CLEVELAND — After years of negotiations, Cuyahoga County settled with 19 former inmates of the county jail. We’ve been following the story for years since a 2018 report by a U.S. Marshal inspector called conditions at the jail inhumane and deplorable. That scathing report was followed by a class action lawsuit.
When News 5 spoke with U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott about the report back in 2018, he told us the jail “almost needs to be gutted at this point and start from the bottom up.”
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On Wednesday, we learned the details of the settlement.
Watch the complete news conference announcing the settlement:
Since 2018, the county has chosen a new location for a brand-new county jail. But Terry Gilbert, one of the attorneys representing those 19 plaintiffs, said the problems at the jail run deeper than the state of the building.
“You can build a new jail, but if you don’t have the right people operating it and being concerned about human life and conditions, none of it matters,” he said.
The class action suit was filed against the county and MetroHealth, which provides health care services inside the jail. All 19 plaintiffs had stories to tell about their time in lockup, including lead plaintiff Tonya Clay.
“People shouldn’t have to live like that,” she said at a news conference announcing the settlement. “It’s sad, there’s people dying in there. You know, it’s a lot.”
Clay said back in 2018, she was denied access to her bipolar medication for months and suffered two asthma attacks without any medical intervention. It was the same year News 5 reported seven inmate deaths inside the jail in a matter of months.
“That could have been me that died in there,” Clay said. She also reiterated concerns we’ve heard from many inmates about the food.
“I spent over $1,000 in there just to eat at the commissary. I had to buy that to eat because the hot dogs was green. You know, it was ridiculous, the food was half-cooked,” she said.
The county worked with the plaintiffs, bringing in an outside jail expert for a thorough assessment. The 19 plaintiffs didn’t sue for any payouts; attorney Sarah Gelsomino said that they sued for change.
“For them, this was purely a conditions case, right? So what we were seeking is exactly what we got—changes in the conditions in the jail,” she said.
Those changes include newly rewritten policies for the use of force, grievances, medical care access, and intake. The county also agreed to hire a monitor to oversee the food service providers and health care providers and will have an expert in jail practices perform twice monthly inspections. All their reports will be public.
“It’s so important to remember that these are humans being housed. These are humans and up to now I think the culture of the jail has not been to recognize that.”
The attorney said the county has 180 days to initiate the new policies and positions. Cuyahoga County released a statement reading in part:
"The final report issued by the joint expert debunked many of the unsubstantiated allegations levied by plaintiff’s attorneys, the media, and others. The report did identify several areas in need of improvement and made concrete recommendations for enacting those improvements. The County has agreed to address those conditions as part of the Settlement Agreement."
