St. Louis is about to lose a major civil rights player in its backyard. The MacArthur Justice Center will close its downtown office this spring, ending a decade of on-the-ground impact litigation in the city. The organization says the St. Louis location, which opened in 2016 and has served as its hub for prison, parole, and policing work across Missouri, is scheduled to shut its doors on May 1.
Co-director Amy Malinowski confirmed the closure date in comments to St. Louis Public Radio. The outlet reports that Executive Director David Shapiro praised the Missouri team’s work but did not offer a reason for pulling the plug on the office.
Local Base, National Network
The MacArthur Justice Center lists St. Louis among its regional locations and shows its Missouri team working out of a downtown address. The group’s Missouri page notes that the office opened in 2016 and focuses on policing, prison reform, parole and other systemic issues in the state, according to the MacArthur Justice Center.
Major Cases in Missouri
From that St. Louis base, the center has led several federal lawsuits in Missouri, including class actions challenging the Missouri Parole Board and the Department of Corrections. It also helped bring litigation that pushed changes to the state’s solitary-confinement practices for people living with HIV, a case detailed by The Marshall Project.
In a MacArthur press release about that HIV-related litigation, the organization said the settlement required the Missouri Department of Corrections to strip out discriminatory language that singled out people with HIV for segregation, require individualized medical assessments, and mandate staff training. The center described those changes as substantive and said the agreement also included monetary relief for the estate involved in the case, per the announcement.
As of now, MacArthur has not provided a reason for closing the Missouri office, according to St. Louis Public Radio. The organization has also not yet spelled out what will happen to the St. Louis office’s docket or its staff in the months ahead.
