Protest aimed at ending sexual assaults on detainees, county’s 23 hour/day lockdown
Screenshot from Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition website
The Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition is holding a public rally tomorrow, Saturday, August 14, at 11a to call for an end to what they are denouncing as the injustices at the county’s Justice Center. Protesters will gather on Lakeside Ave. between Ontario St. and West Third St.
The immediate impetus for the demonstration, according to statements by Coalition members, are the sexual assaults, lockdowns for up to 23 hours a day, and limited access to showers, phones, and commissary suffered by jail detainees.
It is important to remember that most of these detainees are awaiting trial and have not been convicted of the crimes for which they are being held. Many are there due to an inability to make bail.
Coalition spokespersons say that last week, when detainees twice staged human rights protests by refusing to return to lockdown, they were shot with pepper spray bullets.
The Coalition is demanding the County implement several immediate reforms, including:
- An end to yellow and red zoning, and other techniques of long term lock down.
- Access to daily showers, medications, phone calls and other human needs.
- Full, adequate food and water for all detainees
- Observance of the medical, ethical, and religious dietary restrictions of detainees
- A ban on the use of chemical weapons in the Justice Center
- Full transparency on reports of sexual abuse in the jail, with respect to both past and future incidents
- Annual training of jail staff on preventing sexual assault
- A requirement that all Justice Center-related assault cases be presented to a grand jury
- Immediate, free, independent mental health counseling for currently incarcerated survivors of sexual assaults and violence by corrections officers.
The Coalition’s statement indicates plans to follow the rally with a letter writing campaign to public officials to implement reforms. Targets of the campaign include the jail warden, Michelle Henry, County Executive Armond Budish, county prosecutor Michael O’Malley, county sheriff Christopher Viland, county council public safety chair Mark Gallagher, and county councilwoman and Democratic Congressional nominee Shontel Brown.
A list of Coalition members can be found on their website.
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