People in the Marion County Jail are suffering. This is why it matters.

The Marion County Jail is shown in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, July 6, 2020. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2020.

After nearly two years of pressing the Marion County Sheriff’s Office for more details surrounding the Nov. 25, 2022 death of inmate Scott Whitley in the Marion County Jail, on Sept. 23 “Gazette” reporters finally were allowed to watch a security video showing what transpired in Whitley’s cell that day.

Pursuant to a court order granting that access, however, the “Gazette” was allowed to view the video, not share it with the public. The “Gazette” has since asked Lake County Circuit Judge James Baxley to reconsider his ruling, to which he denied. We have decided not to appeal the judge’s decision.

Sheriffs in other jurisdictions in Florida have allowed the public to view similar footage from their jails, but Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods has steadfastly refused to budge. His office has cited security concerns, mainly that the video might give away details about jail cameras placement.

That concern does not stand up to scrutiny.

Since the video only shows what happened in one jail cell, the footage could easily be edited to alleviate any concerns about the location of the camera. Further, during the final hearing before Baxley, MCSO officials testified that the security camera in the cell was in plain view and not disguised in any way. It is stating the obvious to say there is no harm to the jail staff from the public knowing there are security cameras in the jail.

But even after viewing the video, significant questions persist.

Why, for instance, does the MCSO insist that Whitley–a diagnosed schizophrenic who was off his medications and being held naked and alone in his cell–did not comply with orders from the six corrections officers who stormed in?

The video shows Whitley verbally refuses to comply with correction officers’ orders to be handcuffed at the door for a routine cell inspection. But the footage shows Whitley sitting as ordered and, when he sees the guards rush toward him, he raises his hands in defense and pleads “no” and “wait”—to no avail.

Even after the Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Whitley’s death a homicide, why have both the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Fifth Circuit State Attorney’s Office not denounced the cruelty we witnessed against an unarmed, naked prisoner?

We wondered why neither of these agencies cited the jail staff for waiting to call for an ambulance for almost six minutes after they dragged Whitley’s lifeless body, with hands and feet shackled, face down across a slippery cell floor.

The only remedial notes from the MCSO following the incident and FDLE’s findings was to reconsider how corrections officers use pepper spray when handling those with disabilities or mental illness.

We wondered, if this deadly incident did not warrant more severe consequences against jail personnel, is there more going on at the jail that the public has every right to know about?

It’s important to note that the vast majority of inmates in the jail are not convicted criminals, but rather the detained waiting for their day in court. At this moment, only 329 inmates at the Marion County Jail are serving a sentence—that’s only 18% of the population of 1,746.

If a person’s sentence is one year or less, they’ll serve their time in jail under the control of MCSO. Any more, and they’d serve it in prison run by the State. Either way, if inhumane treatment of human beings serving sentences less than a year can be turned into a death sentence due to lack of medical care- where is the justice in that?

Whitley’s sister Pamela testified at the “Gazette’s” hearing before Baxley that she wanted the video made public because she felt this level of aggression was not be a one-time occurrence. She said she wanted to ensure that steps would be taken to protect other inmates, particularly those dealing with mental illness.

We agree.

The “Gazette” asked the MCSO for death in custody reports over the past five years.

We received 18 reports, all of which happened since September 2021. The MCSO records custodians told us there were no in death in custody reports for 2019 and 2020.

We asked for inmate files in those cases where the circumstances surrounding their deaths raised questions about jail staff’s conduct. We were told those records were all destroyed six months after the inmates were “released.”

We asked why the jail classified these dead inmates as “released” since they didn’t leave the jail on their own two feet but rather in a body bag or in an ambulance.

Why would the MCSO destroy records in cases where the possibility remains that further investigations could be ordered?

MCSO attorney Marissa Duquette offered this sarcastic response:

“Would you argue that they are still in custody?”

We read the medical contract between the jail and Heart of Florida, the jail’s contracted health care provider, and noted a significant increase in payment: from $7,973,673 in 2020-21 to $14,238,811 in 2024-25.

Heart of Florida also is allowed to bill for services of inmates who have not yet been sentenced. We asked for details on the amount of those bills.

We note in the contract that Heart of Florida is supposed to follow state medical standards for jails and questioned whether the provider is following those rules, particularly in light of the number of deaths at the facility in recent years.

We pulled the ambulance records to the jail and noted a significant number of calls for service.

We reviewed the medical examiner’s autopsy reports for the 18 who died.

We reviewed the list of medical staff cleared to work at the jail.

We found that the physician overseeing medical care at the jail previously worked at the Lowell Correctional Institution, also located in Marion County. This physician was working at Lowellwhen the Miami Herald in 2016 blew the whistle about extensive inmate rapes and lack of medical care leading to the death of many inmates in 2015 and 2016.

In the case of Lowell, the news reports did not bring immediate changes. It wasn’t until 2020 that the Department of Justice issued a scathing report about the abuse, and unsatisfactory levels of medical care for the women.

The doctor that worked there began working at the Marion County Jail and moved his medical license to Heart of Florida on July 18, 2022.

Florida has a long history of officials looking the other way on the abuse of prisoners. Take for example, the case of Dozier School for Boys, which housed troubled juveniles. Studies show significant abuse over 100 years of Dozier’s history. At least 50 boys were found buried during the excavation of that site. Gov. Ron DeSantis recently put aside $20 million to settle claims for survivors of that institution.

We had hoped once other media outlets read the “Gazette’s” report about the Whitley case that they might join us in asking to see the jail cell video. Some have, and the MCSO refused their requests, saying Baxley’s order only pertained to the “Gazette.” As you can imagine, litigation is expensive and not all news outlets have the resources to fight protracted legal battles.

We appreciate the hard-working law enforcement personnel who take seriously their vows to serve and protect our community. But we also have a responsibility to push for fairness and transparency and to ensure that those in custody at the Marion County Jail are treated humanely.

The “Gazette” will continue to report on this subject and will continue to seek the records and information necessary to give the public an accurate picture of operations at their jail.