the jail, although just over half of St.
Louis’ residents are Black. Virtually all of the people jailed there
were awaiting trial because they couldn't afford bail, mostly for
non-violent crimes.
“It was a horrible place,” said one of the plaintiffs, Jasmine Borden,
in a written statement. "They treat dogs at the shelter better than they
treated us. It’s nice to be compensated with the settlement, but I can’t
get back any of the time that I was dealing with being locked up and
being away from my kids in that unsuitable environment.”
Another of the plaintiffs, James Cody, also said dogs were treated
better during a news conference when the lawsuit was first filed.
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Protesters begin pushing in one of the exterior fences outside the
St. Louis medium security jail, known as the Workhouse, on July 21,
2017, as people gather to call attention to what they say are
inhumane conditions at the facility. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis
Post-Dispatch via AP, File)
Cody, who was jailed for eight months on a probation violation, said
he often found mouse feces in cake served at the jail. Jail staff
would simply scrape them off, he said.
Cody said he was housed in a dorm with 69 other men, all sharing a
single working toilet, sink and shower. He recalled the heat of
summer, when temperatures inside the jail reached 125 degrees
Fahrenheit (51.67 degrees Celsius), according to the lawsuit. The
hot conditions led to protests that resulted in city officials
temporarily bringing in portable air conditioners.
“This jail came to be such an infamous symbol of injustice and
inhumane treatment in St. Louis, a symbol of racism, a symbol of the
way in which we target poor people in our criminal legal system,”
said Blake Strode, ArchCity Defenders’ executive director, in a
phone interview.
“So many generations were harmed by it. And so, I think the fact
that we are here in 2025 with the jail empty, partially demolished,
fully defunded, and now you have thousands of people who are
actually going to receive some recovery for the horrific conditions
that they endured in the jail. I think that’s a huge
accomplishment.”
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