In our first State of Emergency post several weeks ago, we explored the dire conditions endured by Black and Brown people in New York City and Chicago’s correctional system. Both prison systems are being overwhelmed by an exponential rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths. This week, we turn to the Midwest, focusing on Ohio. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) has the highest number of incarcerated individuals in the country who have tested positive for COVID-19. These cases have exploded at two facilities: Marion Correctional Facility in Marion, Ohio and the Pickaway Correction Institution in Pickaway, Ohio. Not unlike New York and Chicago, Ohio faces a staggering crisis as it attempts to address a rapidly deteriorating situation in the prisons, mitigate the coronavirus’s effects on inmates and staff and in the communities in which these facilities are located.
On April 20th, ODRC confirmed that the Marion Correctional Facility had 1828 COVID-19 cases in a prison population of 2500. This week, more than 80% of the inmates in the facility have tested positive—2000 inmates. The number has further increased to approximately 2028 inmates and 169 staff. Marion’s number of positive cases exceeds that of Ohio’s other correctional facilities. So basically, 17% of all cases in ODRC’s system facilities come from Marion.
So far, Marion has recorded the deaths of four inmates hospitalized for COVID-19. The deceased inmates were Jesse Ziegler, 74; Richard Berger, 70; plus, a 63-year-old anonymous inmate and a fourth inmate whose identity is unknown. At least two of the four deceased inmates were hospitalized the same day their symptoms manifested.
Disturbingly, the outbreak is not limited to Marion. It has also affected Pickaway Correctional Institution, which is referred to as the second “hotspot’ for COVID-19 in Ohio prisons after Marion. The Pickaway Correctional Institution is 64.1 miles south of Marion and 20 miles south of Columbus. On April 23rd, state officials confirmed that 1558 prisoners and 79 staff members at the Pickaway facility tested positive. As of Friday, 101 more inmates tested positive, bringing Pickaway’s total number of confirmed cases to 1659.
Another unintended consequence of the Marion outbreak is its effect on the larger Marion community. Health officials in the county are reporting a higher COVID-19 case count per capita than any other Ohio county. Marion also has 112 cases of community spread and a 66 of those cases are linked to the prison. Concerns about escalating community spread and an outbreak are a very real concern. Corrections officers in close contact with relatives and close friends working in nursing homes and factories could easily spread the disease, according to the Marion Public Health Commissioner, Traci Kinsler.
The state’s response to the crisis.is sluggish, at best. The Ohio National Guard was sent to the Marion facility on April 21st. The guard members are to assist with “mission critical functions.” Governor Mike DeWine has only released 105 of the Ohio correctional system’s 55,000 inmates. The Supreme Court of Ohio recently rejected a lawsuit to release a prisoner with HIV from a facility in Belmont. Subsequently, four inmates tested positive for COVID-19.
Prisoner advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have been critical of Ohio’s response to the crisis. Many are urging the governor to release more prisoners. Others have turned to the only option available to them: protests. On Friday, a caravan of advocates and relatives of inmates staged a protest in Columbus. The protest featured signs appealing for the immediate release of inmates trapped in prisons as COVID-19 rages. Posterity will judge the attitude with which our authorities treat the welfare of incarcerated people during this moment of emergency.