Giving Compass' Take:

• Grassroots organizations in St. Louis are successfully campaigning for criminal justice reform and are garnering community support to achieve their goals. 

• This approach is effective because these communities are familiar with local politics and stakeholders and are able to adapt. How can philanthropists potentially create partnerships with local organizations to help fund campaigns around criminal reform? 

• Read about ways philanthropists can support criminal justice reform. 

This past Independence Day, 150 St. Louisans gathered downtown to protest on behalf of those who couldn't—inmates at the St. Louis Medium Security Institution, a jail more commonly known as the "Workhouse."

Over the past two summers, these protests have become annual occurrences. In 2017, for instance, reported triple-digit temperatures inside the jail ignited the protests. Even though the city responded by installing temporary air conditioning units, rodent and insect infestations, pervasive mold, broken toilets, guard-perpetrated violence, and medical negligence still plague Workhouse inmates.

These local-led efforts are part of a gradual reform movement—one that, on closer inspection, reveals the enduring importance of local organizing not only in St. Louis, but across the entire country.

Close the Workhouse, a grassroots campaign dedicated to permanently closing the jail—without opening a new one in its place. The movement is the product of collaboration between a number of St. Louis' legal and activist organizations.

This includes Arch City Defenders, a non-profit law firm specializing in defending marginalized people from the local criminal justice system; Missourians Organizing for Freedom and Empowerment, an economic justice and community-organizing group; and the Saint Louis Action Council, a black-led group seeking social and political reform. The Bail Project, a national bail fund, also joined forces with these groups to try to close the Workhouse.

The success of the Close the Workhouse protesters fits into a storied history of grassroots organizing in St. Louis. African-American St. Louisans, in particular, have long mobilized to effect change in the city.

Why does this sort of reform appear to be so effective?

For one thing, grassroots organizations' unique place within communities allows them to learn and adapt on the ground. Their expertise is important not only for governments, but also for national organizations with local chapters.

Read the full article about grassroots criminal justice reform efforts by Danielle Ziegelheim at Pacific Standard