Our Work

#MoEmpathy

The #MoEmpathy Campaign is focused on bringing attention to the inhumane and poor conditions of imprisonment. It brings together family and friends of incarcerated individuals, currently incarcerated people, and other stakeholders to inform, educate, and urge our elected officials to honor their statutory duty to oversee every department of state government.

Oversight of the Missouri Prison System

MoJustice is part of the coalition advocating for independent oversight, administration and staff accountability, institutional transparency, humane conditions and rehabilitative treatment within the Missouri Dept. of Corrections; very little of which is presently in place. Inhumane carceral conditions, severe lack of adequate physical and mental healthcare, violations of human rights, and the proliferation of illegal substances all go largely unchecked. In fact, seven of the last eight have seen over 100 in-custody deaths within MoDOC. During the 2025 Missouri Legislative Session, MoJustice supported Oversight bills HB’s 603, 729, and 774. We will continue to advocate for passage of these necessary reforms in the upcoming legislative session.

#TripleDigitDeaths Campaign

#TripleDigitDeaths Campaign was borne from the grief, frustration, and sorrow from the more than one hundred annual in-custody deaths inside of Missouri prisons. Despite the prison population 25% reduction over the last decade, the number of in-custody deaths have nearly doubled from where they were to today. There are several ongoing wrongful death lawsuits and for the first time in history, in 2024, prison guards were criminally charged in the death of an incarcerated person.

MoDOC Mass Memorial Service

On January 3, 2024, MoJustice organized and hosted a Mass Memorial Service at the Missouri State Capitol, to memorialize those who have died in the custody of the MoDOC. Many of the grieving families couldn’t afford to have funerary services for their loved ones. MoJustice will continue to shine a spotlight on the in-custody deaths and advocate for accountability of the prison system.

#MoInnocence

The #MoInnocence Campaign is focused on bringing attention to the problem of wrongful convictions and unjust imprisonments in the criminal legal system. It challenges the idea that these cases are rare and the system is generally fair. The campaign uses data and individual stories to show that wrongful convictions are a serious and systemic reality that must be addressed. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, the 56 persons who have been exonerated since 1989, collectively lost over 700 years of their lives to wrongful convictions and incarceration. As October 2nd is recognized as Wrongful Conviction Day nationally, for WCD 2024 MoJustice partnered with Washington University St. Louis School of Law to host “When Innocence Isn’t Enough” that featured exonerees and attorneys who represent wrongfully convicted people.

In Missouri as well as nationally, perjured testimony and false accusations are a primary factor leading to innocent people being convicted. After several years of legislative advocacy for an Informant Reform policy, in 2025 the creation of a statewide Informant Database was passed as part of an omnibus bill.

#NoMoDeathRow

The #NoMoDeathRow campaign centers the lives impacted by the capital punishment system in Missouri by advocating for people facing executions, supporting covictims and educating communities across the state about the inhumanity, injustice, and arbitrariness of the death penalty. MoJustice does this in the following ways:

Clemency campaigns for those on Missouri’s death row
Trials/Hearings CourtWatch support
Support/Outreach to those on Missouri death row and their loved ones
Community education/grassroots advocacy
Events to uplift & amplify the work to end the death penalty in Missouri

#MoLegalCollective

The #MoLegalCollective Fellowship, anchored by formerly incarcerated paralegals (‘jailhouse lawyers’) and legal professionals, utilizes their legal and policy expertise to empower and support incarcerated community members and bridge the divide between outside legal entities (attorneys, law professors and students, and criminal legal system focused organizations). MoLegal Fellows serve as vital intermediaries between impacted community members and litigators to conduct comprehensive legal research and investigations; aimed at reviewing individual court cases, potential class action suits, and conditions of confinement. Drawing on support from across legal and advocacy spaces, MoLegal lays the groundwork for empowering our incarcerated community in using court, legal, and policy avenues to advocate for their human rights.