Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
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The senior-most prosecutor in St. Louis will leave her job by at least June 1 after a relatively brief, but intense, effort by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to force her to prosecute more criminals or vacate her position.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has faced growing criticism from the right for being too soft on crime. Last week, she sent a letter to Missouri Gov. Mike Parson saying that she would leave office by the start of next month, timing that Bailey said will not work for the people of the city.
“There is absolutely no reason for the Circuit Attorney to remain in office until June 1,” Bailey said in a statement. “We remain undeterred with our legal quest to forcibly remove her from office. Every day she remains puts the city of St. Louis in more danger. How many victims will there be between now and June 1? How many defendants will have their constitutional rights violated? How many cases will continue to go unprosecuted?”
Bailey first filed a petition to have Gardner removed from office in February, alleging she had neglected her duties as a prosecutor.
Gardner has argued all along that her approach to justice was one of reform and reimagining the way that criminal justice is done.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported Friday that Gardner lashed out at her critics during a rally.
“It’s just sad how every side is against me,” the Post Dispatch quoted Gardner as saying. She added, “There are a lot of jobs that get affected when we actually streamline the people we need to focus on and the people that we can give an opportunity and still be about public safety.”
Gardner blamed some of her lack of prosecutions and a massive backlog of cases on the police, who she said were slow to submit evidence.
But, as reported by the Post Dispatch, the soon-to-be-ex-prosecutor has herself been dinged by the state supreme court for ethical violations and has also drawn the ire of local defense attorneys for failing to submit evidence to them.
“Because of Kim Gardner’s incompetence violent criminals in St. Louis weren’t prosecuted while victims waited too long for justice,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, the former Missouri attorney general, tweeted. “St. Louis is better off without Kim Gardner. It’s my hope the next Circuit Attorney will aggressively prosecute crime and people can feel safe again.”