This is The Marshall Project - Cleveland’s newsletter, a monthly digest of criminal justice news from around Ohio gathered by our staff of local journalists. Want this delivered to your inbox? Sign up for future newsletters.
Drug-soaked paper is breeding chaos, violence and death in Ohio prisons
Addiction and desperation have always driven people to escape the brutality of prison life, say many who have lived and worked for decades inside Ohio prisons. But drug-soaked paper is now stoking alarming levels of violence and death, making inherently unsafe places more dangerous for everyone.
As state officials pump tens of millions of dollars into new security upgrades, the problem is fueled by staff who rarely face prosecution for suspected smuggling, according to a yearlong investigation by The Marshall Project - Cleveland, Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and Canton Repository.
Meanwhile, prison discipline for drug use and possession has doubled since 2020. Officials say that’s due to better and more aggressive detection. Incarcerated people, whether interviewed by reporters or surveyed by state inspectors, say drugs are easier than ever to get.
Corrections officers seize drugs in Ohio’s 28 prisons about 180 times a week, on average.
Most of what is found is suspected to be K2 — paper sprayed with synthetic cannabinoids and smoked by incarcerated people. K2 is now linked to more prison deaths than fentanyl, autopsy reports show. These substances often evade standard toxicology testing, leaving coroners unable to determine the cause of death, even in cases bearing all the hallmarks of an overdose.
The impact inside prisons is stark. Incarcerated people describe housing units filled with smoke, people collapsing, convulsing, stumbling around like zombies, behaving erratically with no memory of their intoxication. Violence and lockdowns are rising, affecting even those who don’t use drugs.
While prison leaders blame visitors and drones for most of the smuggling, incarcerated people and investigators say staff and vendors play the most significant role. Yet, the vast majority of employees suspected of smuggling simply lose their jobs without facing legal consequences.
In one case, a prison teacher accused of trafficking drugs and sexually assaulting incarcerated women was fired but never charged, while prosecutors charged two of the women who reported him with felony drug possession.
— Doug Livingston
Event: Why sentencing data matters
On Thursday, April 23, from 8:30–11:30 a.m., The Marshall Project - Cleveland is partnering with the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association to host “How Judges Sentence Without a Sentencing Database,” at the CMBA.
This event brings together real insight from different sides of the system. You’ll hear from former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael P. Donnelly, Dr. Brian A. Mikelbank from Cleveland State University, and The Marshall Project - Cleveland journalism team, Brittany Hailer, Mark Puente and Doug Livingston.
We’ll talk about what happens when there isn’t consistent data in sentencing — and how that makes it harder for the media to do clear, transparent investigative reporting and hold power accountable. The event is free for anyone who is not an attorney.
Around the 216
- The families of two pedestrians killed in two separate police chases last year filed civil lawsuits against the Cuyahoga County sheriff and deputies involved in the crashes. FOX 8 TMP - Cleveland Context: Deputy involved in fatal chases accused of “lying” in hiring process. The Marshall Project - Cleveland
- The accountability systems created to monitor police departments at hospital systems across Cleveland operate with little public transparency. Signal Cleveland
- The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office does not have to turn over its ICE contract to the ACLU. Cleveland.com