Prisoners Rights

03.10.21

Dear Cleveland, We Need Bail Reform. Now.

By Celina Coming

Although coronavirus is ever present in our daily lives and occupies space constantly in our news and everyday activities, there are other plagues that haunt us. Black, Brown, and poor communities are not given the attention they deserve and the issues that plague them are often not addressed as critical, because of institutional racism and systemic inequality.

12.16.20

What’s Going On with the Cleveland Consent Decree?

By Sarah Khan-Williamson

It’s been over five years since the city of Cleveland entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), mandating that Cleveland make specific, compressive reforms to its police department. The agreement, or consent decree, was initially projected to last five years.

12.10.20

Electronic Monitoring, Pretrial Policy, and Bail Reform in Cuyahoga County

By Sarah Khan-Williamson

Despite broad consensus that Cuyahoga County’s bail system is in desperate need of reform, early bit of momentum from elected officials fizzled in 2020. Aside from pilot pretrial program at the Cleveland municipal level in which Judge Michelle Earley integrated call and text reminders of court dates and no jail time for the majority of low-level, non-violent offenses, little progress was made.

06.16.20

My COVID-19 Experience on the Inside of Marion Correctional Institution

By Celina Coming

It was never a matter of if COVID-19 would infiltrate Marion Correctional Institute, but when. While the state and outside world braced itself for the coronavirus, this administration chose not to take the proper steps early on that would have ensured the safety of its prison population and staff.

06.01.20

There Are Good and Bad Ways to Decrease Jail Populations

By Sarah Khan-Williamson

Ohio has one of the largest combined jail and prison populations in the country. (Jail is where people are held pretrial or serve time for misdemeanors, while prisons are where people serve time for felonies.) Pre-pandemic, on any given day, over 70,000 individuals were held behind bars, with around 50,000 people in prison, and around 20,000 people in jail.

05.08.20

ACLU of Ohio Sends 3 Sets of Records Requests Seeking More Information About Management of COVID-19 for Incarcerated Populations

By Jocelyn Rosnick

Ohioans behind bars are especially vulnerable to contracting COVID-19. The ACLU of Ohio sent three sets of records requests to learn more about what Ohio officials are – and are not – doing to prevent and mitigate the spread of the highly contagious and often deadly virus.

04.29.20

The Legacy of the Kent State Shootings: 50 Years Later

By Sarah Khan-Williamson

In this last week, protesters took to the streets all across the nation to protest quarantine and lock down orders put into place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged the world. In Ohio, to the dismay of many, there were several days of protesters swarming the Ohio Statehouse in order to make their voices heard to illustrate their disdain of the state of Ohio under lock down.

04.28.20

Reducing Ohio Jail Populations Will Help Flatten the Curve, So What Are Counties Doing About It?

By Sarah Khan-Williamson

Last week the ACLU along with academic partners released a new epidemiological model that shows COVID-19 could claim the lives of as many as 200,000 people – double the federal government’s estimate – if jail populations are not dramatically and immediately reduced.

04.21.20

COVID-19 Highlights Long-Known Issues of Systemic Racism

By Sarah Khan-Williamson

At least 27 states and Washington D.C. have begun releasing racial breakdowns of COVID-19 in their jurisdictions. The data released so far has shown that by in large Black people are dying at disturbingly disproportionate rates. For example, Black people represent 43 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Illinois, but make up only 14 percent of the state’s population.

04.10.20

Coronavirus Will Spread like Wildfire in our Prisons without Sweeping Action

By Jocelyn Rosnick

Coronavirus has landed in Ohio’s prisons. This is no surprise. That’s why the ACLU of Ohio and other advocates have been urging Governor DeWine, ODH Director Acton, DRC Director Chambers-Smith, and DYC Director Gies for several weeks to use their powers to quickly and safely reduce incarcerated populations across Ohio – especially for those most vulnerable.

04.01.20

Updates On Our COVID-19 Hotline for Ohio’s Incarcerated Population

By Sarah Khan-Williamson

Through our hotline, [email protected], we’ve heard from over 100 people with incarcerated loved ones – mostly in the state’s prisons – reporting that people are in danger, and that they are terrified now that the virus is in the prisons.

03.11.20

ACLU of Ohio Expresses Concern in Letter to Gov. DeWine Regarding the Prevention & Management of COVID-19 for Incarcerated Ohioans

By Dan Rogan

On Tuesday, March 10, 2020, ACLU of Ohio Executive Director Ben Guess and Legal Director Freda Levenson sent Ohio Governor Mike DeWine a letter urging an immediate plan of action regarding the state’s prevention and management of COVID-19 and its impact on incarcerated Ohioans.

11.01.19

Everything You Need To Know About the Ohio Supreme Court’s Criminal Rule 46. FAQ!

By Celina Coming

Why is Criminal Rule 46 important?

Criminal Rule 46 is the Rule of Practice and Procedure that provides all state courts with instructions regarding bail-setting procedures. This Rule therefore has the opportunity to implement bail reform across the state of Ohio.

02.19.19

“Why Are Our Prisons So Overcrowded?” Asks Lawmaker As He Votes For Sentence Enhancement Bill

By Emma Keeshin

I wish this was a satirical headline published by The Onion. But it’s something we actually see and hear in the halls of the Statehouse from the officials we Ohioans have elected to represent us.

Because of policy decisions, our state’s incarceration rate has more than quadrupled since 1970.

01.28.19

Cuyahoga County Running an Inhumane Facility – It’s Not the First Time

By Emma Keeshin

Protest photo outside of Cuyahoga County Justice Center – Tuesday, January 8, 2019

You’ve likely seen the headlines: seven people died in the Cuyahoga County jail between June and October 2018, prompting a U.S. Marshals investigation and then, scathing report detailing the shocking conditions people are subjected to at the hands of the County.

02.05.18

Cleveland’s Youth Deserve Justice; Systemic Failures of the Cuyahoga Juvenile Detention Center

By Celina Coming

In September of 2017, Cleveland.com released shocking surveillance footage of officers at Cuyahoga County’s Juvenile Detention Center standing guard as teenagers fought each other. Grainy footage shows a gray industrial common area, adorned in concrete and linoleum, as a burly detention officer enters with two young men.

11.09.17

Death Penalty: A Poster Child

By Celina Coming

Alva E. Campbell Jr. is scheduled to be executed at 10 a.m. on November 15th at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, OH. It will be the third execution this year in Ohio, following a moratorium on the death penalty after a severely botched execution took place in 2014.

10.19.17

Rethinking the Concept of “Failure to Appear”

By Celina Coming

Historically, a judge set bail based on a single consideration: whether a person would reappear in court to answer for the alleged crime. It wasn’t until later in the 20^th century that nationwide reforms allowed judges to consider public safety as a reason to deny bail.

06.26.17

Bail Reform Key to Solving Jail Overcrowding

By James Kosmatka

“On Wednesday, June 14^th, Sheriff Jim Neil declared a state of emergency at the Hamilton County Justice Center due to jail overcrowding. The ACLU of Ohio has taken bail reform head on, and it is rapidly becoming one of our main criminal justice focus areas.

03.28.17

Ohio (and the Nation) Should Cut Ties with Prisons for Profit

By James Kosmatka

The ACLU of Ohio has been fighting “prisons for profit” for years. The trend to privatize prisons as a method to reduce costs has been ineffective, and only contributes to the surging rates of mass incarceration, with Ohio prisons at 130% of capacity.

12.16.16

Truth in Sentencing

By James Kosmatka

Sentenced to ten years, out in two. Outrageous!

And false.

The myth that prisoners serve small fractions of sentences is one of the most destructive falsehoods driving the tragedy of mass incarceration. In Ohio and elsewhere, the use of parole and probation has shrunk to levels that can only be described as harmful to us all.

08.23.16

The DOJ Is Ending Its Use of Private Prisons: But What About Ohio?

By Steve David

Last week, the Department of Justice announced an end to using private prisons to hold federal prisoners. This decision followed a scathing report which highlighted that private prisons are less safe, provide less services and programs, and do not substantially save on costs.

07.08.16

Locked Down, Locked Away: What’s It Like Being Released from Solitary Confinement?

By Adrienne Gavula

Mr. Kenyatta is a prisoner rights activist and businessman who was released from prison 13 years ago. He spent time in solitary confinement at both of Ohio’s maximum-security prisons and was part of the ACLU lawsuit, Austin v Wilkinson, which drastically changed prisoner classification in Ohio to ensure more humane living conditions.

06.17.16

Orange is the New Black Tackles Prisons For Profit

By Dan Rogan

Orange is the New Black – the binge-worthy, Peabody Award Winning, Netflix series – returns with Season 4 on June 17. Last season, the fictional Litchfield Correctional Facility faced closing its doors due to lack of funding and is soon after taken over by a private prison corporation.

06.08.16

A Family Surviving Solitary Confinement

By Adrienne Gavula

This post is part of the joint report between Disability Rights Ohio and the ACLU of Ohio – “Shining a Light on Solitary Confinement: Why Ohio Needs Reform.” Take action to reform solitary confinement in Ohio.

Justin committed a crime. He was found guilty of aggravated murder and robbery, along with two others.

02.03.16

“Prison for Profit” ACLU of Ohio Documentary Wins 2nd Award

By Steve David

The ACLU of Ohio’s groundbreaking film “Prisons for Profit” has been recognized as one of the top documentaries in 2015 by an international audience.

Most recently, the film has been selected as the Silver Award Winner in the 2015 Spotlight Documentary Film Awards.

12.11.15

Ending De Facto Debtors’ Prisons in the United States

By Shakyra Diaz

This piece is also featured by the Vera Institute.

John and Sam were trapped in a vicious cycle of incarceration. When money was scarce, John would make Sam’s court payment instead of his own so she could stay out of jail and care for their child.

12.04.15

A Call for Justice: ACLU of Ohio’s Pay-to-Stay Press Conference

By Dan Rogan

On Monday, November 9^th, 2015 the ACLU of Ohio held a press conference to launch its newest and powerful report, In Jail & In Debt: Ohio’s Pay-to-Stay Fees.

Senior Policy Director Mike Brickner spoke briefly to the media about what these fees are and their negative and lasting impact.

11.09.15

Pay-to-Stay Jail Fees: The Newest Way People Are Profiting Off Mass Incarceration

By Mike Brickner

It is already incredibly difficult for people leaving prison and jail to succeed on the outside. They must contend with criminal records that follow them at every turn. It prevents them from getting certain jobs, or even living in certain apartment buildings.

11.06.15

A Call for Justice: Piper Kerman at the 2015 Ed Likover Memorial Lecture

By Dan Rogan

“We must talk seriously about criminal justice reform because of how close it is connected to racial justice,” said Piper Kerman, discussing the intrinsic relationship between the two issues. Piper’s words struck a chord over 300 attendees at this year’s Ed Likover Memorial Lecture.