Investigation: Ohio man with mental illness held 55 days in cells without running water
Prison officials locked a man with serious mental illness in cells without running water for nearly two months at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.
In June 2022, James E. Harris Jr. told guards that he swallowed 50 batteries. Subsequent medical scans discovered he had swallowed about two dozen batteries.
Harris spent 12 days on constant watch in the prison infirmary in a cell without running water. He was then moved to another "dry cell" for 43 more days, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Annette Chambers-Smith said this week.
"This is just not how we should be operating. This is a big organization. It's never going to be perfect, but we can definitely do better than this," she said. "Because he was not only in a dry cell: it did not have furniture in it and it did not have a mattress, which is totally unacceptable."
Dry cells lack toilets or sinks or water is turned off. Typically, they're used for up to seven days to observe someone passing contraband, such as a balloon packed with drugs, that they've swallowed.
Harris slept on the concrete floor of the 28-square-foot cell, wearing a gown. Employees took away his blanket for six days. He also went a month without a shower. Incarcerated people are supposed to be offered showers five times a week.
Staff provided a portable toilet in the cell at Harris' request.
Chambers-Smith declined to elaborate on Harris' health now and medical information included in the report was blacked out.
The mistreatment of Harris led to an internal investigation, resignation by former warden Donald Redwood, employee discipline, a policy change and removal of the dry cells at the high-security prison, she said.
Employees told investigators that they wanted to make sure Harris didn't re-ingest batteries he had passed. But guards keeping watch said there was no evidence that Harris was re-ingesting batteries. Documentation of bowel movements and feces checks were incomplete, the investigation found.
In October 2022, Harris filed a grievance about the treatment. The chief inspector's office flagged it for Chambers-Smith, who started an internal investigation.
Chambers-Smith issued a two-day working suspension to Cynthia Davis, the current prison warden who served as deputy warden; a five-day suspension to Deputy Warden Dawn Joseph; and a written reprimand for Major Harold Bell.
Additionally, Donald Redwood, who arrived as warden in June 2022 just days into Harris' time in the infirmary, resigned Oct. 3 of this year. Redwood left the warden's job in February 2023 following extensive renovations of the warden's house.
The USA TODAY Network Ohio bureau first requested records in February regarding Redwood, the renovation of the warden's house and the use of the dry cell.
Chambers-Smith said Harris plans to sue the state. His attorneys declined to comment until they've had time to review the internal investigation.
Harris is serving 25 years to life for murder, robbery, arson and assault. He is incarcerated at Madison Correctional Institution.
Disability Rights Ohio said in a written statement that it has serious concerns about the lack of meaningful treatment for mental health conditions within the state prison system. The organization also said that the department's constant watch conditions are unacceptable.
"Ultimately, DRO has not seen that people receive the treatment they need nor recover under those conditions. DRO is aware of people on constant watch being provided with too many opportunities to seriously harm themselves," the organization said.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio inmate held in cells without running water for 55 days
