ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - U.S. Rep. Cori Bush(D) is calling for the St. Louis City Justice Center Commissioner to address jail conditions amid recent deaths at the center.
On Tuesday, Bush's office announced she sent a letter to St. Louis Commissioner of Corrections Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah to express serious concerns regarding the conditions and treatment of detainees and staff at St. Louis City Justice Center (CJC).
“I was deeply troubled by the apparent and continuing issues regarding conditions at the facility and the treatment of detainees and staff,” wrote Congresswoman Bush in the letter. “These grave concerns have only been amplified in light of the most recent death of a CJC detainee over the weekend, marking the third death within ten weeks, and tenth overall in the last two years. This letter outlines several of these issues, which must be a top priority for [the Commissioner] and other City officials. This situation is a crisis and it is imperative you respond with the urgency it merits.”
Bush concerns comes after three inmates at the center dying in a six week span. It also comes a day after St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones releasing a statement in regards to the most recent death at the facility, which included Jones calling for the creation of new positions in the City of St. Louis Department of Health, including a Chief Medical Officer, specifically to oversee medical operations and services at the jail.
The St. Louis City Justice Center has faced a troubling two-month stretch for the center. Alongside the recent deaths at the facility, there was also a riot by prisoners in August that included one of the guards being held hostage. The guard was eventually rescued.