This site is the first incarnation of the Ohio Jails Repository, which hosts information I have collected in the process of completing my dissertation at NYU in the Sociology Department. All of the material shared in these pages was generated using public information.
This work is supported by the NYU Digital Humanities fellowship. The abstract associated with the project is below. For now (Summer 2024), I am focusing on compiling information regarding the past 10 or so years.
Understanding the relationship between legal, fiscal, and political pressures and jail conditions is especially pressing given the magnitude of exposure to jail in the US, the conditions within these spaces, the politically unique position of US jail administrators, and the racism endemic to the criminal justice system. Currently, there exists no centralized resource presenting information on jail conditions over time, or on shifts in legal, fiscal, and political processes pertinent to jail operations. The Ohio Jails Repository will serve as a digital resource for users to navigate through various timelines of events and actors in the history of the Cleveland and Columbus area jails since the 1980s through the 2020 pandemic, and to learn about how and why jail conditions change over time more broadly. This proposed data visualization resource can facilitate insight into how the complex network of actors, finances, and governmental institutions have shaped outcomes for generations of individuals moving through county jails. The primary goals of this project are to preserve a unique collection of information, make this material accessible to the public, and provide a model for other studies of local jails. The Ohio Jails Repository will also be a digital resource that will facilitate civic engagement, and provide analytic resources for those looking to advocate for individuals involved in the carceral system.
This site is very much a work in progress, and I welcome any input on how to improve the space. Feel free to contact me about any of the content at marianaveras@nyu.edu