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Writings by Staughton and Alice Lynd About the 1993 Lucasville Uprising Approaching the Thirtieth Anniversary
THE MAKING OF A SNITCH Edited excerpts from an Ohio State Highway Patrol interview in Staughton Lynd,
Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising (PM Press, 2001), pages 101-103 based on an investigative interview in which the prisoner is offered benefits if he will cooperate with the prosecution, then made into a skit to introduce newcomers to one of the basic problems in the Lucasville cases.
DEATH OF QUALIFIED JURY Edited excerpts from Staughton Lynd, Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising
(PM Press, 2010), pages 113-120 (a portion of the jury selection process in the trial of
George Skatzes, one of five men who were sentenced to death for murders committed
during the Lucasville prison uprising in 1993) ans also made into a skit.
On Friday July 27 Siddique Abdullah Hasan was locked down on a conduct report signed by Brian Wittrup at ODRC central office which referred to his receiving information about the upcoming prison strike.
Over the weekend we organized a phone zap based on word from other prisoners. It wasn't until late Monday evening that supporters were finally able to hear from Hasan directly via an attorney phone call with Staughton and Alice Lynd. Here is there report from that call:
Dear Supporters,
We had an attorney phone call with Hasan late yesterday afternoon. Hasan has received a lengthy conduct report. He has been charged with violations of the following rules of conduct [Ohio Administrative Code 5120-9-06]:
(15) Rioting or causing others to riot;
(16) Engaging in or encouraging a group demonstration or work stoppage;
(46) Conducting business operations with any person or entity outside the institution, whether or not for profit, without specific permission from the managing officer;
(56) Use of telephone or mail in furtherance of any criminal activity;
(61) Any violation of any published institutional rules, regulations or procedures.
Hasan read to us and discussed the detailed allegations, but we do not yet have a copy of the conduct report. They pertain to five different categories of activities.
Hasan told us that most of his property has been confiscated. He has no pen, paper, kites, envelopes, stamps, or legal work. He is on hunger strike, having refused all meals beginning Saturday morning, July 28. There are a security barrier and sandbags outside his cell door (presumably to prevent anyone from passing anything to him).
He was told by the chairman of the Rules Infraction Board that they were considering referral of the matter to the Serious Misconduct Panel. See AR 5120-9-08.1, Disciplinary procedures for violations of inmate rules of conduct before the serious misconduct panel. This is a relatively new Administrative Rule, effective 2/11/2017. The Serious Misconduct Panel determines guilt and can recommend a change in security level, to be affirmed by the Chief of the Bureau of Classification.
The conduct report was signed by Brian Wittrup who, as of 2017 at least, was chief of the ODRC Bureau of Classification at Central Office.
Hasan asked us to tell his supporters that his “spirit us up to par.” Staughton and Alice Lynd
It is now clear that the charges are coming from central office, not the warden or the institution, and thus we need to address central office to support Imam Hasan's hunger strike and to fight the conduct report he's facing.
The charges are either baseless or designed to deny prisoners' political agency and inhibit their ability to organize. The person who signed the conduct report will also have the final say on Hasan's security level. It sounds like the authorities are considering expanded action against Hasan, and are set up to railroad him. We need to step up our support to deter them and to get his property and hard fought communication access back. Our demand is simple: drop the charges! Free Imam Hasan!
***UPDATED 8/8/18***
Today is the 11th day of Hasan's hunger strike. We have updates on his situation below, but first, please follow these steps to express solidarity and support for Hasan.
Call Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) Director Gary Mohr at 614-752-1153
SUGGESTED SCRIPT: "Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan (R130559) has been on hunger strike since July 28, 2018 to protest the conduct report he was issued by Brian Wittrup. We support Imam Hasan because speaking about a strike over the phone is not a "business operation" or inciting a "riot". We need you to drop the charges, meet his demands, return his property and reinstitute his previously earned privileges."
STEP 3
Send letters of opposition to the ODRC Director's home address:
Gary C. Mohr 221 St Clair Dr Chillicothe, OH 45601
1. He finally got the minimum envelopes they are legally required to give him and sent out the conduct report. It is online here or download pdf.
2. Hasan thinks the hearing may be on Thursday or Friday of this week. He is almost sure he will be convicted. He is able to call witnesses who can call in. We're reaching out to find the people he requested, at least one is ready to testify on Hasan's behalf.
3. He is currently housed in the infirmary and they are requiring him to do medical checks to delay him from accessing his legal counsel. According to Alice Lynd:
When we called yesterday to arrange an attorney visit for today, we were told that he had refused a medical assessment that morning (August 6), and he could not leave the infirmary for an attorney visit unless he consented to a medical assessment this morning. He did consent, but he regards a legal visit as a right that should not be denied based on whether or not he submits to a medical assessment.
4. He is grateful for everyone making support calls. He got mail from supporters. As we anticipated, he wants calls directed to central office, since that's who originated the conduct report. Get details on contacting Gary Mohr and other ways to support Hasan here.
5. The charges he's facing are more serious than in 2016 or other attempts to lock him out of communication, and will be harder to fight. He believes this is a first amendment struggle. ODRC is likely to railroad him and we will need to take the fight to the federal level. Here's a more technical description of the legal stuff.
On July 30, Hasan was told by the lieutenant who is in charge of the Rules Infraction Board that his case would not be heard by the RIB but was being referred to the Serious Misconduct Panel, the members of which are appointed by the regional director. See AR 5120-9-08.1, Disciplinary procedures for violations of inmate rules of conduct before the serious misconduct panel, available at http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/5120-9-08.1, and Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Policy 56-DSC-03, Disciplinary Procedures for the Serious Misconduct Panel, available at http://www.drc.ohio.gov/Portals/0/Policies/DRC%20Policies/56-DSC-03%20Apr%202017.pdf?ver=2017-11-01-083126-567.
The inmate may request witnesses who may testify in person, by phone, or electronically. As witnesses, Hasan has requested Ben Turk, Steven Kirschenbaum, Queen Tahiyrah, and Abe Bonowitz (in connection with the protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 2018). Hasan emphasized the magnitude of the situation he is in. If convicted, he can be subjected to a lot of restrictions. His access to the phone and kiosk could be limited for a significant number of months... Furthermore, in Hasan’s view, this matter cannot be won within the ODRC. He regards it as a First Amendment issue and he wants outside support and coverage by the media.
EMERGENCY PLEASE HELP!
This brother is at Ross Correctional in Ohio. (website) He is in fear for his life! Please call and let them know you are aware of this threat and you demand immediate action be taken against this officer. No harm should come to this brother for speaking out and desperately trying to save his life! Thank you for your support! Queen
Redistribute The Pain Campaign
THIS CAMPAIGN IS CALLING FOR DIRECT SUPPORT FROM AROUND THE WORLD! THE F.REE A.LABAMA M.OVEMENT NEEDS YOU TO DO 3 THINGS RIGHT AWAY:
SHARE This campaign can make an impact on a worldwide scale. Our goal is to remove the assets and monetary gain from those who practice slavery, especially those in the US and their allies. We must remove the benefits and privileges that we contribute to, that enable the sustainability of the private prison industry.
SUPPORT This campaign and donate directly to the Free Alabama Movement. We need resources in order to spread our message. This Is not solely a social media campaign. It is a hands on effort, which includes direct commUNITY outreach. We are taking this campaign globally, so we must meet with community groups and organizations who we share common ground with, especially in the state of Alabama.
GET INVOLVED We are looking for groups, volunteers, organizations and families to get involved in this campaign, no matter where you live. This issue has and will continue to effect all of us unless we remove the benefits and privileges from these private prisons, their supporters and their business partners. No company, group, organization or individual who benefits from this practice of modern day slavery will be exempt! We must redistribute the pain!
Act in Solidarity with the Survivors of the Lucasville Uprising!
Central Ohio IWOC, the Free Ohio Movement and Lucasville Amnesty call for actions and raising awareness around the 25th anniversary of the Lucasville Uprising on April 11-21. Drawing attention to this pivotal event in the history of prison in Ohio and the US, protesters will hold a 3PM noise demo on the 21st outside the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) in Lucasville where prisoners held a cell block for 11 days in April of 1993.
Prisoner survivors of this rebellion have spent these 25 years acting as beacons of resistance despite suffering in solitary confinement and on death row. Their persistent and stiff resistance has wrenched concessions from the State of Ohio, improved conditions for all prisoners at the supermax and inspired and participated in the burgeoning nation-wide prisoner resistance movement. From another cell-block occupation in 1997, to lawsuits against the supermax, to successful hunger strikes in 2011-2013 (see links below), to death sentence resistance, to Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan's participation and advocacy for the nation-wide strike and prisoner protest on September 9 2016, these prisoners have been at the heart of the burgeoning prisoner resistance movement.
Now is the time to act in solidarity with them, to expose the truth of the Lucasville Uprising and to demand justice for the prisoner survivors. Please join in protest and acts of solidarity with the uprising:
organize a letter writing night and discussion relating the uprising to recent prisoner rebellions. We can coordinate for Imam Hasan or Greg Curry to call in to your gathering from the supermax prison and participate in the discussion
take action with a rally, banner drop, or other visible disruption to draw attention to the uprising and these rebels
use this flyer designed by the Free Ohio Movement to promote your event.
Media exposure has been a recurring goal for these prisoners. The uprising spontaneously grew out of a much smaller protest aimed at drawing attention to conditions and abuses at SOCF. Key demands the prisoners won in negotiations during the occupation included access to reporters and live coverage. Since the uprising, survivors have been fighting to tell their stories using hunger strikes, lawsuits and persistent defiance of the ODRC's policies of silence and isolation. These prisoners and their supporters believe that telling the truth about Lucasville on the largest possible platform is key to fighting their unjust sentences. They are fighting for their lives and their freedom.
In 2013 five of the prisoners and five journalists filed a lawsuit against the ODRC. The judge has made preliminary rulings in favor of the prisoners and journalists. More interview requests at this time will impact the outcome of that litigation and might convince the ODRC to relent and finally allow on-camera interviews with the prisoners. Pursuing this concession, supporters put together an extensive press package encouraging journalists to write on the 25th anniversary of the uprising.
Taking action wherever you are between April 11 and 21st will make the story current and newsworthy, it could help save the lives of these inspiring revolutionaries.
A few examples of hunger strikes against the Ohio State Penitentiary (the supermax Ohio built in response to the Lucasville uprising)
2011: Inspired by the 2010 Georgia prison strike, and inspiring the massive Pelican Bay hunger strikes, three death sentenced Lucasville survivors (Imam Hasan, Keith LaMar, and Jason Robb) refused food for 13 days, winning greatly expanded contact with the outside world and legal resources.
2012: Demanding release from the supermax, but accepting concessions of congregate rec and full contact visits, Jason Robb went on hunger strike for 9 days.
2013: coordinated with the 20th Anniversary Re-Examining Lucasville conference, Keith, Hasan, Greg and Jason went on hunger strike demanding on camera interviews with media. They didn't win their demand, but got enough attention to start the ongoing media access lawsuit.
2016: Imam Hasan and other Muslim supermax prisoners engaged in a series of hunger strikes relating to the September 9th national protest and moves the administration made to silence Hasan's advocacy for the nation-wide action.
Let Lucasville Uprising Prisoners Tell Their Own Story
Twenty-Five years after the longest prison uprising in which people died, the full story has not been told. April 11, 2018 will be the 25th Anniversary of the Lucasville Uprising, a defining event in the history of criminal justice and prison systems in Ohio and the United States.
Lucasville stands out from other prison uprisings in many ways that deserve greater examination. The uprising claimed 10 lives over 11 days and ended in a negotiated surrender, the terms of which the State of Ohio refused to honor by targeting those who negotiated with them during the uprising.
Attached please find two documents, assembled by Staughton and Alice Lynd, esteemed labor lawyer historians from Youngstown, Ohio. The first describes the uprising and subsequent prosecutions in greater detail, exposing the state's behavior during the uprising, and extensive prosecutorial misconduct in the trials following it.
The second is a list of people willing to be interviewed for the 25th anniversary of the uprising. These contacts include:
Niki Schwartz, who Ohio brought in to negotiate the peaceful surrender
Defense attorneys from the trials
Prisoner survivors, including those on death row, those still in prison, and those who have been released.
Activists, film-makers and organizers
Five men have been condemned to death and many more to long sentences served almost entirely in solitary confinement at the Ohio State Penitentiary, a supermax prison built in the wake of the uprising. These prisoners have been influential writers, activists and organizers beyond their own cases, and despite their very restrictive conditions of confinement and isolation.
Their 2011 Hunger Strike partially inspired the interracial solidarity of the Pelican Bay Hunger Strikes, which expanded to include over 30,000 prisoners. Siddique Abdullah Hasan, one of the death row survivors, was a lead organizer of the September 9, 2016 national prison strike and protest, the largest prisoner-led protest in history.
The impact and historical resonance of the Lucasville Uprising is still felt in Ohio and beyond 25 years later. The consequences remain dire, and the story remains largely untold. Please review these materials and consider covering the 25th Anniversary of the Lucasville Uprising.
Upcoming Event
CONFINED CITIZEN ALERT
UPDATE April 2 2017:
Siddique Hasan ends hunger strike.
According to his lawyer, Siddique Abdullah Hasan has ended his hunger strike due to health concerns. Rick Kerger, Hasan's lawyer is working on a lawsuit against the ODRC over the violations of due process in OSP's disciplinary process. Another lawyer is already arguing a first and fourteenth amendment case over media access on behalf of Hasan, other Lucasville Uprising prisoners, and reporters and documentaries who have been denied access.
According to his lawyer, Siddique Abdullah Hasan has ended his hunger strike due to health concerns. Rick Kerger, Hasan's lawyer is working on a lawsuit against the ODRC over the violations of due process in OSP's disciplinary process. Another lawyer is already arguing a first and fourteenth amendment case over media access on behalf of Hasan, other Lucasville Uprising prisoners, and reporters and documentaries who have been denied access.
******************************************
Uprising Prisoners Censored, Respond with Hunger Strike
Jason Robb and Siddique Abdullah Hasan began refusing food on Monday February 27th to protest a 90 day restriction on their access to phone, email and video visit communication. Ohio State Penitentiary issued this restriction to silence and prevent them from pleading their innocence to the public. Both Hasan and Robb appeared on video in a recent episode of the Netflix documentary series, Captives.
The Captives documentary told the story of the Lucasville Uprising and hostage situation. The film-makers intended an unbiased 360 degree view of the uprising and hostage situation, but their final product consisted almost entirely of interviews with then Warden Arthur Tate, multiple guards, and state-cooperating prisoners. It gave far more screen time to the state's side of the story, yet the injustice, negligence, dishonesty and hypocrisy of the state's conduct during the uprising became abundantly clear even from their own words.
Hasan and Jason's interviews were given a few scant minutes of screen time, for which the Ohio prison system is currently punishing and censoring them, because its position on the uprising, and on their guilt depends greatly on restricting their speech, controlling the narrative, and keeping the public ignorant. Hasan and Robb are two of many plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) for restricting media requests to uprising prisoners.
They have been condemned to death and held in solitary confinement since the uprising in 1993. Their actual participation in the uprising was to negotiate a peaceful surrender and prevent greater loss of life. The ODRC and State of Ohio promised not to go after specific individuals in the negotiation of that surrender, and then immediately targeted the negotiators, painting them as leaders and orchestrators of a spontaneous riot that, without their intervention and cooperation across race and gang lines, could easily have escalated.
Please contact Warden Ed Sheldon and demand that he rescind the communication restriction for Jason Robb and Siddique Abdullah Hasan.
A nationwide prison work stoppage and hunger strike, begun on Sept. 9, the 45th anniversary of the Attica uprising, have seen over 20,000 prisoners in about 30 prisons do what we on the outside should do—refuse to cooperate. “We will not only demand the end to prison slavery, we will end it ourselves by ceasing to be slaves,” prisoners of the Free Alabama Movement, the Free Ohio Movement and the IWW Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee wrote in a communique.
This round of prison strikes—there will be more—has had little outside support and press coverage. There have been few protests outside prison walls. Prison authorities—unlike during the 1971 Attica uprising when the press was allowed into the yard to interview the rebellious prisoners—have shut out a compliant media. They have identified strike leaders and placed them in isolation. Whole prisons in states such as Texas were put on lockdown on the eve of the strike. It is hard to know how many prisoners are still on strike, just as it is hard to know how many stopped work or started to fast on Sept. 9.
Before the strike I was able to speak to prisoner leaders including Melvin Ray, James Pleasant and Robert Earl Council, all of whom led work stoppages in Alabama prisons in January 2014 as part of the Free Alabama Movement, as well as Siddique Hasan, one of five leaders of the April 1993 uprising at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility at Lucasville, Ohio. (The Ohio revolt saw prisoners take control of the facility for 11 days after numerous grievances, including complaints about deaths allegedly caused by beatings from guards, went unanswered.) Now, authorities have cut off the access of these and other prisoner leaders to the press and the rest of the outside world. I have not been able to communicate with the four men since the strike began. Read the rest on Truthdig...
Is a Prison Strike Leader Being Falsely Accused of Inciting Terrorism?
Siddique Abdullah Hasan is a key organizer for an upcoming labor strike in prisons across the country.
Activist and advocates are concerned that a politically active Muslim prisoner, Siddique Abdullah Hasan, has been falsely accused of inciting terrorism at Ohio State Penitentiary, where he is incarcerated. About half a dozen Muslim prisoners at the facility are on hunger strike, demanding that the disciplinary charges be dropped and Hasan cleared of all wrongdoing, according to activists working outside the prison.
Hasan is a key organizer for the upcoming September 9 labor strike and work stoppage, which is poised to take place in prisons across the country. Outside activists told AlterNet they suspect the allegations were intended to delegitimize the events of September 9 and sow fear about people organizing from the inside
“When you start to get actions in favor of the confined citizen, it might empower more confined citizens to speak up,” explained Tahiyrah Ali, a spokesperson with the Free Ohio Movement, one of the groups organizing around the upcoming work stoppage.
AlterNet spoke to Ali as well as Hasan’s attorney, Rick Kerger, who have both heard directly from Hasan about the allegations he faces... Read more...
Sign o the Times Blogtalk w/Queen Tahiyrah and Guest Benjamin M. Turk INSURGENT
Thursday June 2 2016 Benjamin Michael Turk, from Insurgent spoke to us about the Nationally Coordinated Prisoner Work Stoppage for Sept 9. Please join in the solution . LISTEN and Participate via the web at www.blogtalkradio.com/nupowerradionetwork or call in 917-889-8059! Don't forget to push 1 to come into the conversation! See you on the airwaves!!! QT See you on the airwaves!
IWOC interview with Siddique Abdullah Hasan (Brooklyn, NY - April 17, 2016)
Siddique Abdullah Hasan is a political prisoner at the Ohio State Penitentiary, currently on death row for his alleged involvement in the 1993 Lucasville uprising. On April 17, 2016, Brother Hasan shared his thoughts via telephone with a group gathered in Brooklyn, NY. The event was called in order to help support the striking prisoners in Texas, as well as the national strike that is being organized for September 9, 2016, the 45th anniversary of the Attica uprising.
The Final Straw: Hasan on prison organizing & Free Ohio Movement; Istanbul ABC on Turkey & vegan anarchist prisoner Evcan Osman
Sign o the Times w Queen Tahiyrah Featuring Film Maker D. Jones DARK LITTLE SECRET
Sign o the Times Blogtalk Radio welcomes guest, Film Director D. Jones on the air, to talk about his AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY THE GREAT INCARCERATOR PART 1 DARK LiTTLE SECRET Dark Little Secret examines the US Prison System & its unprecedented explosion in population. An exploitation of dark, poor faces, intentionally relegated to second-class citizenship, otherwise known as PRISON, PROBATION & LEGALIZED SLAVERY!
