Letters from Inside: Covid-19 and the Carceral State #3

This is part of our series Letters from Inside: COVID-19 and the Carceral State, centered on amplifying the voices of incarcerated people in Ohio. Below is a transcript of an electronic letter sent to us on 4/30/2020 by Ronald, published with his permission and edited minimally for clarity.

Greetings…the few things I would like to share are that this is somethin new 4 all of us..there is no way possible 4 the 6ft distancing thats recommended without this Governer Judges etc. freeing more than half of the POP..its worse than nursing homes..and overcrowded..Maureen O’Connor [Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court] mentioned somethin in 2018–19 about puttin together a team of lawyers to review cases due to cases being overturned and to many people being imprisoned unjustly…well..she should be held responsible for doing so…the seed of the problem must be attacked…the judicial system…and a DETERRENT must be put in place for those who claim to enforce the very laws that the personnel of the same breach on a daily basis and have been doing so for yrs. WE ARE NOT SENTENCED 2 DEATH but by them not releasing prisoner…they..(the powers that be) have breached their oaths and sentencing contracts (per se) which in turn sentences us to just that…the root of all evil is more important than lives

..and as far as the conditions…as I stated b4..there is no getting 6ft apart..we wear mask but once U go to chow or any other activity..we are put 2gether wit no mask..so they almost seem pointless. They feed us 2wice a day now, & simple fact of the matter is..if this coronavirus does not give up and or gets stronger, the governer, judges ect. don’t do more, better and faster releasing of more than half of the prisoners (my opinion 65–75%) then we are sitting ducks and satistics of what could have easily been prevented. Maureen O’Connor chief justice of the OH SUP. CT. should honor her wrd..get that group of attorneys started..and more than one group…5–6 to cover the state of ohio..and begin fixing what their Judicial System has wrong..the laws, rights, and constitutions ect. Hold all those within law enforcement acountable.. the deterent being lawsuits and ousting of any and all wrong doers. ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] is overwhelmed and only takes very few cases..more needs to be done and FAST

This letter was published by members of the Community Freedom Coalition, a central Ohio based group working to end all forms of state-sanctioned violence and build a world without police or prisons. Follow our work on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. #FreeThemAll