Rich Fitzgerald: Do your JOB. Show up and be accountable for ACJ atrocities!

We call on Rich Fitzgerald to do the bare minimum of his duties as the highest-ranking member of the Allegheny County Jail (ACJ) Oversight Board: to show up to a meeting. Fitzgerald is responsible for the oversight of the jail and its administration, including Warden Orlando Harper and Deputy Warden Laura Williams; both have been named defendants in numerous lawsuits and have been the subject of public outrage regarding the grotesque conditions of the jail. Fitzgerald is responsible for the wellbeing of our community members incarcerated at ACJ, who have come forward as victims and survivors of abuse, torture, medical neglect, and human rights violations. And yet, despite all this, Fitzgerald has not attended a single Jail Oversight Board (JOB) meeting in over a decade. His refusal to attend the monthly meetings conceals his involvement, control and responsibility for what goes down at his very own county jail. His absence speaks volumes, making it clear to us that he does not care about the health and safety of our friends and families. What we are demanding of Fitzgerald is not a radical ask. We are simply requesting him to do his job. We ask him to show up to a JOB meeting and be accountable for the people he was elected to serve.