Support the Lucasville Five

From: Lucasville Five lucasvillefive@gmail.com Denis O'Hearn 6:30pm Feb 17

A LETTER TO SUPPORTERS OF THE LUCASVILLE FIVE: PLEASE READ, RESPOND,
AND PASS ON TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN

Dear supporter, or potential supporter, of the five men sentenced to
death for their leadership roles in the Easter uprising of prisoners
at Lucasville in 1993:

First of all, thanks. When we visited the men on hunger strike at the
Ohio supermaximum security prison in January, each brought to the
visit a stack of letters from supporters all over the world. They are
emphatic that it was this outpouring of support that caused Ohio
authorities to take major steps toward equalizing conditions of
confinement for all death-sentenced men at the Ohio State Penitentiary.

Now we move on, redirecting energy to the underlying threat of
execution. Each of these prisoners ? Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Jason
Robb, Bomani Shakur (also known as Keith LaMar), George Skatzes, and
Namir Abdul Mateen (also known as James Were) ? is in the early
stages of appeal in federal courts. They can expect to live several
years before they are killed. We must help them use that time.

Ohio was the only state with more executions in 2010 that in 2009.
Second only to Texas, Ohio was the state with the greatest number of
executions in 2010. Ohio has already scheduled nine executions in
2011, one a month from February through October.

However, since the successful end to the January hunger strike, there
has been another spectacular happening in Ohio. The most senior
justice of the Ohio Supreme Court who helped to draft the state's
capital punishment law (Paul Pfeifer), a recent director of the state
prison system who witnessed 33 Ohio executions (Terry Collins), and
ten Catholic bishops including the bishops in Cincinnati (location of
the Lucasville Special Prosecutor and site of major Lucasville
trials) and Youngstown (where four of the five leaders of the 1993
rebellion are housed) have all come out against the death penalty.
Here are some of the things they say.

Justice Pfeifer: "[O]ver the years, the death penalty has come to be
applied more pervasively than we ever intended. We also wanted a
review process implemented in which the Ohio Supreme Court, in
addition to considering death penalty appeals, would monitor death
sentences across the state to verify that they were being evenly and
fairly applied. Simply put, that hasn't happened."

Former Director Collins: "I personally observed the execution of 33
men from 2001 to 2010. All 33 times, in the back of my mind I
questioned: Had all the reviews and appeals got this case right?...I
wondered that because I had previously walked people out of prison
who were found not guilty after years of incarceration. What if we
got it wrong for those we executed??[W]e continue to be one of the
few industrialized nations to carry out the death penalty when we
know mistakes happen."

Catholic Bishops: "The Catholic Bishops of Ohio agree with recent
comments made by both Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer and
former Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director
Terry Collins that Ohio's elected legislative leaders ought to debate
and ultimately abolish the death penalty."

Here are three facts with which the Lucasville prosecutors would agree.
1. There was no DNA evidence, there was no physical evidence that
permitted the state to connect a particular prisoner with any of the
ten murders.
2. Therefore, the prosecutors relied on the testimony of prisoners
many of whom received benefits (no indictment, reduced charges,
concurrent sentences, early parole) in return for their cooperation
with the prosecution.
3. The five men sentenced to death were convicted primarily on the
basis of their leadership roles. The state still does not know for
sure who actually strangled hostage officer Robert Vallandingham.
If you would find it helpful to know more about the factual details,
a new edition (with Foreword by Mumia Abu Jamal) of Lucasville by
Staughton Lynd can be ordered from PM Press,

What can we do?

We have been advised that the most effective form of communication is
individual letters. Here are the names and addresses of key persons
to whom you can write about the following issues:
   * Because there is grave doubt about the evidence used to convict
prisoners involved in the Lucasville rebellion, an amnesty should be
declared as in New York after the uprising at Attica;
   * In light of increasing doubts about whether the death penalty
can ever be fairly implemented, it is time to end capital punishment in Ohio.

Please write to:
Governor John Kasich,

Gary Mohr, Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
Correction,
Gary.Mohr@odrc.

State Representative Ted Celeste, who according to the Associated
Press hopes to introduce "legislation aimed at abolishing the death
penalty in Ohio," district24@ohr.

Finally, so that we can stay in touch with your efforts on behalf of
the five men and all others on Ohio's Death Row, please forward
copies of your e-mails to lucasvillefive@gmail.com.

Yours in hope,

Jackie Bowers Dwight LaMar Staughton Lynd
sister of George Skatzes uncle of Bomani Shakur author, Lucasville

Denis O'Hearn
author, Bobby Sands, the Irish Hunger Striker who Ignited a Generation

PRISON EMERGENCY SUMMIT 2/26/11 Cleveland

 PRISON EMERGENCY SUMMIT
Saturday, Feb. 26, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Cleveland State University Main Classroom Bldg. 1899 E.22nd at Chester Ave.

In conjunction with CSU’s Black Studies Dept.
Room #MC137

Learn about the victorious recent hunger strike of the Lucasville uprising prisoners
and the campaign to overturn their false convictions.
Learn about the strike of 20,000 prisoners in Georgia.
Hear reports on Mumia Abu-Jamal, Imam Al-Amin and many other political prisoners.
Discuss the privatization of Ohio’s prisons.

Do today’s prisons represent the re-imposition of slavery?

Sponsors: Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network, New Black Panther Party-Cleveland
Link, Black on Black Crime Inc., Survivors/Victims of Tragedy Inc., Peoples
Fightback Center, Workers World Party, Cleveland FIST, Oppressed Peoples Nation,
LOOP (Loved Ones Of Prisoners), Cleveland Anarchist Black Cross,
Joaquin Hicks Real People Movement
For more info, call 216-925-9108 or email lucasvillefreedom@gmail.com 

"Bomani Shakur, Power to the People"

Denis O'Hearn created a doc "Bomani Shakur, Power to the People".

via facebook

Power to the People

Although on a very small scale (which by no means
diminishes the deed), we, the people, have
wrought a revolution?"a sudden and momentous
change in a situation"?and accomplished in twelve
days what the powers that be have repeatedly told
us would never happen.  Indeed, for the first
time in sixteen years, I will be able to hug and
kiss my family again!  There are no words to
express the profound gratitude I feel.  The late,
great, revolutionary leader, Che Guevara, once
said:  "A true revolutionary is guided by great
feelings of love!"  Well, while I cannot claim to
be a revolutionary in the strict sense of the
word, it is a great feeling of love (for you, the
people) that is guiding me right now:  even as I
write this, tears of hope and determination are streaming down my face.

When one has been forced to live in a space no
larger than a closet for sixteen years, 23 hours
a day, not only does one begin to feel extremely
insignificant, but the very world begins to
shrink; and everything, even the smallest thing,
seems impossible. Hence, never in my wildest
dreams could I have imagined the overwhelming
outpouring of love and support that came flooding
into my cell after I cried out for help.  People
from all over the country and the world?England,
Ireland, Serbia, Amsterdam?reached out and joined
together with us to right an injustice; and
surprisingly, miraculously, we
succeeded!  Everything we demanded was properly handed over (see attachment).

It would be great if I could say that the worst
is over now, and that, with victory in hand, I
can live happily ever after.  Unfortunately, I
don't have the luxury of living in a fairy tale;
the people who are trying to take my life are
real, not a figment of my imagination.  In fact,
not even a week after my piece?If We Must Die?was
posted and we embarked on the hunger strike, a
federal district judge turned down my appeal,
which placed me even further in the balance.  It
would be naïve of me to believe that this was
just a coincidence, an unrelated incident that
just so happened to coincide with our peaceful,
nonviolent demonstration.  As you may recall, I
said some very harsh things (all of them true)
against the system; and I say them again:  this
system is bogus and sold to those with money.  In
other words, if you don't have the capital you
get the punishment, and justice, like everything
else in this capitalist nightmare, is nothing
more than a commodity that is reserved for the
highest bidder.  Need I say more?

Friends, I beg you not to abandon me to this
mockery; inasmuch as my life is not for them to
take, I intend to fight them, and I (we) need
your help.  What they did to us can not stand up
under the bright light of scrutiny.  Because of
who we are, they felt that doing a thorough job
wasn't necessary.  After all, who's going to give
a damn about a bunch of criminals?  With this as
their attitude, they utilized a
"first-come-first-served" strategy and ended up
charging several different people with the same
crimes, using different theories; and, in some
cases, allowed the actual perpetrators to point
the finger elsewhere if they were willing to
assist the prosecution in cleaning up its
books.  Simply put, what they did to us is a
travesty of justice; and yet, our convictions
have remained intact through the lower courts of
appeal and are quickly making their way through
the federal courts.  In other words, if we don't
do something to get out in front of this thing,
they are going to kill us soon.  And it may be
that, no matter what we do, they are going to
kill us anyway.  Well, okay.  But if that be the
case, let us at least make sure that they not be
able to call it justice.  If they kill us, let us
at least be able to call it what it really is:  murder.

Friends, we don't have to accept this; we don't
have to continue down the path of least
resistance, allowing them to do with us whatever
they please.  If we stand together and speak
truth to power, they will have no choice but to
right this wrong.  They did it in the current
confrontation, and they will do it again, not
because they want to but because they have
to.  Whenever hypocrisy is confronted by the
truth, it must capitulate.  Therefore, the key to
fighting these people is to expose the truth and
then hold it up next to what they claim to
represent. If we can do this well enough, they
will either have to practice what they preach or,
as Malcolm X suggests, preach what they
practice.  Our job is to make sure they don't have it both ways.

Our friend, Staughton Lynd, has written a book
about the uprising (Lucasville: The Untold Story
of a Prison Uprising), and we need to encourage
people to read it.  In the coming days, weeks,
and months, we need to formulate plans to
reintroduce the play and launch the documentary,
Dirty Little Secrets, all with the intended
purpose of making as many people as possible
aware of what actually happened during the
uprising and its aftermath.  Ultimately, the goal
is to compose a petition, similar in scope to the
ones that were recently circulated, which will
then be presented to the governor with the demand
that he either issue a general amnesty with
respect to all of the Lucasville cases or, in the
alternative, convene a panel of qualified experts
to determine whether or not a general amnesty is warranted.

In closing, I want to thank each and every one of
you for coming forward as you did.  I am both
humbled and uplifted by the support.  When I
phoned my eight-year-old niece, Kayla, afterwards
and informed her that "uncle Keith will be able
to touch her little hand soon," she, with
excitement brimming in her voice, said, "that's
awesome!"  And I couldn"t agree with her
more:  what we did was awesome!  We came together
and spoke truth to power and won! Imagine that!

Power to the People!
Bomani Shakur a.k.a. Keith LaMar

January 2011

A Welcome Prison Victory at Youngstown

by Denis O'Hearn MR Zine Jan. 19, 2011

Three death-sentenced men went on hunger strike in Ohio State Penitentiary on January 3 to win the same rights as others on death row in the state. On Saturday January 15, the twelfth day of their protest, a crowd of supporters gathered in the parking lot by the tiny evangelical church at the entrance to the prison on the outskirts of Youngstown. They ranged from the elderly and religious to human rights supporters to members of various left groups. They were expecting to participate in the first of a series of events in coming weeks to support the men on their road to force-feeding, or even possible death. Things did not turn out as expected. For once, this was for the better.

The day's events began when a small delegation made up of the hunger strikers' relatives and friends (Keith Lamar's Uncle Dwight, Siddique Hasan's friend Brother Abdul, and Alice Lynd for Jason Robb), went up to the prison through the snow and ice to deliver an Open Letter addressed to OSP Warden David Bobby and Ohio's state prison officials. The letter, which supported the demands of the hunger strikers, was signed by more than 1,200 people including the famous (Noam Chomsky), human-rights-leaning legal experts from Ohio and around the world, prominent academics and writers, and ordinary retired teachers and religious ministers. It was Saturday, so Warden Bobby was not there to meet the delegation, but he'd been aware of their coming and left someone at the front desk to take the letter.

Hopeful word of a settlement of the hunger strike had been circulating among a few friends and activists for two days. It was definitively confirmed that morning when visitors to Jason Robb received a copy of a written agreement from Warden Bobby (see below) outlining a settlement that provided practically all of their demands, despite his insistence at the beginning of the strike that he would not give in to duress.

Although the hunger strikers told me that they were optimistic from the very beginning, there were grounds to expect a harder battle. Bomani Shakur (Keith Lamar) described an incident with the Deputy Warden at the beginning of his protest.

"You know, LaMar, a human being can only go so long without food," he chided Shakur.

"Yeah, I know," replied Bomani, "but according to the state of Ohio I'm not human, so I don't have to worry about that!"

Nonetheless, Warden Bobby and his deputies had been meeting with the hunger strikers for some days and they agreed that they would end their protest upon receipt of the warden's letter. Friends and relatives who came to visit Siddique Hasan and Keith Lamar (aka Bomani Shakur) told visiting friends and relatives similar details about the end of the strike. Both men said that they had resumed eating.

Shakur told one of his friends that he'd "just been eating hot-dogs." She replied that it was crazy to eat such things on an empty stomach. Bomani just laughed and said, "but I was hungry, man!"

The delegation returned to the crowd and began the rally. The surprise was revealed to all. The hunger strike was over.

Jason Robb's victory statement was relayed to the crowd. He wanted to thank everybody for their support, for without it the men would have won nothing. But now, he said, it was time to shift the focus to the fact that five men, including the three hunger strikers, are awaiting execution for things they did not do.

"The energy around our protest went viral," he told Alice and Staughton Lynd on a prison visit. "This time around the fight was for better prison conditions. Now we begin fighting for our lives."

Why a Hunger Strike?

The "Lucasville Five" includes the three hunger strikers plus Namir Mateen, who did not join the hunger strike due to medical complications, and George Skatzes, who was transferred out of isolation at OSP after he was diagnosed with chronic depression. All five are awaiting execution for a variety of charges, mostly complicity in the murders of prisoners and a guard during the Lucasville prison uprising of 1993. In a case that resembles that of the Angola 3 in Louisiana, they have been held in solitary isolation for 23 hours a day for more than 17 years, since the evening the uprising ended. This is despite the fact that three of them helped negotiate a settlement of the uprising that undoubtedly saved lives, and despite a promise within the agreement that there would be no retribution against any of the prisoners.

The Ohio prison authorities went back on their word. They not only put the five men in isolation but they built the supermax prison at Youngstown to hold them that way in perpetuity. Having built the prison, they had to fill 500 beds, despite the fact that a small Secure Housing Unit at Lucasville had never been full. But the 1990s were the decade of the supermax. So men who were charged with minor offences found themselves locked up in Youngstown on "Level 5 security," meaning that they were held for 23 hours a day in a cell no bigger than a city parking space. The steel-doored cells and even the recreation areas where they spent an hour a day were built in such a way as to ensure that they would never have contact with another living being -- human, animal, or plant. "Outdoor recreation" was in a cement-walled enclosure that was only outdoor if you consider that the roof is a steel grille. Hundreds of men have come and gone since 1998. Only four, the three hunger strikers and Namir Mateen, remain locked up in perpetual isolation.

A case is underway in the Middle District Court of Louisiana that is likely to judge this kind of treatment as a violation of the eighth amendment prohibitions on cruel and unusual punishment. It may be that the Ohio authorities see the handwriting on the wall and they want to improve the conditions of Ohio's supermax before they are forced to do so by another court ruling, like the Wilkinson vs Austin case of 2005 in which the US Supreme Court forced them to improve conditions in the supermax.

One of the holdings of the Supreme Court instructed the Ohio authorities to follow Fifth Amendment provision on due process. In 2000, two years after the supermax opened, they began giving annual reviews to the death-sentenced Lucasville prisoners. But the reviews are not meaningful. One of the reviews even concluded, "You were admitted to OSP in May of 1998. We are of the opinion that your placement offense is so severe that you should remain at the OSP permanently or for many years regardless of your behavior while confined at the OSP." Thus, the four have been condemned to de facto permanent isolation.

This lack of meaningful review, as well as the continued lack of human contact despite the agreement that ended the Youngstown hunger strike, might yet be the focus of litigation not just in Ohio but in other supermaxes around the United States, such as California's notorious "Secure Housing Unit" at Pelican Bay State Prison.

The conditions of supermax are a running sore on the US human rights record, a sort of elephant in the room that few people want to talk about. Yet there is a growing sentiment among experts and policymakers against extreme isolation, both because of its cost but also due to the judgment that it is a form of torture.

And it is these conditions of extreme isolation, without hope of ever touching a fellow human apart from a prison guard, that drove these men to the ultimate protest of hunger strike. As Bomani Shakur wrote in a statement that announced his hunger strike, none of the men wanted to die. But in such conditions of isolation, and in the absence of any way of proving to the authorities that they were not a security risk if allowed to mix with other prisoners or have semi-contact visits, depriving themselves of food was the only non-violent means of protest that remained for them.

What Now?

For the Lucasville Five, the main attention turns now to their wrongful convictions and to the death penalty itself. Ohio is the only state in the US that executed more men in 2010 than in 2009. And it is second only to Texas in its rate of executions. For the past two years, the state has attempted to execute one man a month, although that attempt has been slowed by botched executions and by some surprising grants of clemency by former governor Ted Strickland. One can only hope that moves away from the use of the death penalty in states like New Mexico and, most recently, Illinois are the beginning of a more general move to do away with this backward policy.

The hunger strikers expressed their hopes, to relatives and other visitors, that the energy that built up around supporting their recent protest could now be turned toward getting them off their death sentences and allowing them to prove their innocence. Ironically, the improved conditions that they won through hunger strike could help in this regard. Among their demands -- increased time outside of their cells, semi-contact visits, and equal access to commissary -- was the demand that they be allowed to access legal databases like other death-sentenced prisoners, so that they could work toward their appeals.

For now, this is most important to Bomani Shakur. In a shocking recent decision, a district court judge affirmed the recommendation of the magistrate against his petition for habeas corpus without any discussion of the merits of the judgment. Shakur believes that the judge made this seemingly rash judgment in retaliation for his role in the hunger strike. Whether he has reason to believe this or not, he and his counsel now have to turn to the Federal Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. In real terms, what might have been a further process of five years to execution now seems to have been shortened to perhaps three. The US judicial system is strongly biased against appeal, even in most egregious cases of injustice. So the Lucasville Five now have a hard case to argue. It is a case where public opinion and social movement may have more impact than the law, just as public pressure seems to have played a decisive role in winning a successful end to the hunger strike after such a short period.

Bomani Shakur told Alice and Staughton Lynd that the denial of his habeas petition by the district court makes him more determined and focused on what he needs to do in the next few years. Activists and supporters in Ohio and beyond will be asked to find the same kind of focus.

The Agreement That Ended the Hunger Strike

---

Denis O'Hearn, Director of Graduate Studies, Sociology Department, Binghamton University - SUNY.

Death Row inmates end hunger strike after state meets demands

'Semi-contact' visits among concessions to Lucasville riot leaders

Monday, January 17, 2011
By Alan Johnson
The Columbus Dispatch

A hunger strike by the three Lucasville riot leaders has ended with state
prison officials conceding to nearly all of the strikers' demands.

A memo dated Friday from Warden David Bobby of the Ohio State Penitentiary
at Youngstown outlined six policy changes being made for inmates under the
prison's "administrative maximum security" designation, the most
restricted section of Death Row, which houses about 120 prisoners.

Inmates will be allowed "semi-contact" visits with family members,
additional recreation time, access to computer-based legal research, phone
privileges up to one hour per day and the opportunity to purchase more
items from the commissary, including food and clothing.

Most of the changes were effective immediately, according to Bobby's memo.
The visitation change will take effect Feb 1.

The three inmates - Siddique Abdullah Hasan, known as Carlos Sanders at
the time of the 1993 Lucasville riot; Bomani Shakur, formerly known as
Keith Lamar; and Jason Robb, all of whom are serving death sentences for
their part in the riot - began a liquid-only hunger strike Jan. 3.

The inmates complained that they were being singled out for unfair
restrictions compared with others on Death Row because of their actions
during the April 1993 riot. In audio messages distributed via the
Internet, Hasan complained they had no outdoor recreation or contact
visits with family members, can't buy winter-weight clothing and lack
access to LexisNexis, a legal and news Internet search engine.

The riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville cost
10 lives, including Corrections Officer Robert Vallandingham. Sanders was
considered the ringleader of the rioters.

Attorneys Staughton and Alice Lynd, who have advocated for the Lucasville
inmates, obtained a copy of the memo. They said the state's capitulation
was a surprise.

"I think they (the inmates) regard it as a victory," Alice Lynd told The
Dispatch.

"This is a big deal for them to be able to touch a loved one after 18 years."

"Semi-contact" visits typically mean the visitor is separated from the
inmate by a plate of glass that has a small gap so they can touch or hold
hands.

ajohnson@dispatch.com

OSP 3 end hunger strike - win some demands

Denis O'Hearn 4:33pm Jan 15, 2011
Facebook

Folks, I have a short report on today's rally at OSP in support of
the three men on hunger strike. But, first, I can now report to you
the wonderful news that all three have resumed eating because they
achieved a victory. The prison authorities have provided, in writing,
a set of conditions that virtually meets the demands set out by
Bomani Shakur in his letter to Warden Bobby, provided elsewhere on this site.

The hunger strikers send you all thanks for your support and state
that they couldn't have won their demands without support from people
from around the world. But they add to their statement the following:
this time they were fighting about their conditions of confinement
but now they begin the fight for their lives. They were wrongfully
convicted of complicity in 1993 murders in Lucasville prison and have
faced retribution because they refused to provide snitch testimony
against others who actually committed those murders. Now, because of
Ohio's (and other states') application of the death penalty, they
still face execution at a future date. Ohio is today exceeded only by
Texas in its enthusiasm for applying the death penalty. We need to
take some of this energy that was created around the hunger strike to
help these men fight for their lives.

So, we may celebrate a great victory for now. Common sense has
prevailed in a dark place where there appeared to be no light. But
watch this space for further news on their ongoing campaign.

I hope to share a copy of the Ohio prison authorities' written
statement that ended this hunger strike in a short time.

As Bomani has told me many times,
It ain't over...

LUCASVILLE HUNGER STRIKERS RALLY & PRESS CONFERENCE 1/15/11 12:45PM YOUNGSTOWN OHIO SUPERMAX!

Saturday, January 15
Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network

12:45 - gather for rally and press conference at Ohio State Penitentiary in
Youngstown.

We will have reports from visits with the hunger strikers, messages from the
prisoners, solidarity statements, and more. If enough of us gather with enough
signs and banners, we can be seen from the prisoners' windows. So come on down!
Bring your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, your fellow students, and your
whole family. To arrange for car pooling, email lucasvillefreedom@gmail.com

Hunger Strike by Prisoners
Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Bomani Shakur (Keith LaMar), Jason Robb and Namir Mateen
(James Were) started a hunger strike Jan. 3 to protest their 23-hour a day lock down
for nearly 18 years. These four death-sentenced prisoners, convicted on perjured
testimony, have been single-celled (in solitary) in conditions of confinement
significantly more severe than the conditions experienced by the approximately 125
other death-sentenced prisoners at the supermax prison, Ohio State Penitentiary in
Youngstown. They are completely isolated from any direct human contact, even during
"recreation".


See the facebook page set up by dedicated activists Professor Denis O'Hearn and
attorney Staughton Lynd:



Become a friend of the facebook site and urge all your facebook friends to do the
same. As we get updates during the hunger strike, they will be posted on the
facebook page and tweeted by twitter. So get involved and spread the word.

You recall the Bomani Shakur is to be the first to start the hunger strike tomorrow,
and I'm sure our thoughts and best wishes are with him. I have attached his
beautiful statement explaining why he is going on the hunger strike: in essence, the
conditions under which they have been held amount to torture and enough is enough!

For those of you who wish to send him cards, letters and other messages of support,
be sure to include his "convicted as" name: Keith LaMar, and his prisoner number:
317-117. The address for all four prisoners is: Ohio State Penitentiary, 878
Coitsville-Hubbard Rd., Youngstown, OH 44505-4635. You can also send the prisoners
email through the JPay-Ohio system once you set up an account. It will cost you
25-30 cents per page of email, depending how many virtual "stamps" you purchase at
once.

Siddique Abdullah Hasan will join the hunger strike second, probably after three
days. His "convicted as" name is Carlos Sanders and his prisoner number is
R130-559. Next will be Jason Robb whose prisoner number is 308-919. And finally,
Namir Abdul Mateen will join, to the extent that his health will allow. His
"convicted as" name is James Were and his prisoner number is 173-245. We wish them
all victory and good health.

Messages of solidarity and support are of course welcome. Please contact
lucasvillefreedom@gmail.com
for the

Lucasville - Letter from Bomani to the Warden

From Facebook Denis O'Hearn
Jan 6, 2011

in In Solidarity with the Lucasville Uprising Prisoners on Hunger Strike.

LETTER FROM BOMANI SHAKUR TO WARDEN BOBBY

Friends,
Just back from a long drive through lake-effect snow.
I don't recommend it!

I am including (below) a letter that Bomani
Shakur wrote to Warden Bobby of OSP on the
commencement of his hunger strike. It is
important because it sets out the specific
demands of the hunger strikers, and you can refer
to these in your letters, emails, etc. to Warden
Bobby, Director of DRC Moore, and Chief Eleby of
Bureau of Classification, whose contact details
are at the end of this communication.

A few words of clarification. The real power lies
with Gary Moore, who was just appointed Director
of DRC by the new governor of Ohio (who starts
office tomorrow). Moore has a long record in the
prison service but is best known as Ohio's
foremost proponent of prison privatization.
Pressure on the warden and bureau chief are
important, but most people believe that the four
hunger strikers have been kept in isolation for
the past 12 years since OSP was built because
successive DRC Directors have wished it so. I am
sure many of you will have issues with Gary
Moore's privatization agenda but perhaps for this
reason he will want to avoid a big hunger strike
ruckus just when he is trying to get his agenda
going. In short, no better time to pile on the
pressure with letters, emails, etc.

Jason Robb made a few points in our visit today
that are worth repeating. The four were brought
into the new OSP supermax when it was opened in
1998. Soon, there were some five hundred others
in the facility (they built all those beds, now
they had to fill them). Of the five hundred, only
four – the four men now on hunger strike – are
still in supermax. Others have gone to reduced
security prisons (general population); some have
gone home; some have even gone home, reoffended,
come back to supermax, and worked their way again
to lower security. Yet only these four remain as
original supermax prisoners.

The men are told that they will remain
permanently in isolation until they are executed
because their original offense that led to their
committal to supermax means that they "pose a
threat to the safety and security of the Ohio
prison system." Yet their behavior has been very
good and they have never caused disruption to
OSP. By refusing them contact with other
prisoners, such as conjugate recreation, the
authorities give them no way of proving that they
are not a threat to the system.

Finally, I spoke with several legal experts over
the past week and they believe that by keeping
these men in isolation OSP is violating THREE
amendments on the US Constitution, so proudly
read aloud by the new Congress today. The lack of
meaningful review of their security placement
violates the Fifth Amendment right to due
process. The lack of access to legal resources
violates the Sixth Amendment right to meaningful
access to the courts. Long term isolation
violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition of
cruel and unusual punishment.

****

Letter from Keith Lamar (Bomani Shakur) to Warden
Bobby of Ohio State Penitentiary
3 January 2011

Warden Bobby,

I'm writing to inform you that I am henceforth on
a hunger strike. After twelve years of what can
only be described as a double penalty, I am
respectfully requesting that you cease this
tortuous predicament that I am in. As a
death-sentenced prisoner, I should be allowed the
very same privileges as other similarly sentenced
prisoners, and this is all I am asking, nothing
more or less. Therefore, in spite of what your
personal feelings are, I hereby appeal to your
sense of professionalism and ask that you
seriously consider the following demands:

1. Full recreation privileges.
2. Full commissary privileges.
3. Full access to Access SecurePac catalog.
4. Semi-contact visits.
5. Access to computer database so that I can
assist in the furtherance of my appeals.

These things are presently being offered to all
death-sentenced prisoners and, again, I hereby
respectfully request that I be granted the same.
As you know, my appeals are fast approaching
resolution, moving me closer and closer to a day
of reckoning. Please allow me the opportunity to
pursue whatever my end will be with the same
level of dignity and respect that other similarly
situated prisoners enjoy. You have this within
your power to permit, and I ask that instead of
abusing your power that you use it justly, and soon. . .

Sincerely,
Keith LaMar

****

Contact details:

Gary Moore, Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
770 West Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43222
614-752-1159 or email
DRC.publicinfo@odrc.
William A. Eleby, Chief, Bureau of Classification
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
770 West Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43222
614-752-1106 or email
DRC.publicinfo@odrc.

David Bobby
Warden, Ohio State Penitentiary
878 Coitsville-Hubbard Road
Youngstown, OH 44505-4635
330-743-0700 or fax 330-743-0841 or email
JoAnn.King@odrc.

Lucasville update - Just back from the prison

From Facebook Denis O'Hearn 12:19pm Jan 6

Just back from the prison visiting Jason Robb. Saw Bomani Shakur
yesterday. Spent five hours with each and the conversation never
flagged. They are both in good spirits and very lifted by the public
response to their action. They have posted signs on their doors:
"Hunger Strike: No Trays". Last night the doctor came by and weighed
Bomani and took a blood sample since he'd refused nine meals and was
officially considered to be on hunger strike. He's 205llb. Jason got
the doctor to weigh him a couple of days ago and he is 216llb. He
becomes "official" tomorrow morning. I'll be sharing more of what was
said with both guys later, but am back on the long road home to New
York. Soon we'll post some addresses to write them and keep up their
spirits, and also some addresses of important officials who we should
also write to "keep up their spirits." Jason thinks flooding these
guys with emails, phone calls, faxes, is the most important thing we
can do right now.

Siddique Abdullah Hasan and Jason Robb have started their hunger strike

http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2011/01/05/mlkflyer2011.pdf

Dear family, friends and supporters of the Lucasville uprising prisoners,

I am not aware of all of the factors that went into their decisions,
but I have been informed that rather than waiting as previously
planned, Hasan and Jason Robb have joined the hunger strike. I
received a letter from Hasan today stating that the warden and deputy
warden of OSP were questioning him about his plans to go on the
hunger strike based on information they had gleaned from the
internet, and that may have influenced their decisions. I think the
tremendous outpouring of support from all corners of the globe and
all across this country has strengthened their resolve. There has
also been phenomenal media interest with an op-ed piece by Denis
O'Hearn in the Youngstown Vindicator, interviews of Staughton Lynd by
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now and by KPFA, and an interview of Denis
O'Hearn by WBAI. Both Denis and Staughton are frequent visitors of
the prisoners. Denis wrote the biography of Irish hunger striker
Bobby Sands entitled, "Nothing But an Unfinished Song." Staughton
wrote the definitive book on the 1993 rebellion entitled,
"Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising." He and his wife
Alice were the attorneys in a class action lawsuit against OSP.

Please keep putting the word out about the rally at the entrance
gates to OSP in Youngstown at 1:00 on Saturday, Jan.15, Dr.  Martin
Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. We are trying to coordinate car pools
and a car caravan from Cleveland. The 7-person van is filling up
fast. We need other people with cars who know they are going to this
rally and who have space in their car to contact us because lots of
people need rides.

Contact lucasvillefreedom@gmail.com or call 216-571-2518.

Send the attached flyer around to everyone you think might be
interested and print it out and post it in coffee shops, barber
shops, laudromats, libraries, supermarkets, you name it. Buy poster
board and markers and start making signs. If we have enough signs and
banners, the prisoners will be able to see us from their windows and
they will be so thrilled. Carloads of supporters are planning to
drive in from other states. Let's show them what Ohio activists can do!

Let's mobilize and make it big!

Sharon Danann
for the Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network

Siddique Abdullah Hasan and Jason Robb have started their hunger strike

Ohio - On hunger strike, to be on death row

Monday, January 3, 2011 Facebook.com

By Denis O’Hearn

Special to The Vindicator

Why would anyone want to go on death row?

A federal judge from Ohio once asked that question. To be specific, he asked, “Why would anyone rather be on death row than at Ohio State Penitentiary?”

Why, indeed!

I’ve been asking myself that question since I began visiting OSP Youngstown a few years ago.

Now, the death-sentenced prisoners I visit are so desperate that they are going on hunger strike, essentially for the right to be on death row. The four hunger strikers participated in the 1993 prison rebellion in Lucasville and at least some of them saved lives by acting as negotiators with the authorities. In return, they were deemed to be prison leaders and received the death penalty for murders committed during the uprising. The evidence against them was largely testimonies of other prisoners who actually committed the murders.

Let’s leave aside the question of whether these men were guilty or, if so, whether they deserve to be executed. The question at hand is, why were they sentenced to death, yet the state of Ohio refuses to put them on death row?

The fact is that there are worse places than death row. Let me explain.

After Lucasville, the state of Ohio decided that a maximum security prison was not secure enough. They built a supermax prison, OSP Youngstown. Once they built it, they had to fill it. Today, a hundred prisoners there are kept in 23-hour lockup in a hermetically sealed environment wherein they have almost no direct contact with other living beings — human, animal, or plant. Even “outdoor” recreation is in a small enclosure with a concrete floor and walls so high that a person can see out only through the grilled ceiling overhead.

Strange group

The system keeps its worst retribution for the four hunger-striking men for whom it built OSP: Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Keith Lamar, Namir Abdul Mateen, and Jason Robb. They are a strange group of prisoners. Two are Sunni Muslim. One an unaffiliated African-American. The fourth an Aryan Brother. Contrary to what we might expect, they are friends and even “best friends”. This is not supposed to happen between an Aryan Brother and an Afro-American.

Perhaps this is why prison authorities have written to them that, despite a cursory annual review of their cases, “You were admitted to OSP in May of 1998. We are of the opinion that your placement offense is so severe that you should remain at the OSP permanently or for many years regardless of your behavior while confined at the OSP.”

The lack of a reasonable review violates the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution. It also violates the explicit instruction of the Supreme Court of the United States in Austin v. Wilkinson. Moreover, keeping men in supermax isolation for long periods clearly violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

What does this mean in real terms?

Keith Lamar, who I call by his preferred name Bomani Shakur, may be closer to me than any man on earth. I tell him things about me that no one else knows. He does the same with me. I visit him each month and when we are allowed I spend five hours with him Saturday and another five on Sunday. I love him like a brother. He is a brother to me.

Yet I have never touched Bomani, much less hugged him. One day I asked him how long it had been since he touched a tree. After he stopped laughing, he turned serious. It had been over 15 years.

Bomani told me a story about “outside exercise.” One day a leaf fell through the grille to the concrete floor below. He picked it up, hid it, and took it back to his cell. There he enjoyed this dying bit of life until a guard took it away.

Sealing men off from contact with nature, including other humans, is the cruelest punishment I can imagine.

So what would these men have if they were on death row?

On my visits to OSP I have to shout through a wall of bullet-proof glass at a man who is shackled in a small visiting cubicle. A few feet away, a man from death row sits in a booth with a small hole cut from the glass. He can hold his mother’s hand. With a little effort, despite his shackles, he can kiss a niece or grandchild. He does not have to shout to hold a conversation.

Regrets

This may not move you but consider why these men are in prison to begin with. Last year, I taught a course where my students corresponded with supermax prisoners across the US. The men wrote autobiographies. None of them pleaded innocence or for pardon; they regretted what they had done. They had one thing in common: childhoods where they were deprived of love and human contact.

If deprivation of human contact is what led these men into lives where they committed horrific deeds, why do we punish them by intensifying that deprivation? Why not give them the one thing that could have brought them from the brink in the first place: a little bit of loving, human contact? A clasp of a loving hand from time to time. The chance to show that they can be better men than they were. None of us can be hurt by this small mercy. And knowing some of these men and their capacity to contribute to society, even if their society is just a prison, we may have a lot to gain.

Denis O’Hearn is Professor of Sociology at Binghamton University — SUNY. His book, “Nothing But an Unfinished Song,” is a biography of the Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands.

Statement by Bomani Shakur of the Lucasville Uprising death sentenced prisoners

Four prisoners unjustly sentenced to death for
the Lucasville (OH) prison uprising are going on
hunger strike beginning today, to demand that
they be placed on Death Row rather than be held
in solitary confinement (and to initiate a
campaign that will hopefully lead to executive
clemency). Here, the first of the prisoners to
begin the strike speaks out:

If We Must Die

Before I speak my piece, let me make one thing
perfectly clear: I don’t want to die. I want to
live and breathe and strive to do something
righteous with my life. Truly. For the past
sixteen years, however, I’ve been in solitary
confinement, confined to a cell 23 hours a day
for something I didn’t do, and, speaking
honestly, I have gone as far as I am willing to
go. Am I giving up? No. This is a protest, the
only non-violent way I can think of to express
the deep disdain I have for the unjust situation
that I am in. Make no mistake: my physical and
mental strength is intact. However, to continue
on in this way would be to lend legitimacy to a
process that is both fraudulent and vindictive;
this I am no longer willing to do.

I realize that for some of you the thought that
an innocent man could be sent to prison and
ultimately executed is inconceivable. But it
happens. In a system that’s based more on
competition than on the equitable treatment of
others, the football field is not the only place
where participants are encouraged to win at any
cost. Hence, in order to be victorious, some
prosecutors hide evidence, lie in open court, and
even pay for the perjured testimony of their
witnesses. And this is exactly what happened in
my case (and in the majority of cases stemming
from the 1993 prison uprising at the Southern
Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio);
and there are a few people among you who have
reviewed the file and know this to be the truth.

But let us for the moment put aside the question
of my guilt or innocence, because that, believe
it or not, is not what this is about. On that
score, we have written several books, produced a
play, and are putting the final touches on a
full-scale documentary to illustrate the travesty
of justice that has taken place here; and these
things are available to you if you are
interested. For now, I want to talk about dying…

In all that is presently unclear, one thing is
certain: I have been sentenced to death, which,
as you know, is the severest penalty known to
man. Typically, when one has been given the death
penalty, one is placed alongside other
similarly-sentenced prisoners and they, together,
are housed in an area that has been designated as
Death Row. As living situations go, this is a
very bleak and miserable place: men are sent here
to die, to be killed by the state. No one in
their right mind would ask to be sent here; and
yet, this is precisely what I am asking, which
should give you an indication of just how
insufferable the situation I am living under is.
And I am not alone…

When the uprising was over, and all was said and
done, five of us were singled out as leaders and
sentenced to death. Jason Robb, James Were (or
Namir, as he prefers to be called), Siddique
Abdullah Hasan, George Skatzes, and myself. With
the exception of George Skatzes, who for the past
ten years has been in a less pressurized ­ though
by no means acceptable situation, we have
undergone penalty on top of penalty, been kept
from fully participating in our appeals, from
touching our friends and families, denied
adequate medical treatment, and so many other
things that are too numerous to name. In a word,
we have been tortured. And yes, I am aware that
the word “tortured” is a strong word to use, but
I know of no other word that adequately describes
what we have been through. We have been put through hell.

A few months ago, a Federal judge recommended
that my case be dismissed, which effectively
moved me one step closer to being executed. It’s
hard to explain how this made me feel; but upon
hearing the news I immediately thought that a
mistake had been made and that my attorneys had
somehow misunderstood the judge’s ruling. As it
turns out, I was the one who misunderstood.
Indeed, I have been “misunderstanding” things all
along. When I was first named as a suspect in
riot-related crimes, I was certain that my name
would eventually be cleared. Instead, I received
a nine-count murder indictment with death-penalty
specifications. I was shocked. And then they
offered me a deal: “Cop out to murder and we'll
forget the whole thing,” they told me. “But I’m
innocent,” I said, thinking to myself that the
truth of this would somehow set me free. And so,
with the trust and faith of a fool, I went to
trial, thinking and believing that I would
receive a fair one (I didn’t) and that I would
ultimately be exonerated (I wasn’t). And then,
when I was sentenced to death, it was my
understanding that I would be placed on Death Row
and allowed to pursue my appeals alongside other
similarly-sentenced prisoners; but, again, I
misunderstood…”Just wait until you get to Federal
Court,” I was told, “and you'll definitely get
some relief there.” So I waited…I waited for sixteen years!

If justice as a concept is real, then I could
with some justification say, “justice delayed is
justice denied.” But this has never been about
justice, and I finally, finally, finally
understand that. For the past sixteen years, I
(we) have been nothing more than a scapegoat for
the state, and convenient excuse that they can
point to whenever they need to raise the specter
of fear among the public or justify the
expenditure of inordinate amounts of money for
more locks and chains. And not only that, but the
main reason behind the double penalty that we
have been undergoing is so that we can serve as
an example of what happens to those who challenge
the power and authority of the state. And like
good little pawns we’re supposed to sit here and
wait until they take us to their death chamber,
strap us down to a gurney, and pump poison
through our veins. Fuck that! I refuse to go out
like that: used as a tool by the state to put
fear into the hearts of others while legitimizing
a system that is bogus and sold to those with money.
That’s not my destiny.

At the beginning of this I wanted to make it
perfectly clear that I didn’t want to die, and I
don’t. Life is a beautiful thing, especially when
one is conscious and aware of the value of one’s
life. Sadly, it took going through this process
for me to wake up and finally understand the
value of my life. I say “wake up” because,
unbeknownst to me I had been asleep all this
time, oblivious to the reality of my situation
and unaware that the only way for one to stop
dreaming (and gain control over things) is for
one to open one’s eyes. My eyes are open now.

Is it too late? I don’t know. As I said, the
books have been written, the play has been
performed, and, pretty soon, the documentary will
be completed. But what good are these things if
they never enter into the stream of public
opinion and force the governor (who answers to
the public) to issue a general amnesty?
Admittedly, convincing the governor to bend in
our favor will be a difficult undertaking, one
that will require huge amounts of energy and
effort on our behalf. But it can be done; at the
very least, it can be attempted. In the meantime,
we who have been sentenced to death must be
granted the exact same privileges as other
death-sentenced prisoners. If we must die, we
should be allowed to do so with dignity, which is
all we’re asking: the opportunity to pursue our
appeals unimpeded, to be able to touch our
friends and family, and to no longer be treated
as playthings but as human beings who are facing
the ultimate penalty.

Again, I stress that fact that I do not want to
die, but in the words of Claude McKay, I share
the following as my parting sentiments:

If we must die, let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

If we must die, O, let us nobly die,

So that our precious blood may not be shed

In vain; then even the monsters we defy

Shall be constrained to honor us through deed!

O kinsmen! We must meet the common foe!

Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,

And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!

What though before us lies the open grave?

Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

Bomani Shakur
December 2010

The four hunger strikers are all at the Ohio State Penitentiary:
Siddique Abdullah Hasan (Carlos Sanders)          R130-559
Namir Abdul Mateen (James Were)                      A173-245
Bomani Shakur (Keith Lamar)                              317-117
Jason Robb                                                            A308919

Ohio State Penitentiary
878 Coitsville-Hubbard Road
Youngstown, OH 44505

Staughton Lynd and Alice Lynd, attorneys and
activists, have been active in the movement for
justice for the Lucasville Five.  A current
article from Staughton's ZSpace page:
http://www.zcommunications.org/hunger-strike-at-ohio-state-penitentiary-by-staughton-lynd
This the facebook page for support of the
strikers, which I got from Sharon Danann of the
Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network in Cleveland:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_167034766673281

Petition & other ways to support Lucasville prisoners

PETITION Link:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ohiosupermaxhungerstrike/

From: Immigrant Support Network
mailto:truth_force@yahoo.com  truth_force

Sun Jan 2, 2011

Dear family, friends and supporters of the Lucasville uprising prisoners,

Mark your calendars to come to OSP in Youngstown on Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.'s birthday, Saturday, Jan.15, for a rally and press
conference.  Gather at 12:45, rally and press conference at
1:00.  Park in the parking lot of the small church next to the
entrance gate to OSP (see address underlined below).  We will have
reports from visits with the hunger strikers, messages from the
prisoners, solidarity statements, and more.  If enough of us gather
with enough signs and banners, we can be seen from the prisoners'
windows.  So come on down!  Bring your friends, your neighbors, your
co-workers, your fellow students, and your whole family.   To arrange
for car pooling, email
mailto:lucasvillefreedom@gmail.com>lucasvillefreedom@gmail.com

By now some of you may have seen commentary about the upcoming hunger
strike at Ohio State Penitentiary - much of it reprints of my last
email to you! - as well as many important contributions by attorney
Staughton Lynd and professor Denis O'Hearn, both of whom are tireless
advocates on behalf of this group of prisoners.  The internet age is
a beautiful thing so I want first of all for you to know about the
facebook page set up by dedicated activists working with Professor
O'Hearn.  Hopefully I have provided the link correctly below:

facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_167034766673281

Become a friend of the facebook site and urge all your facebook
friends to do the same.  As we get updates during the hunger strike,
they will be posted on the facebook page and tweeted by twitter.  So
get involved and spread the word.

You recall the Bomani Shakur is to be the first to start the hunger
strike tomorrow, and I'm sure our thoughts and best wishes are with
him.  I have attached his beautiful statement explaining why he is
going on the hunger strike: in essence, the conditions under which
they have been held amount to torture and enough is enough!

For those of you who wish to send him cards, letters and other
messages of support, be sure to include his "convicted as" name:
Keith LaMar, and his prisoner number: 317-117.  The address for all
four prisoners is: Ohio State Penitentiary, 878 Coitsville-Hubbard
Rd., Youngstown, OH 44505-4635.  You can also send the prisoners
email through the JPay-Ohio system once you set up an account.  It
will cost you 25-30 cents per page of email, depending how many
virtual "stamps" you purchase at once.

Siddique Abdullah Hasan will join the hunger strike second, probably
after three days.  His "convicted as" name is Carlos Sanders and his
prisoner number is R130-559.  Next will be Jason Robb whose prisoner
number is 308-919.  And finally, Namir Abdul Mateen will join, to the
extent that his health will allow.  His "convicted as" name is James
Were and his prisoner number is 173-245.  We wish them all victory
and good health.

Messages of solidarity and support are of course welcome.  In
addition, we should be deluging certain officials with our support
for the prisoners' demands, which are, very simply, that they be
treated like other Death Row prisoners and be afforded the same tiny
privileges to the other prisoners held in OSP who are also sentenced
to die, such as physical contact with loved ones.  Fair and just
annual reviews that took into account these prisoners' 12 years of
good behavior would have resulted in recommendations of removal from
the highly restrictive "level 5" solitary confinement they have been
subjected to for no reason other than vindictive need for punishment
- for crimes they did not commit, folks, don't forget that!  This is
inhumane, this is unconstitutional, this is illegal, this is
deplorable, this is an international disgrace  - and it must
stop.  Please contact the following people to speak your mind:

OSP Warden David Bobby, 330-743-0700 or fax 330-743-0841 or email
mailto:JoAnn.King@odrc.state.oh.us
ODRC Director Ernie Moore,614-752-1159 (couldn't find fax) or email
mailto:DRC.publicinfo@odrc.state.oh.us

People from Cleveland, please contact state Senator Shirley Smith,
who is on the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee,
614-466-4857 or email
mailto:SD21@maild.sen.state.oh.us


The facebook page will direct you to an electronic petition.  Other
initiative are in the works.  If you have ideas, suggestions and
information, please post them.  There are people working on this
cause literally around the world.  But we need to build the strength
of support for the very modest demands of the hunger strikers and
ensure a swift victory.  So get the word out to all interested
organizations and individuals.  Now is the time for not only a
nationwide prisoner support movement, but an international prisoner
support movement.  Let's make it happen!

Sharon Danann

for the Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network

OPEN LETTER OPPOSING THE CONTINUED ISOLATION OF FOUR MEN ON HUNGER STRIKE AT OHIO STATE PENITENTIARY

We the undersigned call for an end to isolated “supermax” imprisonment in Ohio State Penitentiary. We are especially concerned about the cases of Siddique Abdullah Hasan (Carlos Sanders); Bomani Shakur (Keith LaMar); Jason Robb; and Namir Abdul Mateen (James Were), who are on hunger strike in protest against their conditions of confinement. We understand that they have taken this course of action out of total frustration with their hopeless situation at OSP.

These men have been kept in isolation continuously since they were sentenced to death for their alleged roles in the 11-day rebellion at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) in Lucasville, Ohio in April 1993. Hasan and Robb were two of the three men who negotiated a peaceful surrender in that rebellion and their actions undoubtedly saved lives.

Throughout their more than seventeen years of solitary confinement, these four men have been subjected to harsher conditions than the more than 150 other men sentenced to death in Ohio. The conditions under which they are confined prevent them from ever being in the same space as another prisoner. Judge James Gwin of federal district court noted with amazement during the trial of the prisoners’ class action, Austin v. Wilkinson, that death-sentenced prisoners at the highest security level in the Ohio State Penitentiary wanted to be returned to Death Row!

The four have suffered “Level 5” top security isolation since OSP was opened in 1998. This essentially means that they live in 23-hour lockup in a hermetically sealed environment where they have almost no contact with other living beings – human, animal, or plant. When released from their cells for short periods of “recreation” they continue to be isolated from others. During occasional visits, a wall of bullet-proof glass separates them from their visitors. They remain shackled, despite the fact that they could do no harm in these secure spaces. A few booths away, condemned men from death row sit in cubicles where a small hole is cut from the security glass between them and their visitors. They can hold their mother's hand. With a little effort, they can kiss a niece or a grandchild. They do not have to shout to hold a conversation.

Hasan, LaMar, Robb, and Were experience annual “security reviews” but their outcome is predetermined. The prison authorities have told them, in writing:
“You were admitted to OSP in May of 1998. We are of the opinion that your placement offense is so severe that you should remain at the OSP permanently or for many years regardless of your behavior while confined at the OSP.”

The lack of a meaningful review violates the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution. Keeping men in supermax isolation for long periods clearly violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. Moreover, the emphasized words above directly violate the explicit instruction of the Supreme Court of the United States in Wilkinson v. Austin.

These men are being held in solitary confinement permanently, until they are put to death by Ohio or their convictions reversed. This not simply long-term solitary confinement, but in essence permanent solitary confinement.

Other prisoners sentenced to death for alleged crimes comparable to or worse than those for which Hasan, LaMar, Robb, and Were were found guilty have been moved off of Level 5: to Death Row, to Level 4 at OSP, and out of OSP entirely. One of the four Lucasville defendants asks, “Must I have a mental breakdown in order to get off Level 5?”

We demand that the Ohio prison authorities remove these four men from Level 5 “supermax” security and that they end the cruel practice of long-term isolated confinement.

Sing the Petition here

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ohiosupermaxhungerstrike/

Lucasville Five Hunger Strike Begins --An interview with author Staughton Lynd

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Lucasville Five Hunger Strike Begins

--An interview with author Staughton Lynd

By Angola 3 News

January 3, 2011

In 1993, the maximum security Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio was the site of an historic prisoner rebellion, where more than 400 prisoners seized and controlled a major area of the prison for eleven days. Nine prisoners alleged to have been informants and one hostage correctional officer named Robert Vallandingham, were murdered. Following a negotiated surrender, five key figures in the rebellion were tried and sentenced to death. Known since as the Lucasville Five, they are Namir Abdul Mateen (James Were), Siddique Abdullah Hasan (Carlos Sanders), Bomani Hando Shakur (Keith Lamar), George Skatzes and Jason Robb.

The Lucasville Five are now back in the news with an announcement last week that four of the five will be participating in a simultaneous “rolling hunger strike,” beginning today, January 3. They are using the hunger strike to protest their convictions (having always maintained their innocence) as well as their living situation, which is more restrictive than for most prisoners on Ohio’s death row. The statement issued by the Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network explains that “the hunger strike will proceed in an organized manner, with one prisoner, probably Bomani Shakur starting on Jan.3. The hunger strike becomes official after he has refused 9 meals. Therefore the plan is that 3 days later, Siddiquie Abdullah Hasan will start his hunger strike and 3 days later, Jason Robb will follow. Namir Mateen has a great willingness to participate and plans to take part to the extent that his diabetes will allow.”

Staughton Lynd is the author of the 2004 book, Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising, which asserts that the Lucasville Five are innocent men, who were framed by the State of Ohio. In a review of Lucasville, the news website, Solidarity, concludes that “Lynd presents sufficient evidence and argumentation to cast more than reasonable doubt on the convictions of the Lucasville Five.” The book’s “immediate agenda is to mobilize public opinion to achieve amnesty for the Lucasville Five. In the 1970s, the governor of New York was compelled to grant amnesty to the Attica rebels based upon revelations of state malfeasance. Lynd contends the Lucasville Five’s death sentences should be wiped clean on the same grounds.”

In the foreword to the upcoming second edition of Lucasville, being released by PM Press in February, death row journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal writes that the Lucasville Five "sought to minimize violence, and indeed, according to substantial evidence, saved the lives of several men, prisoner and guard alike…they rose above their status as prisoners, and became, for a few days in April 1993, what rebels in Attica had demanded a generation before them: men. As such, they did not betray each other; they did not dishonor each other; they reached beyond their prison ‘tribes’ to reach commonality."

Angola 3 News: Can you please give us some historical background on the 1993 uprising and the subsequent convictions of the Lucasville Five?

Staughton Lynd: There were revolts at the old Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus in the late 1960s. The state government decided to build a new maximum security prison in a town called Lucasville, just north of the Ohio River separating Ohio and Kentucky.

The new prison housed between 1,500 and 2,000 prisoners. More than half the prisoners at the new Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) were African Americans from cities like Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown. Lucasville was all white and inevitably, most of the correctional officers at the new prison were Caucasian.

'Luke' developed a well-deserved reputation for violence. There was a horrible incident in 1990 when, in a sequence of events that remains ambiguous, a black prisoner followed a white teacher into a women's restroom. White guards broke down the door to the restroom and, as they did so, the prisoner cut the teacher's throat.

The State sent in a new warden who instituted 'Operation Shakedown.' Prisoners were allowed one short telephone call a year, at Christmastime.

In April 1993 the new warden proposed to test all prisoners for TB by means of an injection. More than fifty Muslim prisoners protested. They said the injection would contain phenol, a form of alcohol; that this was forbidden by their religion; and that there were alternative means of testing for TB, by sputum or X ray. Warden Tate said it would be done his way, by injection, beginning Monday, April 12.

On April 11, Easter Sunday, prisoners returning from the recreation yard occupied one large housing block, L side. Guards were overpowered. Persons severely injured in the takeover, both guards and prisoners believed to be snitches, were carried out to the yard. Eight officers were held as hostages. In the course of an 11-day standoff, nine prisoners and one hostage guard were murdered. There was a negotiated surrender.

A3N: Why was this story so important to you that you decided to write a book about it?

SL: In 1996 my wife and I became aware that as a result of the Lucasville uprising, a new maximum security prison called the Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) was being built in Youngstown. We organized a community forum at which one of the speakers was Jackie Bowers, sister of one of five prisoners condemned to death after the surrender. We met her brother, George Skatzes (pronounced 'skates.') His lawyer told us that we could best help by investigating facts not presented at trial and we have been doing that ever since.

The importance of the story is that the five men sentenced to death are three blacks and two whites. Two of the three blacks, Siddique Abdullah Hasan and Namir Abdul Mateen, are Muslims. At the time of the rebellion the two whites were members of the Aryan Brotherhood. One is still an AB leader although Skatzes has withdrawn. These five men have acted in solidarity during their almost eighteen years of solitary confinement. They have refused to 'snitch' on each other.

A3N: What facts do you cite for arguing that the State of Ohio deliberately framed innocent men?

SL: My allegation that the State of Ohio has deliberately framed innocent men is presented in a book, Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising (Temple University Press, 2004), a second edition of which will be published in 2011 with a Foreword by Mumia Abu Jamal, and in a law review article, "Napue Nightmares: Perjured Testimony in Trials Following the Lucasville, Ohio, Prison Uprising," Capital University Law Review., v. 36, No. 3 (Spring 2008) The key fact is that the State made it clear early on that they wanted to put the alleged leaders of the disturbance to death, and built cases against the Five almost wholly on the basis of testimony by prisoners who, in exchange for their testimony, received benefits such as early parole.

A3N: Why you believe the trial itself was unfair?

SL: The trials were unfair for a variety of reasons, but the two basic facts were: 1) the Five were tried before so-called 'death-qualified' juries, that is, juries from which persons opposed to the death penalty were excluded; and 2) the prosecution's evidence, as I indicated earlier, came almost entirely from prisoner informants in exchange for bargained-for benefits like parole.

A3N: How has your 2004 book been received?

SL: My book was banned from all Ohio prisons and it provoked a good deal of discussion in Ohio. In 2007, a play based on the book was presented in seven Ohio cities. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed friend of the court briefs, based on the book, in the trials of Skatzes and Hasan.

A3N: Can you please tell us more about the hunger strike? How do prison officials publicly justify these conditions that are being challenged?

SL: As to the goals of the hunger strike, I refer the reader to Keith LaMar's statement. LaMar emphasizes that he understands the prison system's concern for security, but, he insists, a 'privilege" such as the opportunity to touch a parent or other relative does not threaten security. The more than 150 other death-sentenced prisoners in Ohio enjoy such privileges. On the other hand, the Lucasville Five are held alone in their small cells 23 hours a day, and when released for an hour of so-called recreation cannot be in the same space as any other human being.

A3N: Can you please explain why George Skatzes is not currently housed alongside the other four members of the Lucasville Five and how his conditions differ from the others?

SL: George Skatzes was transferred to OSP when it opened in 1998 along with the other members of the Lucasville Five. He was transferred out two years later because the authorities feared that he was so depressed that he might commit suicide. He is held with about thirty other death-sentenced prisoners considered seriously mentally ill at the Mansfield Correctional Institution, north of Columbus.

A3N: How can our readers best help to support the upcoming hunger strike?

SL: Readers can help by contacting Professor Jules Lobel, vice president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, jll4@pitt.edu, and Professor Denis O'Hearn, director of graduate studies in sociology at the State University of New York, Binghamton, denisohearn@googlemail.com They are circulating a statement of support nationally and internationally.

--Angola 3 News is a project of the International Coalition to Free the Angola 3. Our website is www.angola3news.com where we provide the latest news about the Angola 3. We are also creating our own media projects, which spotlight the issues central to the story of the Angola 3, like racism, repression, prisons, human rights, solitary confinement as torture, and more.

Lucasville uprising prisoner hunger strike starts tomorrow - rally, Jan. 15 at OSP at 1:00 pm

Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2011
From: pfcenter@gmail.com


Dear family, friends and supporters of the Lucasville uprising prisoners,

Mark your calendars to come to OSP in Youngstown on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s
birthday, Saturday, Jan.15, for a rally and press conference.  Gather at 12:45,
rally and press conference at 1:00.  Park in the parking lot of the small church
next to the entrance gate to OSP (see address underlined below).  We will have
reports from visits with the hunger strikers, messages from the prisoners,
solidarity statements, and more.  If enough of us gather with enough signs and
banners, we can be seen from the prisoners' windows.  So come on down!  Bring your
friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, your fellow students, and your whole
family.   To arrange for car pooling, email lucasvillefreedom@gmail.com

By now some of you may have seen commentary about the upcoming hunger strike at Ohio
State Penitentiary - much of it reprints of my last email to you! - as well as many
important contributions by attorney Staughton Lynd and professor Denis O'Hearn, both
of whom are tireless advocates on behalf of this group of prisoners.  The internet
age is a beautiful thing so I want first of all for you to know about the facebook
page set up by dedicated activists working with Professor O'Hearn.  Hopefully I have
provided the link correctly below:

facebook page http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_167034766673281

Become a friend of the facebook site and urge all your facebook friends to do the
same.  As we get updates during the hunger strike, they will be posted on the
facebook page and tweeted by twitter.  So get involved and spread the word.

You recall the Bomani Shakur is to be the first to start the hunger strike tomorrow,
and I'm sure our thoughts and best wishes are with him.  I have attached his
beautiful statement explaining why he is going on the hunger strike: in essence, the
conditions under which they have been held amount to torture and enough is enough!

For those of you who wish to send him cards, letters and other messages of support,
be sure to include his "convicted as" name: Keith LaMar, and his prisoner number:
317-117.  The address for all four prisoners is: Ohio State Penitentiary, 878
Coitsville-Hubbard Rd., Youngstown, OH 44505-4635.  You can also send the prisoners
email through the JPay-Ohio system once you set up an account.  It will cost you
25-30 cents per page of email, depending how many virtual "stamps" you purchase at
once.

Siddique Abdullah Hasan will join the hunger strike second, probably after three
days.  His "convicted as" name is Carlos Sanders and his prisoner number is
R130-559.  Next will be Jason Robb whose prisoner number is 308-919.  And finally,
Namir Abdul Mateen will join, to the extent that his health will allow.  His
"convicted as" name is James Were and his prisoner number is 173-245.  We wish them
all victory and good health.

Messages of solidarity and support are of course welcome.  In addition, we should be
deluging certain officials with our support for the prisoners' demands, which are,
very simply, that they be treated like other Death Row prisoners and be afforded the
same tiny privileges to the other prisoners held in OSP who are also sentenced to
die, such as physical contact with loved ones.  Fair and just annual reviews that
took into account these prisoners' 12 years of good behavior would have resulted in
recommendations of removal from the highly restrictive "level 5" solitary
confinement they have been subjected to for no reason other than vindictive need for
punishment - for crimes they did not commit, folks, don't forget that!  This is
inhumane, this is unconstitutional, this is illegal, this is deplorable, this is an
international disgrace  - and it must stop.  Please contact the following people to
speak your mind:

OSP Warden David Bobby, 330-743-0700 or fax 330-743-0841 or email
JoAnn.King@odrc.state.oh.us
ODRC Director Ernie Moore,614-752-1159 (couldn't find fax) or email
DRC.publicinfo@odrc.state.oh.us
People from Cleveland, please contact state Senator Shirley Smith, who is on the
Correctional Institution Inspection Committee, 614-466-4857 or email
SD21@maild.sen.state.oh.us

The facebook page will direct you to an electronic petition.  Other initiative are
in the works.  If you have ideas, suggestions and information, please post them.
There are people working on this cause literally around the world.  But we need to
build the strength of support for the very modest demands of the hunger strikers and
ensure a swift victory.  So get the word out to all interested organizations and
individuals.  Now is the time for not only a nationwide prisoner support movement,
but an international prisoner support movement.  Let's make it happen!

Sharon Danann
for the Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network