(Getty Images).

A complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

A fired school superintendent and an interim leader without proper state certification.

Two government audits, and a shortage of school buses and bus drivers.

The start of the 2024-2025 school year has been anything but routine for the St. Louis Public School District.

Two months into the school year, questions continue to swirl around the district.

Concerns about the district’s finances, including an operating budget with a $17 million surplus and a projected $35 million deficit, prompted public calls for a state audit, which began in August.

Around the same time — as test scores continued to show a disproportionate number of Black students in metro St. Louis unable to read at grade level — the St. Louis City NAACP filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights against 34 public and charter schools in St. Louis city and county, the St. Louis Special District and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

“Low reading proficiency rates for St. Louis Black students underscore the urgent need for targeted interventions in the region’s schools,” the local NAACP chapter said in a news release.

Meanwhile, after placing Superintendent Keisha Scarlett on paid administrative leave in the summer of 2024 and hiring an outside firm to review hiring, spending and other practices, the SLPS board fired Scarlett in September and named Millicent Borishade as the interim superintendent.

Borishade, who was deputy superintendent, does not hold Missouri superintendent credentials. And Scarlett told St. Louis Public Radio she plans to contest the board’s decision to terminate her contract and will request a hearing before the board.

This week, two more district administrators resigned.

The St. Louis school district, which enrolls about 18,000 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade,  employs nearly 2,000 teachers,  according to Byron Clemens, spokesperson for the American Federation of Teachers St. Louis Local 420, the union representing local teachers.

Clemens said the teacher’s union continues to have confidence in the elected school board to “make any corrections and see that the administration will follow board policy and procedures.”

Scarlett, Clemens said, “is entitled to due process.”

In addition to a review of the district’s operations by the Missouri Auditor’s Office, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office will also oversee a local audit.

Conner Kerrigan, Jones’ spokesman, said public concerns about the district “have forced us to increase the scope of the audit to include SLPS contracting practices, conflicts of interest and whistleblower claims, as well as the Board of Education’s oversight and approval of practices pertaining to the hiring and firing of district employees.”

E-mails and calls to the St. Louis Public School District and school board seeking comment were not returned.

Literacy rates

For the St. Louis NAACP, a major concern long term is the wide gap in reading achievement between white and Black students.

Education experts say third-grade reading proficiency is a bellwether for future academic success as students proceed through elementary and secondary grades.

Data for Missouri schools suggest about 42% of  Missouri third-graders are proficient readers, with the rate dropping to 21% for Black third-graders. In the St. Louis Public Schools, about 14% of Black third-graders are proficient readers, compared to 61% of White students.

“The St. Louis City NAACP was brave in filing the complaint with the U.S. Department of Education and Civil Rights,” said Ayanna Shivers, education committee chair for the Missouri NAACP. “There is a literary crisis in our country, and being able to read is a civil right.”

There’s no single solution to helping students become skilled readers, but “research indicates that more than 90% of all students could become proficient readers if they were taught by teachers employing scientifically-based reading instruction,” according to a study conducted by the National Council on Teacher Quality.

Evidence-based reading instruction, reading assessments, individualized reading plans for students struggling with reading and money to help pay for teacher training in evidence-based instruction were included in recent literacy legislation approved by the Missouri General Assembly.

“The most significant impact is the implementation of a statewide foundational reading assessment administered at the beginning and end of each school year for students in grades K-3 and for any newly enrolled students in grades 1-5,” a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said in an email to The Independent.

These assessments, the department spokesperson said, “are not standardized assessments. They are adaptive diagnostic assessments that provide detailed information on students’ skills in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Previously, there was no available state-wide data that provided a consistent measure of these foundational reading skills.”

Reading assessments for the 2023-2024 school year are expected to be announced at an Oct. 22 meeting of the State Board of Education.

In January, the St. Louis Public School District launched “Literacy in the Lou,” which found the district providing new books to students to read at school and home. Missouri state appellate judges gathered at a St. Louis Head Start school in September to read to the preschoolers, color pictures, and mold clay letters.

Literacy is a civil right, crucial to democracy, employment and success in life, said Jane Brady, a retired Delaware judge and former attorney general who researches public policy, including efforts across the nation to improve literacy.

Brady says she and the president of the St. Louis NAACP, Adolphus Pruitt, have discussed approaches to teaching reading and improving literacy in Missouri.

“You have to have goal-setting and accountability,” Brady said, citing Mississippi as an example of a state with high poverty levels that saw reading test scores dramatically jump after modernizing curriculum to include science-based reading instruction and provide consequences.

Christopher Dunn was convicted for a 1990 deadly shooting of a teen in St. Louis. Others involved in the case later admitted they lied about Dunn’s involvement. No DNA ever tied Dunn to the murder. A judge also admitted that the lack of evidence is enough to prove Dunn is innocent (photo submitted).

Christopher Dunn was wrongfully convicted of murder and assault in 1991, and after 33 years in a Missouri state prison, should be released immediately, St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser ruled Monday afternoon.  

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office plans to appeal, which would likely block Dunn’s release.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore asked the court in February to vacate Dunn’s murder conviction in the 1990 fatal shooting of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers.  Gore said the evidence shows Dunn, a 54-year-old St. Louis native serving a life sentence without parole, was innocent of the murder for which he was convicted.

Bailey opposed Gore’s motion, but Sengheiser ruled the St. Louis prosecutor, “made a clear and convincing showing of actual innocence that undermines the basis for Dunn’s convictions, because in light of the new evidence, no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find Dunn guilty of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt.” 

The State of Missouri, Senghauser wrote, “shall immediately discharge Christopher Dunn from its custody.”

Dunn was convicted largely on the testimony of two boys, aged 12 and 14, who later recanted, saying they were coerced by police and prosecutors.

Tricia Rojo Bushnell, executive director of Midwest Innocence Project, which represented Dunn, said no evidence remains to support Dunn’s conviction, “which has kept him wrongly behind bars, away from his loved ones, for more than half of his life.”

“Chris’ case is yet another example of how difficult it is to overturn a wrongful conviction in Missouri, even when the prosecutor supports it,” she said.

At the evidentiary hearing, the attorney general’s office presented “nothing that challenged the body of evidence showing Chris is innocent,” Bushnell said. “The attorney general’s opposition to Chris’ release and to other innocence cases must be addressed and corrected. The office wasted valuable resources and taxpayer money in its effort to keep Chris behind bars.”

A spokeswoman for Bailey declined comment.

This story was updated at 7 p.m. to reflect the attorney general’s appeal. 

Christopher Dunn was convicted for a 1990 deadly shooting of a teen in St. Louis. Others involved in the case later admitted they lied about Dunn’s involvement. No DNA ever tied Dunn to the murder. A judge also admitted that the lack of evidence is enough to prove Dunn is innocent (photo submitted).

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey will oppose efforts by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore to vacate the murder conviction of Christopher Dunn, who Gore believes has spent 33 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

In February, St.  Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore announced he filed a motion with the court to vacate Dunn’s murder conviction in the 1991 fatal shooting of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers. When making the announcement, Gore said the evidence shows Dunn, a 54-year-old St. Louis native serving a life sentence without parole, is innocent of the murder for which he was convicted.

“The eyewitness recantations alone are enough to show clear and convincing evidence of actual innocence in this case,” Gore said. “Justice requires that Christopher Dunn’s murder conviction be vacated.”

Bailey disagrees, and according to Gore’s office, plans to oppose the motion to vacate Dunn’s conviction. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for May 16, and three lawyers with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office are listed as attorneys for the defendant, which in this case, is the state of Missouri.

A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office declined comment.

It’s part of a long track record for the attorney general’s office to oppose efforts to overturn convictions. Most recently, the state tried to stop St. Louis prosecutors from vacating the conviction of Lamar Johnson, though their efforts were unsuccessful, and Johnson was freed in early 2023.

St. Louis prosecutor announces he’ll seek to vacate Christopher Dunn conviction

Injustice Watch, a Chicago-based nonprofit journalism organization that examines issues of equity and justice in the court system, found that the Missouri attorney general’s office has opposed calls for relief in nearly every wrongful conviction case that came before it and has been vacated since 2000.

That includes 27 cases in which the office fought to uphold convictions for prisoners who were eventually exonerated. In roughly half of those cases, the office continued arguing that the originally guilty convictions should stand.

Dunn was convicted in 1991 of first-degree murder, first-degree assault and armed criminal action. He received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The case against Dunn rested on the testimony of two eyewitnesses — a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old, both of whom later recanted.

Last year, Gore appointed Booker Shaw as a special assistant circuit attorney working on a pro-bono basis to assist him in the review of court transcripts, case exhibits and rulings, and advise him whether the filing of a motion to vacate the conviction was appropriate.

Shaw is the former chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals and served as a judge in the 22^nd Judicial Circuit Court from 1983 to 2002,

Circuit Judge William Hickle said in 2020 that while he believed a current jury would not find Dunn guilty, he could not set him free because of Missouri law that restricts innocence claims to death penalty inmates. In 2021, a new state law took effect that allows prosecutors to file petitions when they believe an innocent person is imprisoned.

The hearing in Dunn’s innocence case is set to begin May 20 before St. Louis Judge Jason Sengheiser.

In the Dunn case, Gore is essentially saying the prosecutor’s office “made a mistake. Help me correct this mistake,” said Michael Wolff, professor and dean emeritus of the Saint Louis University School of Law and a retired judge and chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court.

In contrast, Wolff said attorneys general in Missouri over recent decades have shown “interest in the finality of judgments juries make” in their oppositions to vacating convictions despite evidence showing individuals were wrongfully convicted.

The 2021 Missouri law says, in part, that a court will grant the motion of the prosecuting or circuit attorney to vacate or set aside a judgment “where the court finds that there is clear and convincing evidence of actual innocence or constitutional error at the original trial or plea that undermines the confidence in the judgment.’’

In considering the motion, the law says the court “shall take into consideration the evidence presented at the original trial or plea; the evidence presented at any direct appeal or post-conviction proceedings, including state or federal habeas actions; and the information and evidence presented at the hearing on the motion.”

The Midwest Innocence Project is representing Dunn.

The Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse in St. Louis, home of the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Missouri (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent).

Federal appeals court judges in St. Louis on Thursday heard legal counsel for the national ACLU and the U.S. Department of Justice argue that transgender minors have a constitutional right to gender-affirming care, while Arkansas’ deputy solicitor general said a state law prohibiting such care was in the best interest of youth and not discriminatory.

At issue is the 2021 Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, which bans physicians from providing gender transition treatments like hormones, puberty blockers and sex reassignment surgeries to individuals under age 18.

Four Arkansas families and two physicians, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, challenged the SAFE Act in federal court, where U.S. District Judge James Moody struck down the law in June 2023, saying, among other things, that the SAFE Act discriminated against transgender people and violated the U.S. Constitution’s First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin appealed that decision in July 2023 to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The state has argued there is no scientific evidence that children benefit from gender-affirming care and that the consequences can be harmful and often permanent for them.

Asked by the appeals judges whether the state law would ban health care providers from prescribing testosterone for conditions other than gender-affirming care treatment, Dylan Jacobs, Arkansas deputy solicitor general, said, “The statute does not prohibit that. The legislature wasn’t saying it has problems with testosterone.”

Regarding the district court’s ruling to strike down the ban on transgender care in Arkansas, Jacobs said “there are certainly risks, including sterilization” in the treatment, and noted it was not up to the district court to impose its own policy judgments.

ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, deputy director for the organization’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, told the appeals court Thursday they should uphold Moody’s ruling, noting, in part, that the state law undermines constitutional guarantees of equal protection and “supplants the judgment of parents and their abilities to determine medical care.”

Griffin has said his office “is fighting to protect our state’s children from dangerous medical experimentation. Moody, in his 80-page ruling striking the Arkansas law, affirmed the testimony of medical experts who said in their testimony for the plaintiffs that gender-affirming care is safe for minors.

The State of Arkansas, Moody wrote, “failed to prove that its interests in the safety of Arkansas adolescents from gender transitioning procedures or the medical community’s ethical decline are compelling, genuine, or even rational.”

In 2021, a letter from the American Medical Association to the National Governors Association referenced the Arkansas SAFE Act and said, in part: “Arkansas recently enacted SAFE Act and similar bills pending in several other states would insert the government into clinical decision-making and force physicians to disregard clinical guidelines.”

Gender-affirming care for minors, the AMA said, “must be sensitive to the child’s clinical situation, nurture the child’s short and long-term development, and balance the need to preserve the child’s opportunity to make important life choices autonomously in the future.”

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals did not indicate when it might rule on the Arkansas law.

As of last November, similar laws had been enacted in 22 states, and legal challenges have been mounted in several of them. The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet taken up any of those cases.

This story was originally published by the Arkansas Advocate, a States Newsroom affiliate. 

Legislation progressing in the House and Senate transfer control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to a Board of Police Commissioners (Scott Olson/Getty Images).

Missourians voted in 2013 to return control of the St. Louis police department to local officials, ending more than 150 years of state oversight.

And almost immediately, state lawmakers began pushing to get control back.

That effort is back again this year, with proponents arguing the experiment with local control has failed, leaving the city a more dangerous place — a situation with statewide implications.

A Senate committee approved legislation last month sponsored by GOP state Sen. Nick Schroer of Defiance, that would transfer control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to a Board of Police Commissioners. Under the proposed legislation, the board would be comprised of the president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen and four members appointed by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.

A similar board controls the Kansas City Police Department. It is currently the only major city in the United States without control of its police force.

The legislation, noting the board would “appoint and employ a permanent police force consisting of not less than 1,313 members,” says the city of St. Louis cannot pass ordinances “interfering with the powers of the state board.”

Attempts to interfere with the board’s authority by the mayor or any city official could result in a $1,000 fine and a ban from holding office.

Schroer argued during last month’s hearing that control should return to the state in order to correct what he called “mismanagement,” including a serious shortage of police officers and inadequate pay for police. Returning to state control, Schroer said, would boost the city’s police department and help St. Louis “rebuild the city as the vibrant gateway to the West.”

Black leaders rally to speak out against bills to take away local control from St. Louis

At a House hearing on similar legislation Thursday, Republican state Rep.Brad Christ of St. Louis said his bill is “not a crime plan.” He said that after the change from state to local control, the city “has seen some of its bloodiest years in its history.”

Opponents counter that crime in the city is in fact at the lowest levels in a decade, and recruitment and retention of St. Louis police is improved, due to more training and significant pay raises for officers.

Jared Boyd, chief of staff for St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, and St. Louis Pollice Commissioner Robert Tracy, testified last month in opposition to the bill, telling a Missouri Senate committee that crime prevention is up, crime is down and efforts to recruit and retain police are underway.

In an interview for The Independent, Boyd argued that the legislature’s rationale for returning control to the state are not based on fact.

“Things were not perfect when the state controlled the police department,” Boyd said, adding that Kansas City, which remains under control of the state of Missouri, “is the only city in the country that is not under local control. It has experienced historic high homicide rates.”

Kansas City reported 180 homicides at the end of December 2023

St. Louis police reported 158 homicides in 2023, 200 in 2022, 200 in 2021, and 263 in 2020. As of Feb. 7, the police reported 23 homicides.

Tracy, who assumed the commissioner position in 2022, said last year’s data show a 22% reduction overall for murder, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, felony theft and auto theft. Aiding the crime reduction, city officials have said, are work with other law enforcement agencies and prosecutors, the creation of an Office of Violence Prevention, and strategies such as assigning the same officers to the same areas each time they report for duty.

The Missouri NAACP has publicly supported St. Louis retaining local control of its police department, according to Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis city branch of the NAACP.

Pruitt said the latest data “speak to crime prevention and a reduction in crime.”

He added: “The state has enough departments to run. It needs to concentrate on them.”

The city of St. Louis employs about 900 police officers. Schroer’s office argued in an email to The Independent that the city lacks adequate manpower to solve crime.

“Sen. Schroer’s constituents recognize this as a failed experiment,” the senator’s office said, “and are very vocal in wanting to end the idea that St. Louis is a sanctuary city for crime.”

Christopher Dunn was convicted for a 1990 deadly shooting of a teen in St. Louis. Others involved in the case later admitted they lied about Dunn’s involvement. No DNA ever tied Dunn to the murder. A judge also admitted that the lack of evidence is enough to prove Dunn is innocent (photo submitted).

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore says the evidence shows Christopher Dunn, a 54-year-old St. Louis native serving a life sentence without parole, is innocent of the murder for which he has served more than 30 years.

And in a statement released to the media Wednesday, Gore announced he’d filed a motion with the 22^nd Judicial Circuit Court seeking to vacate Dunn’s murder conviction in 1991 fatal shooting of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers.

“The eyewitness recantations alone are enough to show clear and convincing evidence of actual innocence in this case,” Gore said. “Justice requires that Christopher Dunn’s murder conviction be vacated.”

Dunn was convicted in 1991 of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and armed criminal action and received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The case against Dunn rested on the testimony of two eyewitnesses – a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy – both of whom later recanted.

Last year, Gore appointed Booker Shaw as a special assistant circuit attorney working on a pro-bono basis to assist him in the review of court transcripts, case exhibits and rulings,and advise him whether the filing of a motion to vacate the conviction was appropriate.

Shaw, a partner in the St. Louis law firm of Thompson Coburn, is the former chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals and served as a judge in the 22^nd Judicial Circuit Court from 1983 to 2002,

Circuit Judge William Hickle said in 2020 that while he believed a current jury would not find Dunn guilty, he could not set him free because of Missouri law that restricts innocence claims to death penalty inmates. In 2021, a new Missouri law took effect that allows prosecutors to file petitions when they believe an innocent person is imprisoned.

The next step, Gore’s office said Wednesday, is “for the court to order a hearing before a judge to “consider the evidence presented at Dunn’s original trial, additional evidence presented in Dunn’s direct appeals and post-conviction proceedings, and additional information.”

Gore was appointed St. Louis circuit attorney in May 2023 by Gov. Mike Parson, following the resignation of Kim Gardner.

Not long after being appointed, Gore withdrew a motion Gardner had filed calling on Dunn’s conviction to be vacated. He said, in part, of that decision, “I, on the day I was sworn in, had never undertaken such a review. I could not make those representations to the court. It was necessary and required that we withdraw the motion to vacate and that I conduct my own review.”

St. Louis Public Schools expects to unveil a plan sometime early this year to increase reading scores, boost literacy and help students experience “the joy of reading" (Getty Images).

A coalition of parents and community members in St. Louis Public Schools is demanding more transparency at local school board meetings and in-school reading tutors as part of an effort to deal with standardized test scores that show a huge chunk of the district’s students struggling to read at grade level.

The district’s current enrollment is 18,747 students in pre-kindergarten through 12^th grade. Data show an estimated 80% of students are not reading at grade level. The rate increases to 87% for Black students, according to Chester Asher, founder of Coalition with STL Kids.

The district expects to unveil a plan sometime early this year to increase reading scores, boost literacy and help students experience “the joy of reading,” SLPS Superintendent Keisha Scarlett said in an interview for The Independent.

Asked about statistics showing the overwhelming number of students reading below grade level, Scarlett, a former Seattle educator who became the St. Louis schools superintendent in August, called the situation a “crisis.”

“One of my flagship goals as superintendent is to increase literacy,” she said.

Scarlett said details of the new literacy program are still being worked out, but that it will include students, teachers, parents and community members.

At Oasis, St. Louis tutors reach across generations to foster learning

While acknowledging learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic as among the reasons for declining reading and other test scores in recent years, Asher said the majority of students were not reading at grade level poor prior to the pandemic. Of the St. Louis school district’s plans to increase literacy, Asher said results come from action.

“Currently, we have seen no action, only a continuation of the neglect of inner-city children,” Asher said. “Will the district be providing free in-person, high-dosage tutoring? Will they discuss literacy and data at board meetings? Will they join us on the St. Louis NAACP’s goal of closing the reading gap between the city and state by 2030?”

The St. Louis city chapter of NAACP is launching a “Right to Read” campaign this month, according to president Adolphus Pruitt, II, who said the organization will work with public, private and charter schools, along with parents, elected officials and community organizations.

“It is all of our responsibility,” Pruitt said of improving literacy. “Our intent is to create a model that NAACP branches across Missouri can implement. Reading levels across the state have been dropping.”

In 2018, just 14% of Black third-graders were reading at grade level. In 2022, the percentage was 9%.

Students performing at the below basic level “demonstrate minimal command of the knowledge and skills contained in the grade or course-level expectation,” according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which added that these students “need substantial academic support to be prepared for the next grade or course and to be on track for college and career readiness.”

The NAACP literacy program is geared to help all students improve their reading, Pruitt says. Among its benchmark goals is the number of Black third-graders by 2030 meet  or exceed the state’s average for third-grade reading proficiency. Educators across the U.S. say third-grade proficiency in reading is a bellwether for continuing academic success.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress assesses students in fourth and eighth-grades throughout the nation in math and reading every two years, though its 2021 assessment was delayed until 2022 because of the pandemic.

The Independent reported in 2022 that the state’s scores mirrored those of most other states, with decreases in both math and reading for both grade levels from the 2019 assessment. Only 28% of eighth-graders tested in reading were at or above proficient, compared to 33 % in 2019. For fourth graders, 30 % tested at or above proficient, compared to 34% in 2019 and 28% in 1998.

The Missouri Read, Lead, Exceed initiative is the state’s comprehensive plan to dedicate $25 million in state funding and just over $35 million in federal relief funding to support student literacy, Mallory McGowin, spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said in an e-mail.

Under the plan, K-5 educators receive training in the Science of Reading, a body of multi-disciplinary research that looks at how the human brain learns to read and the factors behind proficient reading and writing scores and those that are less than proficient. The Science of Reading also includes five pillars identified as essential for reading proficiency: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.

Helping children and older youth become stronger readers can “break a cycle of illiteracy and violence that disproportionately affects the Black community,” said St. Louis resident Keyon Watkins, who founded Black Men Read in the wake of his brother’s death in 2022 from gun violence. Members of the local group volunteer as readers and tutors.

Watkins believes Black Men Read is stirring excitement about reading.Citing weekly visits by volunteers to read books with children enrolled in  Head Start, Watkins said, “The children seem really excited to see us.”

McGown said a new state law requires reading programs in grades K-5 to be based in scientific research, and include phonemic awareness,  phonics, comprehension, vocabulary and fluency. Evidence-based reading instruction, McGowin noted, includes practices “that have been proven effective through evaluation of the outcomes for large numbers of students and are highly likely to be effective in improving reading if implemented with fidelity.”

Retired Missouri Supreme Court Judge George Draper III, left, and St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore at a press conference on Tuesday (screenshot via official livestream).

ST LOUIS— Recently retired Missouri Supreme Court Judge George Draper III has been named to a newly created job of “chief training officer” in the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office, promising to share the experience he gained from serving on the bench and as a prosecutor.

He will start on Oct. 23, with an annual salary of $120,000.

The appointment of Draper is the latest shakeup for a St. Louis prosecutor’s office that only recently emerged from years of controversy under Kim Gardner. She resigned in May and was replaced by Gabe Gore, who announced Draper’s appointment on Tuesday.

Draper will provide legal training to new and veteran prosecutors, Gore said.

Gabe Gore touts his first six weeks as St. Louis prosecutor after taking over for Kim Gardner

“It is a rare honor to have a man of Judge Draper’s impeccable character and vast legal expertise return to his roots in this office to train our team,” Gore told reporters Tuesday. “He will provide our attorneys with an impeccable education that will not only promote excellence while they are in this office, but will also serve them well for the rest of their careers.”

Draper, who earned his law degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C., worked in the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office from 1884 to 1994, when he was appointed associate circuit judge in the 21st Judicial Circuit for St. Louis County. He was appointed circuit judge in 1998, and in 2000, was appointed judge of the Eastern District Missouri Court of Appeals.

In 2011, former Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon appointed Draper to the Missouri Supreme Court.

Of his appointment, Draper said, he is eager to get started.

“I welcome the opportunity to work with prosecutors on Gabe Gore’s team, and share the knowledge I have gained from my years in the courtroom, on both sides of the bench, Draper said. “I am excited to step into a new role as a mentor and help shape the next generation of trial practitioners.”

When Gov. Mike Parson announced in spring 2023 the appointment of Gore as St. Louis circuit attorney, Parson declared that “crime anywhere affects Missourians everywhere, and for too long, dysfunction has plagued the circuit attorney’s office.” Since then, Gore has said he is taking steps, including hiring new attorneys, to make St. Louis safer, and that he wants the prosecutor’s office to be seen as among “the best in the country.”

Gore was sworn in May 30 after Gardner resigned under fire as part of a deal with state legislative leaders to block a proposed takeover of the city prosecutor’s office.

Gardner had come under sharp criticism, including a reprimand by the Missouri Supreme Court, questions by local and state authorities about staff turnover, and a backlog of homicide and other violent crime cases.

More than 13,000 residents of Missouri are living with HIV (Getty Images).

The health-focused targets are referred to as “95-95-95.”

It means 95% of people living with HIV knowing their status;  95% of people with HIV taking anti-viral medicine; and 95%  who are being treated are virally suppressed.

It’s a lofty goal, but for local governments around the globe — and some in Missouri — it’s one they’ve vowed to achieve by 2030. And if they do, the decades-long HIV-AIDS epidemic could be sharply curtailed, if not ended.

St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis are the only local governments in Missouri among more than 500 municipalities worldwide who’ve joined Fast-Track Cities, a non-profit that describes itself as “a global partnership between cities, municipalities and four core partners, the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, the U.N. Human Settlements Program, and the City of Paris.”

Members pledge to shore up programs and local efforts in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care, as well as regularly monitor and report data, such as new cases and numbers of people linked to HIV care.

Also integral, says Dr. Elvin Geng, who helped found Fast-Track Cities-St. Louis, is the reduction of stigmas and discrimination toward HIV and the people most at-risk.

“Feeling as if they are going to be judged by their healthcare providers may prevent some people from getting tested and seeking treatment,” says Geng, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Washington University.

Since its beginning in 1981, the HIV epidemic has killed more than 700,000 Americans and 40 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. An estimated 1.2 million people in the United States have HIV, and 13 % of them don’t realize it, say the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 13,000 residents of Missouri are living with HIV.

HIV is spread most commonly through unprotected sex or through shared needles and syringes. It attacks cells that help the body fight infection, making a person more vulnerable to other infections and diseases. Left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease, AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

People with HIV who take their medications as prescribed and get and keep undetectable viral loads will not transmit the virus to their sexual partners, say health experts, who stress that while there is no cure for the virus, thanks to early detection and current medicines, people with HIV can live normal life spans.

Darius Rucker and Cory Bradley, co-chairs of Fast-Track Cities-St, Louis, say help is available for anyone, regardless of whether they’re uninsured or insured. They also share their own personal stories—both are living with HIV—with the hopes of inspiring others to seek assistance and know they can lead long, productive lives.

“It’s not easy hearing the diagnosis, but nobody is going to advocate for you like you can for yourself,” says Rucker, who owns a business infrastructure consulting business in St. Louis.

Bradley, who recently completed post-doctoral training at Washington University, is an assistant professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University. Discussing his diagnosis and overall health, he says: “I’ve been incredibly privileged to have wonderful medical care, and also have experienced challenges. I am living with diabetes. By sharing my experiences, I believe I can help others.”

Fast-Track Cities originated in Paris in 2014. When signing the Paris declaration of membership and support on World AIDS Day in 2019, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said the epidemic can only be addressed “if we work together.”

“We look forward to working with the city to move St. Louis toward better public health for all our residents,” he said at the time.

Based on data showing numbers of individuals seeking HIV tests, awareness is growing, says Darne Guest, clinic manager for communicable disease response with the St. Louis County Department of Public Health.

Of the 95-95-95 targets, Guest says such goals assist in organization and articulation of what’s being accomplished and what needs improvement.

A Fast-Track Cities-St. Louis data dashboard says in 2021, roughly 3,400 residents of the city of St. Louis and 2,600 county residents were living with HIV. The local Fast-Track Cities works with the county and city health departments, as well as the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

DHSS says it’s working with health departments throughout Missouri to “reduce new HIV infections by ensuring that everyone living with HIV is aware of their infection, linked to and retained in HIV medical care, and maintains viral suppression.”

Bradley talks about the importance of “breaking down silos” when it comes to improving health equity in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV.

He’s referring to increasing awareness across diverse communities about available services, and easing access for those who lack ready transportation or may have difficulty getting time off from work to seek medical care.

On reaching the 95-95-95 goals, Bradley said: “We’ve made progress. But we can do more to empower people. There’s more work to do.”

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Dr. Elvin Geng’s name. 

Christopher Dunn was convicted for a 1990 deadly shooting of a teen in St. Louis. Others involved in the case later admitted they lied about Dunn’s involvement. No DNA ever tied Dunn to the murder. A judge also admitted that the lack of evidence is enough to prove Dunn is innocent (photo submitted).

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore said this week that his office has given “high priority’ to reviewing the 1990 murder conviction of Christopher Dunn — a case that finds the Midwest Innocence Project arguing for Dunn’s release from state prison after two prosecution witnesses recanted their testimony and legal experts have cited a lack of DNA and other evidence.

But in an interview with The Independent, Gore did not provide a timeline for when a decision on the case would be made.

Dunn was 18 and living in St. Louis when he was arrested and charged with the murder of another teenager.  He is in his 33^rd year of a life sentence.

Gore said in June he appointed Booker Shaw as special assistant circuit attorney to assist him in the assessment of Dunn’s case and advise him whether the filing of a motion to vacate the conviction is appropriate. Shaw, a partner in the St. Louis law firm of Thompson Coburn, is the former Chief Judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, and served as a judge in the 22^nd Judicial Circuit Court from 1983 to 2002

Shaw is working on a pro bono basis on the Dunn case review, Gore said. The review, now underway, Gore said, includes he and Shaw reading court transcripts, case exhibits, and rulings, including a 2020 ruling by Judge William Hickle, circuit judge for the 25^th Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri.

In the 2020 ruling, Hickle said that while he believed a current jury would not find Dunn guilty, he could not set him free because of Missouri law that restricts innocence claims to death penalty inmates. In 2021, a new Missouri law took effect that allows prosecutors to file petitions when they believe an innocent person is imprisoned.

In Missouri, the truth doesn’t always set you free

“I don’t want to commit to a completion date (of the review), but my intention is to continue giving this case high priority,” Gore said, adding that he also plans to meet with Midwest Innocence Project attorneys representing Dunn.

Ultimately, as circuit attorney, Gore said he would be the one to make a final decision regarding whether to file a court motion.

Gore was appointed circuit attorney in May by Gov. Mike Parson, following the resignation of Kim Gardner. Soon after taking the job, Gore withdrew a motion Gardner had filed calling on Dunn’s conviction to be vacated. Speaking at a July press conference and discussing his decision to withdraw Gardner’s motion, Gore said, “I, on the day I was sworn in, had never undertaken such a review. I could not make those representations to the court. It was necessary and required that we withdraw the motion to vacate and that I conduct my own review.”

Both the Missouri Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court have rejected motions to hear Dunn’s case, leaving Gore’s decision as potentially his last chance of being released from prison.

The 2021 revised statute regarding motions to vacate convictions says “the circuit court in which the person was convicted shall have jurisdiction and authority to consider, hear and decide the motion.” However, the new law also includes the provision that “the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney shall have the authority and right to file and maintain an appeal of the denial or disposal of such a motion.”

Part of the national Innocence Network, the Midwest Innocence Project says it is an independent organization with a mission “to educate about, advocate for, and obtain and support the exoneration and release of wrongfully convicted people in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.” The MIP says it has a waiting list of people seeking its legal assistance and estimates 4,000 people in its five-state region “are incarcerated for crimes they didn’t commit.”

Of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s review of the Christopher Dunn case, Rachel Wester, Midwest Innocence Project managing attorney, declined to discuss specifics, but said: “We remain hopeful.”

Before leaving office, Gardner used the new Missouri law earlier this year to convince a court to set aside the murder conviction of Lamar Johnson, who had maintained his innocence during his nearly three decades in prison.

In Kansas City, the law was utilized by Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker to exonerate Kevin Strickland after 42 years in prison.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabriel Gore speaks to members of the press on Wednesday at the Mel Carnahan Courthouse in downtown St. Louis (Debra Chandler Landis/Missouri Independent).

When Gov. Mike Parson announced his appointment of Gabe Gore as St. Louis circuit attorney, he declared that “crime anywhere affects Missourians everywhere, and for too long, dysfunction has plagued the circuit attorney’s office.”

Now six weeks into the job, Gore says the office has taken steps that will make St. Louis safer and that he wants the prosecutor’s office to be seen as among “the best in the country.”

Gore, sworn in May 30, took over an office from Kim Gardner, who resigned under fire May 16 as part of a deal with state legislative leaders to block a proposed takeover of the city prosecutor’s office. Gardner had come under sharp criticism, including a reprimand by the Missouri Supreme Court, questions by local and state authorities about staff turnover, and a backlog of homicide and other violent crime cases.

The criticisms and scrutiny intensified in February 2023 when a Tennessee teen visiting St. Louis for a volleyball tournament was hit by a car driven by a man authorities said had violated his criminal bond numerous times and was driving without a license.

The accident resulted in the teen having both of her legs amputated.

Discussing his first six weeks on the job for the first time at a press conference Wednesday morning in the Carnahan Courthouse in downtown St. Louis, Gore said he wants the city circuit attorney office to be recognized for a “culture of excellence” and become one that is recognized as one of the country’s top prosecutor offices.

His first six weeks on the job, Gore said, found him getting to know existing circuit attorney staff, hiring new attorneys and receiving assistance from regional and federal prosecutors as well as the private sector in trying the backlog of cases.

Gore said that when he assumed office, there were more than 4,500 cases waiting for charges to be issued, and 250 pending homicide cases. With the re-opening of the warrant office, he said, the 4,500 cases now numbers about 2,000.

“We are adding the attorneys necessary to aggressively prosecute violent criminals and make the St. Louis community safer” Gore said. “I would say that the office, when I took it over, was a law office that was in distress. That is what I anticipated and signed up for. We have begun the process of restoring the office.”

Gore said he’s working on building strong relationships with the mayor’s office, police and other government units. He also recognizes, he said, the importance of working with the news media to provide public service.

To build the next generation of circuit attorney staff for the city, Gore said he wants the office to begin recruiting three to five individuals “straight out of law school and make the job attractive to the most talented law students.”

There were 21 attorneys on the trial staff when Gore took over — about one-third of the number of attorneys the office has employed in the past. Gore said he has hired an additional 14 prosecutors, bringing the total to 35.

Asked whether he plans to run for a full four-year term, Gore said he hadn’t yet decided.

“In terms of me seeking office,” he said, “obviously I’ll consider the success we have in the near term, and whether or not I am being effective.”