[Note: Friends of Justice is a personal blog. I speak only for myself.]
For some time now, I have been corresponding with Shane Crum, an inmate in Marion, Ohio, whom I believe to be innocent.
Last April, a number of his emails referenced COVID 19 in Marion. He first mentioned COVID on April 1st:
“Bob, howdy again. I apologize for not responding before now. Sunday evening we got word that a staff member here tested positive for covid 19. On Monday, we went into lockdown. We still can move around our locks in the day room. We also still have access to the kiosk. Nevertheless, more inmates are in the housing unit all day, and many of them are using the kiosk more frequently. The whole thing is chaotic at best.
“What concerns me about all of this is that staff keep the inmates isolated from one another. However, they are the ones suddenly preparing our meals, washing our laundry, and roaming between the four quarantine zones. Yesterday, an officer came into the lock, emptied out our ice machine and had his entire upper body inside the ice machine. If this is going to come into this prison, they are the ones who will bring it in here, and they are taking no precautions to keep the staff from spreading it to the inmate population. It is as though they are under the impression that the inmates will have it before they will, and we will give it to them. This is all very backward.”
On April 10th:
“Bob, howdy. How are you today? I do hope you and your family are well and staying safe. The virus is currently at this institution. I have repeatedly attempted to tell staff that they will be the ones who bring it in here, and that they should be mandated to wear the masks. It took them up til last week to mandate that. The staff are still creating policies that indicate the inmates will give it to the staff and not the other way around. They have been handling our food without wearing masks, our laundry (the same), mail, and they keep coming into the block and getting ice out of our ice machine without wearing a mask, gloves or both (when the inmates should be the ones touching all these items and not staff). A virus spreads by mucus droplets that come from the mouth and nose, and through contact with that mucus. They do not seem to get it. What do you expect, I am just an inmate to them and I could never know more than they do. I do not think they realize they are liable for what happens to us. According to the Federal Courts, we are wards of the state, and they are suppose to protect us from such things. I am done ranting.”
On April 20th:
“Howdy Bob. How are you today? I am truly sorry I have not replied to your last e-mail until now. On Thursday the 16th, OSU came in and tested the entire institution. We now know 1828 inmates here have tested positive for covid 19. Needless to say, I have been a little distracted.”
And then on April 28th:
“Bob, howdy again. Well, the whole institution was tested for covid 19 on the 16th. They finally informed the inmate population on the results of those tests on the 23rd. 2100 out of approximately 2500 have tested positive here. From your e-mail, I would think you are aware of the conditions here. Anyway, I tested positive. I had a couple days where I was really down. I did not eat for three days straight. I did not have any major symptoms, so it was like being really tired with extreme headaches, and dizziness. I pulled through it without much of a problem. Most of the inmates here had similar symptoms, but some are not doing too well. From the beginning, the news reported that around 80% of the people who get infected with the virus would show mild to no symptoms. While that was promising, the other 20% where getting hospitalized and some dying. I am thankful that I did not go through what some of the other inmates are dealing with. The staff here are still running some bizarre procedures that will ensure the eventual infection of the entire population here. What I am really not understanding is that our administration has been negligent at best and O.D.R.C. continues to transfer inmates here. They keep separating the negatives from the positives, but that seems to be some sick way to ensure they will eventually infect the inmates who tested negative. The National Guard are great and efficient. Way better people than the C.O.s who work here. I keep asking them about some of these procedures the administration have put in place, and they are just as dumbfounded as I am. I wish I could tell you I am staying safe, but the staff are ensuring that is impossible for us. That is enough of the pitty party stuff.”
You can learn more about Shane by visiting his web site: https://shanecrum.org.
Please help him if you can. He would most appreciate just hearing from you: https://shanecrum.org/contact-us/.
-Bob
