Taxman, ACE!, Probing St. Louis’s Troubled Jail

Schar School of Policy and Government’s Faye S. Taxman, founding director of the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!), is helping administrators at St. Louis County Justice Center in St. Louis, Missouri, develop new racial equity policies and programming to improve the jail’s culture and reduce its population.

The 18-month, first-of-its-kind study, funded by a $300,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation, will focus on rampant racism and mistreatment of inmates.

If successful, those new practices and policies could be adapted by criminal justice systems across the country.

The study team includes researchers from ACE!, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and justice system partnerships.

—Buzz McClain