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James "Jay" Ward was unjustly tried as an adult at age 15 and has already been in jail for over a decade.
His history as an outspoken advocate of his own and all prisoner’s rights- and as a visible participant in last year’s National Prison Strike- means he has faced constant retaliation from Correctional Officers (COs) including punitive segregation, withholding of necessary medications, and physical violence. On Friday, February 22nd, 2019, three COs entered Jay's cell in Toledo Correctional Institution and beat him. His ribs were severely bruised and his face smashed up, leaving black eyes. The nurse who evaluated his injuries is the girlfriend of one of the COs who beat him, calling the quality of his care into question. Based off this altercation, Jay was charged with assault and has the potential of having his security level raised- an incredibly serious consequence.
After this beating, the COs claimed he put a razor blade to his neck and manipulated his history of suicide attempts to put him on mandatory suicide watch as further punishment, even as he adamantly denied he was suicidal and maintained that razor blade story was fabricated. Those officers are on administrative leave because they are being investigated for this incident.
In June of 2018, Jay filed a lawsuit against ten different COs, five of whom brutally beat him enough to dislocate his shoulder, then repeatedly denied him orthopedic care. Though the lawsuit is still in process, this recent attack is another internal retaliation for daring to speak out against his abusers. Jay has been on hunger strike twice in the past two months to protest this treatment. Jay often feels hopeless living under these conditions and has little support from the outside, aside some family who can only contribute so much while raising their own families.
He is humbly asking for a wider community to come together to support him with money to use towards jpay (an expensive, profit-based platform that incarcerated folks have to use to contact the outside), collect calls to his loved ones/lifelines, and towards a jpay tablet that makes connecting with the outside much easier. This money will also allow him to continue organizing his project, Decarcerate US, which hopes to expose the truth of prisons through amplifying prisoners’ stories, connecting folks on the outside into support roles, and envisioning a world without prisons. Anything you can contribute will make an immediate and tangible difference in his quality of life.
Thanks so much and in solidarity,
jay's loved ones
P.S another non-monetary way to support Jay is to write to him! getting mail is a huge morale booster and he'd love to hear from you :) just make sure to say whether or not you can maintain regular correspondence.
if you have a jpay account or want to make one, that's a much easier way to get in touch because envelopes and stamps are hard to come by:
James Ward, A517461
Toledo Correctional Institution
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
if you do want to send a physical letter:
James Ward, A517461
Toledo Correctional Institution
PO Box 80033
Toledo, OH 43608
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