After Almost 20 Years, Ohio Prisoners Allowed Contact with their Families

For nearly two decades, a group of incarcerated men in Ohio blamed for leading an infamous 1993 prison riot have been held in strict solitary confinement 23 hours a day, denied so much as having any sort of physical contact loved ones. After launching a hunger strike earlier this month, however, that's all going to change.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, three inmates on death row for supposedly leading the Lucasville prison riot that cost 10 lives – their supporters say they were wrongly convicted and that they in fact helped bring the riot to an end, saving countless lives – have ended their hunger strike, “with state prison officials conceding to nearly all of the strikers' demands.”

"I think they regard it as a victory," Alice Lynd, an attorney and advocate for the men, told the paper. "This is a big deal for them to be able to touch a loved one after 18 years."

As Change.org's Wendy Jason reported when the men – Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Bomani Shakur and Jason Robb – started their hunger strike two weeks ago, the prisoners weren't just denied physical contact with their loved ones, but also basic necessities like appropriate clothing to keep them warm during the cold Ohio winters and adequate medical treatment.

“This is a protest, the only nonviolent way I can think of to express the deep disdain I have for the unjust situation that I am in,” said Bomani Shakur soon after he began refusing food on January 3.

And the protest worked. According to a recent memo from David Bobby, the warden at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown – who one imagines will be played by Will Ferrell in the future Hollywood film – the men will now be provided greater recreation time, access to legal databases they need for their cases and the opportunity to purchase more goods like food and clothing.

News of the victory came on Saturday, January 15, when a crowd of the men's supporters gathered outside a small evangelical church near the entrance of the prison, reports Denis O'Hearn, a sociology professor at Binghamton University. The crowd “ranged from the elderly and religious to human rights supporters to members of various left groups,” O'Hearn writes. “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.”

In fact, things turned out better than anyone could have hoped just a few weeks ago. In a statement relayed to the crowd, hunger striker Jason Robb thanked supporters, chalking the victory up to the fact that “our protest went viral," receiving national media attention and coverage from a number of blogs dedicated to reforming the criminal justice system.

"This time around the fight was for better prison conditions,” Robb said. “Now we begin fighting for our lives."

Robb and the other hunger strikers are on death row for allegedly being complicit in the deaths of the 10 men – nine prisoners and one guard – who were killed during the 1993 Lucasville uprising, spurred by overcrowding and abuse at the hands of prison officials. Promised they would not be retaliated against after helping negotiate an end to the uprising, Ohio authorities – surprise! – reneged on their promise, holding them in what can only be termed cruel and unusual conditions ever since, with O'Hearn noting that their limited time outside of solitary confinement consisted of walking in a cement-walled room with a steel grate roof. That was what passed for “outdoor recreation.”

Thanks to the prisoners' nonviolent protest, and the support of a broad coalition of activists, including more than 160 Change.org members, the men will now be treated more humanely. Now we just need to ensure that Ohio authorities actually live up to their word.

Have a story tip? Email us at criminaljusticetips@change.org. And keep up with the site using Facebook, Twitter and RSS.

Photo Credit: Marc Soller