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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.
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.
“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. 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
References:
- "Mother of man who died of suicide in Cuyahoga County Jail: 'They failed him.'" Cleveland.com, 15 August 2019. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/183756?t=9&akid=39123%2E4731121%2ExuawOd
- "U.S. Marshals Report: Ohio County Jail 'One of the Worst in the Country.'" Prisoner Legal News, 5 March 2019. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/185045?t=11&akid=39123%2E4731121%2ExuawOd
- "After Inmate Deaths, Cleveland Judge Vows to Stop Sending Nonviolent Offenders to Local Jail." The Root, 8 October 18. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/185046?t=13&akid=39123%2E4731121%2ExuawOd
- "Activists protest Cuyahoga County Jail conditions at Justice Center." Cleveland.com, 1 July 2019. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/185047?t=15&akid=39123%2E4731121%2ExuawOd
- "Woman pepper-sprayed, attacked by Cuyahoga County Jail officers: ‘I thought I was going to die.’" Cleveland.com, 10 April 2019. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/185048?t=17&akid=39123%2E4731121%2ExuawOd
- "Inmates sue over conditions at Cuyahoga County Jail." WKYC, 24 April 2019. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/185049?t=19&akid=39123%2E4731121%2ExuawOd
- "Philly’s experiments with progressive criminal justice lend evidence to public safety debate." Philadelphia Inquirer, 21 August 2019. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/185050?t=21&akid=39123%2E4731121%2ExuawOd
- "Report: Incarceration Rates Drop Nearly 20% Under Kim Foxx." WTTW, 30 July 2019. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/182614?t=23&akid=39123%2E4731121%2ExuawOd
- ""Prosecutors in Prince George’s will no longer recommend cash bail for defendants." Washington Post, 15 September 2019. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/185088?t=25&akid=39123%2E4731121%2ExuawOd
- "Veteran's death highlights 'inhumane' conditions in an Ohio jail." The Appeal, 14 May 2019. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/185051?t=27&akid=39123%2E4731121%2ExuawOd
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