Staff article:

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Community activists opposing the recent deaths of jail inmates and a new multi-million dollar Cuyahoga County Jail slated for construction by county council will hold a rally and press conference on Monday, Nov 27 at 2pm in downtown Cleveland at the Justice Center outside of the jail at West Lakeside  Ave and W. 3rd Street.

In a press release, activists, both Black and White alike, said they "demand answers from County Executive Chris Ronayne, who took office this year, County Sheriff Harold Pretel, and the county council members regarding four recent deaths in the jail. "

Activists say they will also use the occasion to address the recent police shooting of a community member during a wellness check in Garfield Heights, a largely Black Cleveland suburb.

The coalition, according to the press release, includes the Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition, No New Jail Cuyahoga, Black Lives Matter Cleveland, Inter-Religious Taskforce on Central America, and REACH.

Activists said that the protest will demand transparency and accountability for the four inmate deaths,  immediate and substantive changes to the conditions in the jail, and a moratorium on the sale of the Justice Complex and building of a new $750 million jail complex until the systemic problems with leadership and staff problems are solved.

The recent inmate deaths, and a score of inmate overdoses show that jail officials are not adequately addressing medical needs of community members who are incarcerated, say activists. Furthermore, they say that two of the four deaths are under investigation due to questionable circumstances around their deaths. In the most recent case of Rogelio Latorre.

Cleveland.com wrote in an article that "It is unclear why Latorre was in the jail. Local and federal court dockets do not list him, and county spokespersons did not return messages seeking comment." This is also fueling the controversy.

Since the stunning US Marshals Report in 2018 that found inhumane conditions for inmates, there have been some 27 known deaths in the jail, say activists And in 2022 alone they say there were seven known deaths and jail activists

A new jail complex will not solve the staffing and leadership problems that these deaths allegedly expose, activists say.

No New Jail Cuyahoga and REACH say they will speak about the tragic shooting of a community member by police during a wellness check in Garfield Heights.

The new jail , say activists, was rushed, is non-transparent, and is a costly project that will not do anything to help change conditions for incarcerated people in the county.

Cuyahoga County includes Cleveland and is Ohio's second largest county out of 88 counties it is roughly 29 percent Black and is a Democratic stronghold, as is Cleveland, a majority Black major American city dealing with increased crime in the Black community and heightens unsolved murders of Black women.

Activists want more done as to the malicious prosecutions of Blacks and denial of indigent counsel to Black people by common pleas judges and the county.

The judges, say activists, are a huge part of the problem as to jail overcrowding and Blacks and others jailed illegally and they want to know what role, if any, the judges play as to heightened jail deaths since 2018.

One former jail inmate, speaking on condition of anonymity, said she has been jailed in the county at least three times for nothing by racist and wicked White judges and was allegedly told by inmates via the most recent time she was jailed that she would eventually be killed next and that police, crooked prosecutors, and some judges want her murdered to silence her when the time is right. They want to get it done without getting caught, she said.

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