The Missouri legislature is considering a bipartisan measure called Larry's Law that would create independent prison oversight in the state, aiming to help prevent violent tragedies.
The Missouri Senate Judiciary Committee passed Senate Bill 378 earlier this month and currently awaits a vote before the full Senate. If enacted, it would require that all state prisons be inspected at least once a year, with maximum-security facilities undergoing biannual reviews. Its primary sponsor is Sen. Angela Mosley, D-Florissant.
The law would be named after Larry Miller, who died in custody at the Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron on June 9, 2014. Officials say two inmates stabbed him to death at the facility while correctional officers were not around.
His sister Maria Miller has been fighting for justice for her brother for over 10 years. She's an anti-gun violence, prison reform and human rights advocate. She also founded Our Lives Matter in St. Louis, a nonprofit that mentors troubled youth and supports incarcerated people and their families in Missouri.
"When I learned about the bill actually getting a hearing for the first time… I think actually it's just now catching up with me," Miller said Thursday. "This bill was written in 2019, and I reached out, and Senator Mosley first sponsored this bill in 2021, and she faithfully filed it every year, and this bill never got any attention.
"The Missouri Department of Corrections is a dark, deep, vicious web," Miller said. "Justice is truth and truth is the light. This (bill) will shine light in dark places."
Larry's Law could prevent more families from losing family members, while safeguarding the public's yearly $830 million investment in corrections, according to the national advocacy group Families Against Mandatory Minimums.
Earlier this week, former correctional officers Justin Leggins, Bryanne Bradshaw and Jacob Case, from the Jefferson City Correctional Center, appeared in court facing second-degree murder charges tied to the death of Othel Moore Jr., who died in custody at the Jefferson City prison in December 2023 while in a full-body restraint system.
Maria Goellner, Senior Director of State Policy for the Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said the Missouri Department of Corrections employs over 10,000 people and incarcerates 23,000 across the 19-plus facilities in the state.
In a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee in March, Goellner said the nonprofit routinely receives reports of violence, abuse, neglect and understaffing in the state.
"These reports cut through racial and geographic lines and cover the whole state," Goellner wrote. "Families and taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability from this huge agency."
Over the last four years, Missouri has paid over $66 million in lawsuit settlements, Goellner said, highlighting a study by Empower Missouri.
If passed, Larry's Law would require the Missouri Department of Corrections to create an Ombudsman office, and the governor would appoint the Ombudsman. They would serve a six-year term and cannot be a current or former MDOC employee or have a spouse, child, or parent who has worked for or is currently employed by the department. The office would also establish procedures for receiving and resolving complaints made by or on behalf of inmates in the custody of the corrections department.
Miller said she's spent years jumping through hoops to hold the Department of Corrections accountable in Larry's case, but she's focused on moving forward.
"I don't just fight for what happened with my brother, I fight for the lives and safety and well-being of others, that's why that bill was written," Miller said. "I want the Missouri Department of Corrections to be forever changed — we cannot bring Larry back."
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