On Tuesday, the State of Missouri executed Kevin Johnson.
Johnson’s execution comes after a harrowing, 11th hour 5-2 vote by the Missouri Supreme Court, where Justices Patricia Breckenridge of Vernon County and George Draper, III, of St. Louis County, were the only voices calling for a stay of Johnson’s execution. The remaining justices voted for death. Johnson declined to give a final statement. The U.S. Supreme Court decided not to intervene, although Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown-Jackson wrote that they would have granted the stay of execution.
By affirming Johnson’s death warrant this week, the court effectively ended statewide efforts to establish county “conviction integrity review units,” or CIRU, which scrutinize wrongful convictions obtained by previous administrations.
But the state Supreme Court’s decision comes with heavier implications beyond Johnson’s state-sponsored murder. By affirming Johnson’s death warrant this week, the court effectively ended statewide efforts to establish county “conviction integrity review units,” or CIRU, which scrutinize wrongful convictions obtained by previous administrations. The court also determined that Missouri’s new wrongful conviction law – in effect for barely a year – does not require a hearing when a prosecutor presents evidence to the court of misconduct or unconstitutionality. However, Judge Breckenridge wrote in her dissent that the 2021 law was “unambiguous” and that the special prosecutor, E.E. Keenan from Kansas City, had demonstrated his ability to prove racial prejudice in the jury’s decision to sentence Johnson to death.
This ruling will undoubtedly have devastating consequences for persons wrongfully convicted and on death row – five members of the Missouri Supreme Court have decided that the rule of law no longer applies when the Attorney General demands his pound of flesh.
Johnson’s daughter Khorry Ramey was blocked by the courts from watching her father’s execution. Apparently in Missouri, 19 is old enough to be executed but not old enough to witness an execution.
Missouri continues to strive to be one of the most merciless states in the union. There are only 36 days between Johnson’s state-sponsored murder and the next-scheduled execution. On January 3, the state of Missouri will execute Amber McLaughlin, who will be the first woman executed in the State of Missouri since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Since the jury could not agree on a death sentence, Judge Steven Goldman of St. Louis County unilaterally decided to sentence McLaughlin to death. Missouri state law currently allows for “judicial override,” when a jury either declines to apply the death penalty or is deadlocked in its decision.
St. Louis County is the sixth most executing county in the nation – and its infamous former prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch is largely responsible for that damming statistic. McCulloch was ousted from office in 2018, when then-Ferguson city councilman Wesley Bell defeated the longtime prosecutor. McCulloch’s legacy is marred by prosecutorial misconduct, fallible death sentences, and blatant racial discrimination.
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Earlier this week, St. Louis inaugurated Megan Green as its first woman aldermanic president. She defeated her colleague on the board, Jack Coatar (who has already said that he will not seek re-election in the spring election) despite the huge disparity in financial resources. Reportedly her $262,771 raised and $215,947 spent was paltry compared to the $871,618 raised and $855,924 spent by her opponent. Importantly, Green was the beneficiary of a key endorsement of Mayor Tishaura Jones. Next week, her predecessor Lewis Reed is sentenced for a series of federal white collar crimes. The times, they are a-changin’ in St. Louis politics. If you don’t believe it, ask Michael Kelley, Coatar’s political advisor and major fundraiser.
Since Reed’s resignation in June, the Board of Aldermen has been able to pass landmark legislation, including strengthening the Civilian Oversight Board and establishing the Reproductive Equity Fund
Reed’s sentencing, along with former aldermen Jeffrey Boyd and John Collins Muhammad, follows the recent appeal filed by Muhammad Almuttan, a northside business owner publicly identified as the FBI informant who bribed at least four known government officials. In his appeal, Almuttan sought to reduce his 4-year incarceration sentence in consideration of his cooperation with prosecutors throughout their more than 2-year investigation. Almuttan also was one of the owners of the notorious “Shoot ‘em Up” Shell gas station on West Florissant that was recently shuttered by the City after years of neighborhood complaints.
Meanwhile, Reed and Collins Muhammad have filed separate motions, asking that they not be ordered to pay restitution as part of their December 6 sentencing. Both former aldermen are relying on the Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982 and have argued that the FBI is not a “victim” entitled to restitution for the bribes they accepted from Almuttan on several occasions.
The EYE sees that Reed and Collins Muhammad have apparently forgotten about the six-figure tax abatements that they funneled to Almuttan and others, resulting in a direct loss of those funds to St. Louis Public School students. We think that amount, instead of incarceration, would be more reflective of restorative justice for the true victims here – the children of St. Louis.
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In the meantime, the 28-member Board has less than five months to leave its impact before their membership is reduced by half. Since Reed’s resignation in June, the Board of Aldermen has been able to pass landmark legislation, including strengthening the Civilian Oversight Board and establishing the Reproductive Equity Fund.
A Tenants’ Bill of Rights has been making its way to the Board, to help rein in slumlords and decaying housing stock across the city. Ald. Shameem Clark Hubbard (Ward 26), unopposed at the time of publishing, introduced legislation to establish a pilot universal basic income (UBI) program. Resolutions supporting unionization efforts of Union Station Hotel employees and opposing gas cost increases by Spire Missouri have been passed.
Undoubtedly, these people-centered programs would have never seen daylight under President Reed. With a progressive slate of candidates rising to challenge current alderpersons during “Aldergeddon,” the future of St. Louis couldn’t be more exciting.
At the time of publishing, a handful of young leaders have already filed to run, including current SLPS Board of Education member Alisha Sonnier in the 7th Ward; St. Louis Young Democrats’outreach director Michael Browning in the 9th Ward; publicist Daniela Velaquez in the 6th Ward; and Katie Bellis in the 2nd Ward. Even Board Bully Alderwoman Sharon Tyus (Ward 1) has a newcomer challenging her and current Alderpersons Dwinderlin Evans (Ward 4) and Jesse Todd (Ward 18) for the new Ward 12.
“St. Louisans deserve great leaders who build stronger, safer and vibrant communities across the city,” Tashaura Earl, business owner and president of the Revitalization of Baden Association, told the EYE. “Now is the time to elect new and qualified leaders who will work together for the betterment of society.”
Earl’s challenge to Tyus’ long-time reign at the Board follows the senior lawmaker’s recent sexist attacks against newly-inaugurated Board President Green. During Green’s first day as aldermanic leader, Tyus hurled a number of aggressive proposed rule changes that, for some inexplicable reason, she never raised under former president Reed or interim president Joe Vollmer (Ward 10).
Such changes included the removal of power from the Board President to determine committee assignments – an issue Tyus previously did not raise under male leadership – and Tyus further attempted to gaslight her colleagues about the turmoil left behind by Reed.
“This is a transformative and pivotal time in our city,” Sonnier told the EYE. “We can be a national model of what it looks like to have people-centered policy despite being in a repressive state if we select leaders who are audacious, open minded, and who will put people over profit and progress over pettiness. Lives and our city’s trajectory are on the line.
Browning echoed Sonnier’s sentiments about leadership at the Board, adding that “St. Louis needs full-time, devoted, thoughtful leaders whose first and only priority is the communities they are elected to represent.”
The young leaders who are stepping up to run, Browning added, are ready to turn this progressive momentum into real progress.
See The St. Louis American’s coverage of how Alisha Sonnier’s SLPS board quest comes to pass.