Former St. Louis Detention Facilities Oversight Board Vice Chair Janis Mensah has sent an open letter with nearly 600 signatures to Mayor Cara Spencer urging her to address jail oversight and to drop Mensah's charges of trespassing and resisting arrest.
Mensah's case is set for a jury trial in the St. Louis Circuit Court on July 23. The charges could result in jail time, but fines are more likely, according to Maureen Hanlon, an attorney at ArchCity Defenders, the legal advocacy organization representing Mensah.
She said jury trials on municipal charges don’t happen often.
“It's not a first-degree murder trial, but I don’t think it's acceptable that it's happening to someone who was on an oversight board,” Hanlon said.
Mensah was visiting the city jail on Aug. 31, 2023, on behalf of the board after 55-year-old Terrence Smith died in custody due to high blood pressure and heart problems.
Mensah says they were sitting patiently in a jail waiting room to do a site visit when then-Commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah instructed staff to call the police and remove them. Mensah said they were beaten unconscious by police, arrested and then taken to St. Louis University Hospital.
“I see this as a problem that Cara inherited, and this is an opportunity for her to be part of the solution,” Mensah said this week. The board was established under former Mayor Tishaura Jones in 2022 to provide recommendations about operations and conditions at the St. Louis City Justice Center, as well as disciplinary actions for employees in the Division of Corrections.
At least 19 detainees have died while in the custody of there since 2020.
Nearly 600 St. Louis community members and almost 30 Justice for Janis coalitions have signed the petition, including Board of Aldermen President Megan Green, 14th Ward Alderman Rasheen Aldridge and former DFOB secretary Pam Walker.
The letter states that if Spencer doesn’t help dismiss the charges against Mensah, her administration would be “complicit in police brutality and the organized silencing of those concerned about the conditions at the city jail.”
Spencer has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Yusef Daneshyar, a spokesman for Green, said the City Counselor’s Office should prioritize litigation that protects the city and its residents from harmful federal and state policies.
“It shouldn’t spend its time and tax-payer dollars pursuing erroneous charges — especially against someone who was performing their duties as a member of the city’s own Detention Facilities Oversight Board,” Daneshyar said.
The Justice for Janis Coalition is comprised of 29 organizations, including the Eco-Socialist Green Party of Eastern Missouri, Voices of Palestine Network, Solidarity Coalition of STL/Metro East and the Caring Hearts Project.
This story was updated to add comments from Megan Green’s spokesperson, Yusef Daneshyar.
