About the NMJD campaign
The No More Jail Deaths campaign was born in response to the call from incarcerated organizers and the ongoing crisis at the St. Louis City Justice Center that has turned jail into a death sentence. This coalition encompasses organizations in St. Louis that lead decarceration, diversion, and abolitionist efforts in the St. Louis region. This campaign is deeply committed to following the leadership of directly impacted individuals.
Get connected with NMJD
NMJD Campaign's
Six Guiding Principles
1
Jail should not be a death sentence. Jails are inherently violent institutions: they cage people, deprive them of autonomy, and create the conditions for physical and psychological harm.
Jail deaths are systemic, not accidental: they are the predictable outcome of confinement, neglect, criminalization of poverty, racism, ableism, and the denial of care.
3
No More Jails is the necessary response to jail deaths: preventing death requires reducing and ultimately eliminating incarceration, not improving conditions inside cages.
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4
Carceral institutions are not health care providers: jails cannot deliver meaningful medical, mental health, or substance use care; care must exist in the community, voluntarily and without coercion.
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5
No amount of oversight, accreditation, and “transparency” can make cages safe: external review bodies (like the DFOB) that leave jails intact are incapable of eliminating the structural conditions that produce death.
6
Carceral systems must be defunded and dismantled: public resources must be divested from jails and reinvested in Decarceration, Diversion and Dignity and other life-affirming infrastructures.
Join a Working Group
If you are interested in being a part of the NMJD campaign, consider signing up for one of our three working groups. These groups are each centered on one of the campaign demands: Dignify, Decarcerate, and Divert. These groups have dedicated working time at every community dinner and may have additional meetings outside of those monthly dinners as needed.
Dignify: The city needs a Dignity Plan to prevent future deaths. Key actions include frequent safety audits, clear reporting on lockdowns, and better medical care. We must ensure legal and family access while ending 23-hour isolation. Our mission is to mitigate current harm as we work towards long-term decarceration.
Decarcerate: City officials must review all pretrial detainees, focusing on those held without bond or on unaffordable bail and individuals needing medical care. The objective is to release people into safe community support systems, minimizing jail exposure and preventing harm.
Divert: The city must prioritize diversion for mental health, addiction, and poverty-related cases. By expanding community partnerships and tracking results, we can replace pretrial jail time with a transformative justice hub. This provides a direct path to local support and healing, ensuring accountability without incarceration.
Anchor Organizations
Freedom Community Center
FCC is a Black-led organization in North St. Louis that was founded to dismantle systems of oppression that inflict harm and trauma on Black communities in St. Louis, particularly the police and the criminal punishment system.
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Some Things Must Be Heard
Some Things Must Be Heard: Spitting & Politicking is a Black-Led art centered movement building initiative that merges art, advocacy, spirituality, and embodied organizing to ignite transformation.
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Empower Missouri
Empower Missouri is a statewide anti-poverty advocacy organization that works to secure basic human needs and equal justice for every person in our state through coalition-building and advocacy.
