Public Statement from the Allegheny County Jail Health Justice Project

On Tuesday, December 8, the County Controller’s office released a follow up report to the December 2014 audit of Corizon Health’s contract at the Allegheny County Jail (ACJ). It outlines how our county government and jail management, namely County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Warden Orlando Harper, failed to make overdue improvements in the care of incarcerated people at the ACJ, even after receiving detailed examples of where changes were needed under the former health care provider.
In spite of the County’s takeover of health care at the ACJ and partnership with Allegheny Health Network, it is evident that the jail continues to repeat the same mistakes of the past. Correctional officers have assaulted inmates and the medical team continues to be understaffed and without proper systems in place to know the medical records and healthcare needs of inmates.
Not enough changes have taken place to ensure that our community members are not violated by corrections staff, suffer needlessly or die from medical neglect.  Our County jail must be a place where our community members receive comprehensive medical care and have their Human Rights respected. That is not what has happened at the Allegheny County Jail even today.
Last week, a Correctional Officer of the ACJ was arrested and faces felony charges for raping two incarcerated women. This officer’s violent actions demonstrate why there has been the need for intense scrutiny and radical changes at the Allegheny County Jail. It is more than just an issue of “a few bad apple” or isolated incidents of wrong doing. There are systemic failures at the County jail that put incarcerated people at risk of harm – and the culture, procedures and leadership of the ACJ are to blame.
The Allegheny County Jail Health Justice Project sends our sympathy to the two women and any other unidentified victims of rape or sexual assault at the ACJ. While this one perpetrator has been fired and arrested, true justice requires our County government to ensure that the needs of the survivors are met, and actions are taken to ensure these violent acts are prevented from happening at our county jail again. Incarcerated women are vulnerable to gender-based violence, such as rape and sexual assault, in jails and prisons – our County jail needs to take a strong stance against it.
“Regardless of incarceration status, no one deserves to raped or sexually assaulted. Freedom from violence is Reproductive Justice,” says  La’Tasha D. Mayes, Executive Director, New Voices for Reproductive Justice.
Our County government needs to pull on the resources in the community to assist in transforming our County jail into an institution that respects Human Rights. We call on our County Executive Rich Fitzgerald to create an Advisory Board of social workers, local Human Rights advocates and other community leaders to ensure correctional officers and all other staff within the jail receives proper training in Human Rights. There needs to be clear accountability actions for individuals who continue to harm or neglect our incarcerated community members. In addition, those responsible for supervising Correctional Officers must also be held accountable for the oversight of officer-inmate interactions. Our County jail should be restoring individuals to re-enter the community, not further punishing them or traumatizing them.
Too many people have died at the Allegheny County Jail this year and in years past because of structural incompetencies. The leadership of the County Jail needs to change, and the Allegheny County Jail Health Justice Project continues to demand the immediate firing of Warden Orlando Harper and for him to be replaced with someone who will prioritize the medical needs and Human Rights of our community members incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald needs to ensure proper oversight of the Allegheny County Jail and implement swift, corrective actions.
– Allegheny County Jail Health Justice Project
The Allegheny County Jail Health Justice Project seeks to ensure that members of our community incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail receive comprehensive health care and have their Human Rights respected. It is a coalition of community organizations and concerned citizens, led by New Voices for Reproductive Justice.