Thursday, October 6, 2011

Ohio to move its death row inmates

Ohio is in the process of moving its death row inmates from the super-maximum security prison in Youngstown to Chillicothe.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction will consolidate 117 death row inmates currently housed in Youngstown, and 29 in Mansfield, to Chillicothe Correctional Institution to reduce incidents of violence in Ohio's prison system and save money.

"We realize that we can do that if we consolidate death row into a maximum security facility in southern Ohio, and then use the available cells in Youngstown and in Mansfield for our most difficult to manage inmates," said ODRC spokesman Carlo LoParo.

The move will add 300 high security cells in Youngstown and in Mansfield, to house prisoners involved in violent acts against prison staff, and those being held in lower security facilities throughout the state. The additional cells will be used to separate the state's most violent and difficult to manage inmates from the general prison population. Removing inmates involved in violent acts against staff and other inmates from general population settings is critical to the state prison system's overall violence reduction strategy, the ODRC said in a statement.

Chillicothe is close to the state's death house in Lucasville, making the now five-hour trip to transfer a death row inmate to be executed much shorter and safer.

"But it also costs the taxpayers about $1,400 per trip. By moving death row to a location closer to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, we eliminate those costs and those security concerns," LoParo said.

Defense attorney John Shultz said the move could be an inconvenience for local appellate lawyers with clients in Youngstown.

"Now instead of traveling to the East Side of Youngstown to visit with the client, you're going to have to make that several hour trip down to Chillicothe," Shultz said.

And while it's being billed as a decision to make state prisons safer, Shultz thinks there could be more to come.

"It is a prelude to the eventual conclusion and termination of the death penalty as a remedy here in the state of Ohio," Shultz said.

Officials expect to complete the transfer to Chillicothe by January.

"We are going to reduce violence in our prisons, and we are going to do it by better allocating our resources," said state corrections director Gary C. Mohr. "We will maintain Death Row inmates in the same highly secure and highly restrictive environment at one location, and gain valuable cell space that will allow us to separate and better manage our most violent inmates."

In 2009 and 2010, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections recorded 5,070 violent incidents throughout its prisons. While 206 occurred at the Mansfield Correctional Institution and 63 occurred at the Ohio State Penitentiary, only five included death row inmates.

According to the ODRC, consolidating death row resolves several of the correction agency's security and resource management concerns. The move does the following:

Adds a combined 300 high security prison cells at the Ohio State Penitentiary and Mansfield Correctional Institution. The two facilities house 116 and 29 Death Row inmates, respectively. Due to Death Row's restrictive housing parameters, repurposing designated Death Row units at these facilities more than doubles each unit's capacity.

Redeploys a combined 80 correction officers currently assigned to Death Row at the Ohio State Penitentiary and Mansfield Correctional Institution to manage high security inmates within those respective facilities. The additional security allocation greatly enhances DRC's overall violence reduction efforts.

Eliminates the security risks associated with transporting Death Row inmates long distances the day prior to a scheduled execution. These high profile and widely publicized movements create substantial security risks.

Utilizes high security units at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution made vacant by the DRC's previous consolidation of mental health services.

Overall, Ohio has 148 death row inmates. The state's lone female death row inmate is housed at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. Two death row inmates with serious medical conditions are housed at the Franklin Medical Center (formerly Corrections Medical Center) in Columbus. These inmates will remain at the respective facilities.

Since 1885, Ohio has moved death row five times. The state maintained Death Row at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus from 1885 to 1972; the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville from 1972 to 1995; and the Mansfield Correctional Institution from 1995 to 2005. In 2005, ODRC moved death row to Youngstown while keeping inmates on its mental health case load in Mansfield.

Source: 33WTYV.com, October 3, 2011

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