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Lawsuit accuses Gov. Mike DeWine, ODRC director of not doing enough to protect inmates against COVID-19

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of four inmates — two in Marion, one at Allen Correctional Institution and one at Richland Correctional Institution.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A lawsuit filed on behalf of four Ohio inmates is accusing Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction director, Annette Chambers-Smith, of not doing enough to protect them against the coronavirus.

As of Saturday, 60 inmates have died of COVID-19 in prisons across Ohio, and more than 4,000 had tested positive overall.

The lawsuit was filed Friday on behalf of four inmates — two at Marion correctional Institution, one at Allen Correctional Institution and one at Richland Correctional Institution.

RELATED: Marion prison is one of the nation's largest sources of COVID-19 infections

The suit claims the governor and director of violating their constitutional rights by not doing more for protection.

"The consequences of COVID-19’s raid into the prison system could have been largely avoided had Governor DeWine and ODRC acted with the same urgency and scope of restriction used for the state-at-large," the lawsuit reads. "Instead, thousands of prisoners have been left to languish in fear of the coming viral onslaught."

They plaintiffs want to see low-level, older and at-risk inmates released. They also want to see remaining inmates given meaningful sanitation like hand sanitizer, bleach, soap, gloves and disposable masks.

The attorney tells 10TV this is not about money, but about not dying in a cell. He said he has heard from dozens more inmates who want to join this lawsuit.

10TV has reached out to both Chambers-Smith and DeWine's office for comment and has yet to hear back.

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