Press Contact:
Ed Rhode
Phone: 314-482-4138
MEDIA RELEASE
New report highlights lack of diversity in judicial and prosecutorial pools;
attorneys serving as judges and prosecutors in neighboring municipalities
November 6, 2014 – St. Louis, Mo. – Today Better Together released a report on the municipal judges and prosecutors in St. Louis City and St. Louis County. Data and qualitative information reveal needs for reform within the judicial and prosecutorial pools.
“The details revealed in our report strongly suggest that the structure and practices involved with staffing the municipal courts should be reviewed,” said Nancy Rice, Executive Director of Better Together. “We’re not alleging that anyone is behaving inappropriately. We’re pointing out that the current system and practices can erode faith in the courts.”
As with the larger Municipal Courts study that Better Together released last month, this report highlights circumstances that lead to a lack of trust in the community. Again, this is particularly true in municipalities that are predominantly African-American and poor.
Key findings in the report include:
- The salaries of all municipal judges are paid by the municipality. Similarly, prosecutors are hired and paid directly by each municipality. At the very least, this creates a problem of perception – and reinforces some citizens’ belief that certain courts exist not to ensure justice and safety, but rather to generate revenue.
- At present, 54 individuals fill 80 municipal judge positions. Only 5 are black, and only 7 are female. Of the 80 prosecutor positions in St. Louis County municipalities, only 6 prosecutors are black, and only 9 are female.
- There is significant overlap in the current system, including:
- attorneys servings as a prosecutor in a municipality and a judge in a neighboring municipality,
- attorneys serving as a judge in multiple municipalities,
- attorneys serving as a prosecutor in multiple municipalities, and
- a firm that serves as a prosecutor of judge in 10 different municipalities.
The new Better Together report addresses these issues and others, as well as providing extensive supporting data and best-practice recommendations.
To read the report in full, please visit http://www.bettertogetherstl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/BT-Judges-and-Prosecutors-Report-FINAL.pdf .
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About Better Together
Better Together launched in November 2013 as a grassroots project sponsored by the Missouri Council for a Better Economy (MCBE). Born in response to growing public interest in addressing the fragmented nature of local government throughout St. Louis City and St. Louis County, Better Together is driving an inclusive, transparent process of developing and assembling valuable information other organizations can use to craft their own plans for what the future of the region should look like.
Today, 1.3 million people who call St. Louis home are served by 115 local governments, which include St. Louis City and St. Louis County, as well as 90 municipalities and 23 fire districts. The costs associated with funding all 115 governments has reached $2.3 billion per year, underscoring the need to revisit the discussion to reunite the region.
Current Study: Public Safety