Show-Me State Times

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt need not worry about violent offenders being released from jail due to the COVID-19 national outbreak, according to an inmate advocate. 

A March 31 letter sent to St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner, states that Schmitt is deeply concerned that persons charged with violent felonies are being released.

“The inmates who are being let out were scheduled to be released in a month or two anyway,” said Amy Ralston Povah, president of the Clemency for All Non-violent Drug Offenders (CAN-DO) foundation. “The ones slated to be released in 2020 and 2021 are those that are being released early due to COVID-19.”

That’s because the authorities are being stingy with the criteria about which inmates will be released, according to Povah.

“I don't think the public such be concerned,” Povah told the Show-Me State Times. “There are elderly people and people dying of cancer who they are not even considering. They are prioritizing people who have a halfway house date.”

The attorney general has asked that a list be made public and updated showing the names of inmates with felony charges who are being released, according to media reports, however, Gardner, who is also a registered nurse, responded with a letter of her own stating that she had made sure people charged with violent crimes would not be released but that she was disappointed Schmitt had politicized the issue by releasing his letter to the media. Gardner is a Democrat while Schmitt is a Republican.

“Some judges had, due to concerns about the pandemic, released inmates over state objections and before victims can be notified,” she wrote.

Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway, who has been promising transparency while running for governor, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

As previously reported, Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak weighed in on the dispute stating that the process of reducing inmate count had considered the safety of the public, victims and witnesses.

“We examined criminal cases with the assistance of judges, the Public Defender’s Office, private attorneys, the prosecuting attorney, and judges to make sure our reductions considered the safety of the public, victims, and witnesses,” Marshak told the St. Louis Reporter.

Povah, who served nine years of a 24-year sentence until former President Bill Clinton granted her clemency, says the authorities have been stalling in releasing inmates. 

“We have communicated with inmates daily who were put on a list and thought they were going home but the narrative shifts daily,” Povah said in an interview. “We don't understand why it's taking so long.”