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Cleveland, Ohio

Vajusi, a man with short, dark-brown hair, wears a sheriff's department uniform. He sits next to three other men, also wearing sheriff's department uniforms, in a room with windows with sunlight coming through.
Cleveland June 12
Cuyahoga Deputy Who Shot at Two Teens Was Deemed Unfit for Suburban Force
Deputy Isen Vajusi struggled with confidence, stress and field training before being forced out of the suburbs. He’s now on the sheriff’s downtown safety patrol.
By , The Marshall Project, and Tara Morgan, News 5 Cleveland
An illustration shows a grid of different jail cells with small or narrow windows, or no windows at all.
Analysis May 21
The Unbearable Darkness of Jail
Jails in St. Louis, Cleveland and Jackson, Mississippi, don’t provide direct access to sunlight and fresh air – even when their own policies require it.
By , and
A woman with long, wavy red hair, wearing a baseball cap and whose face is not visible, sits at a table looking out a window with blue curtains.
Cleveland May 16
Ohio Lawmaker Wants to Require Jails to Report Pregnancy Outcomes
The Cleveland Democrat says “all babies should count,” — regardless of whether their mother is behind bars — to ensure access to healthcare for pregnant women.
By , The Marshall Project, and Scott Noll, News 5 Cleveland
A woman with long, wavy red hair, whose face is not visible, looks out a window with blue curtains. Behind her is a tall vase with green leaves in it. A stack of diapers is on a chair.
Cleveland May 15
Uncounted: Ohio’s Failure to Track Lost Pregnancies in Jails Spurs Questions Over Care
One woman’s pregnancy ended in the Cuyahoga County Jail amid ignored cries for help and an “egregious performance failure” by medical staff.
By , The Marshall Project, and Scott Noll, News 5 Cleveland
In an illustration, the word “suspended” is stamped in red over a Black man’s Ohio driver’s license.
Cleveland April 22
Ohio Is Lifting Old Driver’s License Suspensions for Unpaid Fines. Here’s What to Know.
The state will automatically cancel certain suspensions. Letters will be mailed to eligible drivers, sharing steps for getting licenses back.
By
An illustration shows a silhouette of a man with his hands up in frustration as he looks at a woman on a laptop screen. The background is a large representation, blurred with color, of the same woman, who is White with shoulder-length gray hair.
Cleveland April 17
All Stick, No Carrot: Ohio’s Reagan Tokes Law Acts as a ‘One-Way Ratchet’ for Prison Time
Intended to curb prison violence with promises of early release, the law is turning out as unbalanced as critics feared, with sentences extended at every turn.
By
An illustration shows a man with medium skin tone and black hair wearing a blue prison uniform in four scenarios. Clockwise from the top left: The man raises his fists in front of a White man in a prison uniform who is yelling and pointing at him; the man sits on his bed with his head down, looking at a piece of paper; the man sits at a table in front of a woman with a ponytail and medium-dark skin tone; the man stands in an office in front of a laptop, where a woman on a screen is speaking to him. There are four quotes around the figures that read: “It’s a dangerous place here. It got to the point where I had to defend myself.” - Giovanni Lee, “Long story short, they never investigated what happened. They just found me guilty.” - Lamont Clark, “You all had my fate sealed before I even got in the room.” - Edward Navone, and “I’m about to go home. They ended up maxing me out, giving me my whole time.’”- Giovanni Lee
Cleveland April 10
How Ohio’s Reagan Tokes Law Keeps People in Prison Longer
It came as a response by lawmakers to a horrific crime. Now, thousands of people imprisoned since 2019 risk more time behind bars for breaking rules.
By
An incarcerated person wearing food preparation gloves adds French fries to a food tray that contains a hamburger and a small bag of baby carrots.
Closing Argument March 8
The Big Business of Bad Prison Food
A market analysis said the food service industry in U.S. prisons and jails is worth billions — and is forecasted to grow.
By
Sheriff Harold Pretel, a man with medium-toned skin, wearing a sheriff's uniform, sits in front of a blue background with a sheriff's star printed on it.
Cleveland March 4
Sheriff: Bodycam Footage From Cuyahoga County Deputies Will Now Come Out Within 7 Days
Policy shift follows a Marshall Project - Cleveland and News 5 Cleveland investigation into the October shooting of a teen by a deputy.
By , The Marshall Project, and Tara Morgan, News 5 Cleveland
Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze, a White woman wearing a judge’s robe, stands between two American flags. A plaque on the desk in front of her reads: “Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze.”
Cleveland February 18
FBI Subpoena Targets How Cuyahoga County Judge Leslie Celebrezze Steered Work to Friend
The grand jury subpoena also focuses on Mark Dottore’s company, which has earned more than $500,000 in fees from the court since 2017.
By
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