Prosecutor O'Malley must take these steps to reduce mass incarceration
and save lives in Cleveland.
[ [link removed] ][IMG]
Demand action from Prosecutor O'Malley. Make your voice heard!
[ [link removed] ]Take action
John, imagine you've been arrested and are waiting for your day
in court. The toilet doesn't work in a shared cell with standing room only
because there's no running water at all. The floor is the only seating
option for the 11 hours you're detained in the "bull pen." There's no one
available to treat your medical condition and the bugs in the food have
made you even more ill. A restrictive lockdown has been in affect for
days, disrupting communication with your loved ones and triggering mental
health symptoms. And you know your family just can't afford a $1500 bail
bond right now.
These are just some real-life examples of the many dangerous problems at
Cuyahoga County jail. Nine people have died since 2018. Overall, the
conditions are so inhumane that people are taking desperate measures to
escape.^1 This jail is "one of the worst in the country" and a local judge
has vowed to stop sending people there who are charged with nonviolent
offenses.^2,3 The jail is stealing futures every day but Prosecutor
Micheal O'Malley has the power and discretion to immediately reduce the
jail population and minimize the harm the system is having on our
community. O'Malley's office is prosecuting 81 percent of the cases in
Cuyahoga County jail. As County Attorney, O’Malley holds the power to
decide whether many of these people, especially those awaiting trial, can
come home. And there's three ways he can that: 1) stop detaining people
because they can't afford bail, 2) treat children like children, and 3)
stop sending people to jail for mental illness and addiction. Communities
want more from their elected prosecutors across the country and O'Malley
was recently targeted in public protests to take action on these very
doable steps.^4 If we can keep the momentum going, we can push O'Malley to
make a commitment to using his power to reduce the jail population.
[ [link removed] ]John, add your name to the petition demanding Prosecutor
O'Malley take action.
Chantelle Glass, a Black woman and mother of three, thought she was going
to die when jail guards assaulted her with pepper spray causing her asthma
to flare up.^5 She was incarcerated for an unpaid traffic ticket and was
brutalized when she asked to make a phone call. She is not alone in this
experience. Several guards from Cuyahoga jail have been charged for their
violence in recent years and there is a class action lawsuit pending.^6
Regardless of whether the conditions and violence at the jail are
resolved, basic decency and a real concern for public safety would oblige
Prosecutor O’Malley to stop sending so many people to the Cuyahoga County
Jail.
That's why we're joining with the Campaign for a Just Prosecutor to demand
County Attorney Micheal O'Malley commit to do the following:
* Stop detaining people because they can't afford bail. 60% of those
held in the Cuyahoga County Jail have not been convicted of a crime.
They are there because they cannot afford the cash bond set in their
case. Studies have shown that when top prosecutors in other counties
have stopped asking for cash bond, the jail population dropped by 22%
in Philadelphia under Larry Krasner, and by 16% in Chicago under Kim
Foxx.^7,8 Prince George's County State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy just
announced that she will no longer seek money bail as a condition for
release.^9 O'Malley can do the same.
* Treat children like children. In 2017, Prosecutor O’Malley’s first
year in office, nearly twice as many kids were sent to adult court, as
compared to his predecessor in 2016, despite a decrease in case
filings. Cuyahoga County transfers more children to adult court than
any other county in the state. Prosecutor O’Malley should use his
discretion to keep kids where they belong—in juvenile court.
* Stop sending people to jail for mental illness and substance
addiction. O’Malley could reduce the jail population by 20% if he
stopped jailing people for property or drug offenses. Jail is never
the solution for mental illness and substance use disorders, in fact
incarceration often makes the problem worse. Our people need care, not
cages. O’Malley should create a program that allows people to stay out
of the court system and get the help they need.
[ [link removed] ]Tell Prosecutor O'Malley that he has the power to transform the
criminal system in Cuyahoga and help people escape the violence and
conditions of the county jail.
“There is something critically wrong with our County Jail, and our
criminal justice system, that when a non-violent detainee is booked into
our county jail, they’re immediately placed in what could be considered
Death Row,” LaTonya Goldsby, Black Lives Matter Cleveland, told The
Appeal.^10 Activists on the ground with our partners at the Coalition to
Stop the Inhumanity at Cuyahoga County Jail have been leading the movement
to transform the criminal system and hold officials accountable in
Cuyahoga. Coalition members have been canvassing Cleveland neighborhoods
to hear about people’s experiences with the jail and build its campaign
against the county executive and other jail officials. They recently set
their sights on the role of the prosecutor in overpopulating the jail and
replicating wins from the prosecutor accountability movement all over the
country.
Color Of Change members have been active in organizing for progressive
prosecutors in Philadelphia, St. Louis, PG County, and more. We know that
when we fight we win. There are thousands of Color Of Change members in
Cuyahoga and our collective extended networks are even bigger. Together,
we can build the kind of public pressure to get the attention of the
elected prosecutor and get him to implement these demands by reminding him
who he is supposed to work for. [ [link removed] ]Sign the petition now. Then share it
with your friends and family and on social media.
Until justice is real,
--Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Erika, Clarise, Malachi, Marybeth, Marena,
Madison, Leonard, Tamar, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
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References:
1. "Mother of man who died of suicide in Cuyahoga County Jail: 'They
failed him.'" Cleveland.com, 15 August
2019. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
2. "U.S. Marshals Report: Ohio County Jail 'One of the Worst in the
Country.'" Prisoner Legal News, 5 March
2019. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
3. "After Inmate Deaths, Cleveland Judge Vows to Stop Sending Nonviolent
Offenders to Local Jail." The Root, 8 October
18. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
4. "Activists protest Cuyahoga County Jail conditions at Justice Center."
Cleveland.com, 1 July
2019. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
5. "Woman pepper-sprayed, attacked by Cuyahoga County Jail officers: ‘I
thought I was going to die.’" Cleveland.com, 10 April
2019. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
6. "Inmates sue over conditions at Cuyahoga County Jail." WKYC, 24 April
2019. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
7. "Philly’s experiments with progressive criminal justice lend evidence
to public safety debate." Philadelphia Inquirer, 21 August
2019. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
8. "Report: Incarceration Rates Drop Nearly 20% Under Kim Foxx." WTTW, 30
July
2019. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
9. ""Prosecutors in Prince George’s will no longer recommend cash bail
for defendants." Washington Post, 15 September
2019. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
10. "Veteran's death highlights 'inhumane' conditions in an Ohio jail."
The Appeal, 14 May
2019. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
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[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. [ [link removed] ]Help
keep our movement strong.
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