Update on the Cleveland 5

Members of RedBird Prison Abolition have been in touch with the Cleveland 5. We sent them our friend Sean Swain's letters of support. 

We will likely be visiting them and participating in support efforts. If anyone in Columbus would like to join this efforts, please contact us. They are also desperately in need of funds, please donate via Cleveland5Justice.org

Detailed updates after the break...

Solitary Confinement Hearings.

On June 19th, the US Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on solitary confinement in the US. Ohio houses hundreds of prisoners in solitary confinement at any time. There are over 400 solitary cells at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP), 100 solitary cells at death row, each prison has it's own solitary cells, the "hole".


The hearing is called “Reassessing Solitary Confinement: The Human Rights, Fiscal and Public Safety Consequences” some of our friends at OSP have written briefs and testimonies for the hearings.  They'll be posted as soon as we get copies.

Press Release Regarding New Prisoner Re-Entry Laws

OHIO PRISON PROJECT

Contact: Chryztof Knecht [fsn: R142749]
Cell: 513.969.5327
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Email: ohioprisonproject@yahoo.com
Website: http://tjel.weebly.com
Resume: http://cjknecht.weebly.com
Location: Statehouse, Columbus, Ohio [June 18-22, 2012]

OHIO VIOLENT SLAVE REVOLT
Protesting Second Class Citizenship

Over 2 million Ohioans (17% of Ohio) have been convicted of either felony or misdemeanor offenses
against the peace and dignity of the State of Ohio. Slave masters of the Ohio General Assembly
continue to punish those with criminal convictions by sponsoring multiple forms of punishment which
pose as barriers to re-entry efforts and often result in recidivism. Those who do not find themselves
at the revolving penitentiary doors succumb to poverty and second class citizenship due to restrictions
in areas such as employment, civic and political participation, housing, parental rights, social service
assistance, driving privileges, etc., which are no different than Jim Crow laws.

Ohio Super Max Hunger Strike Update

 June 14th, 2012, Youngstown OH- Two weeks after the hunger strike that began on May Day at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) one man named Cornelius Harris resumed hunger striking on his own because of slow progress on the realization of striker's demands. Mr Harris refused more than 50 meals over at least 17 days. In a letter dated June 6th, he was still refusing food and vowed to stay on until "a clear picture is painted as to what changes will be made". A trusted prisoner source has since confirmed that Mr. Harris resumed eating after a meeting with Warden David Bobby. 

Seeking Immediate Transfer to a Safer Prison By Cornelius Harris

Cornelius Harris is incarcerated at Ohio State Penitentiary. He participated in the May Day hunger strike, and then resumed the strike solo when it took too long for the warden to make good on their demands.

WARNING: This post contains graphic descriptions of violence.

Ongoing Injustices, by Cornelius Harris.

Cornelius Harris is incarcerated at Ohio State Penitentiary. He participated in the May Day hunger strike, and then resumed the strike solo when it took too long for the warden to make good on their demands.

Ongoing Injustices, Prisonersolidarity.org

By Cornelius Harris

March 20, 2009

Injustice is a cancer in the U.S. criminal justice system that seriously needs to be addressed and abolished with the same enthusiasm and commitment that was assembled to abolish slavery. These injustices start from the time of arrest and expand to conviction and imprisonment.

Jason Robb on Hunger Strike

Jason Robb is on a hunger strike beginning with the evening meal on June 6. He is demanding that he be transferred to Chillicothe Correctional Institution and treated like any other death row prisoner. Chillicothe CI currently houses all but six of Ohio's death row prisoners.
Robb started the hunger strike after his appeal of his level 5 security review was denied. In a letter to Warden David Bobby announcing the hunger strike, Robb says: "I have decided not to play this sick twisted game of revenge by the administration any longer, I am not a puppet." Jason Robb has been held on 23 hour a day lockdown for 19 years. He has been at Ohio's super max prison, Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) since the facility opened 13 years ago. In that time he has only had two non-violent rules violations, and has participated in many of the programs offered to level 5 prisoners.

Ohio Super Max Prisoner Resumes Hunger Strike

Sunday June 3rd, 2012, Youngstown- Last week Cornelius Harris, a level 5 prisoner at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) resumed the May Day hunger strike, in protest of the warden's slow response to the prisoner's demands. It is unknown when Mr. Harris began refusing food, how many consecutive meals he has refused, and whether or not other prisoners have joined Mr. Harris's hunger strike. OSP's warden, David Bobby refused to comment or make any statement about Mr. Harris's situation or condition, including how many meals he has refused. 

UPDATE: Cornelius Harris is off hunger strike after at least 17 days and 49 meals. 

Statement from OSP Hunger Striker

On May 1st, 2012 over 50 prisoners went on hunger strike to peacefully protest the conditions of our confinement. We demanded that the administration start treating us like human beings and give us the tools we need to be rehabilitated. However, all OSP officials seem to do is exploit us for their own personal means and dehumanize us by treating us like little kids.

This May 1st hunger strike was suppose to have been a peaceful protest to tell the OSP administration that we wanted a change in the way we was being treated. However, Warden Bobby found a way to twist this hunger strike around to his favor by asking for more funding for programs and material that a level 5 prisoner will never see. 

To get prisoners to come off of the May 1st strike, Warden Bobby made a lot of promises that he never made good on, such as dropping high and outrageous commissary prices, giving us exercise equipment, showing better quality movies, adding more TV channels, taking handcuffs off of prisoners while we are visiting our loved ones, and giving us extra phone calls other than the one (1) per month we are currently receiving.