December 11, 2018 Set of Demands TO COUNTY JAIL ADMINS AND COUNTY
On December 11th at 4:00pm, a coalition of deeply concerned Clevelanders and Northeast Ohio residents will host a press conference outside of Cuyahoga County Council’s Meeting in downtown Cleveland at 9th and Prospect to demand an end to the inhumane conditions and practices of the Cuyahoga County Jail.
After 7 deaths and 55 suicide attempts inside the walls of the Cuyahoga County jail in the last several months alone, dangerous overcrowding (a safety concern for both inmates and correctional officers) which includes pregnant women sleeping on mattresses on the floor, vermin in the food, and host of other disturbing reports including the most recent announcement that the US Marshals Service will no longer house their detainees there due to the severely substandard and abusive conditions, we demand action now! It is unacceptable for Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, County Council members and Judicial Officers to allow this to go on.
To that end, the coalition will stand in solidarity behind a set of demands that will be delivered inside the county council meeting just following the press release. “It is important that the residents of Cuyahoga County make their demands known: that this disturbing violation of human rights which impacts some of our most vulnerable residents must stop now,” said a community organizer personally impacted by Cuyahoga jail. “I know the good people of northeast Ohio do not want this done to other human-beings in their name.”
The coalition includes Puncture the Silence, Cleveland Lead Safe Network, Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus, Black Lives Matter Cleveland, Showing Up for Racial Justice Northeast Ohio, Refuse Fascism, Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Ohio Student Association and the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition. They invite all concerned citizens who care about equity, human rights, justice, and democracy to join together for the press release and county council meeting this Tuesday at 4:00pm at 9th and Prospect in Downtown Cleveland.