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Lucasville: The Untold
Story of a Prison Uprising, Staughton Lynd;
Temple University Press, 2004.
Arnie King writes from a Massachusetts prison cell that he has occupied since 1971. He can be contacted at throughbarbedwire@yahoo.com or at Bay State Center, Box 73, Norfolk MA 02056.
Since fresh mortar was applied to the first brick, prison construction has been designed to contain ugly secrets. The high walls are built to prevent information leaks as well as prisoner escapes. Millions of Americans travel past prisons daily without curiosity or concern.
Penal authorities have traditionally offered, as primary cause for riots and disturbances, only isolated, decontextualized prison incidents. New York's Governor Rockefeller reported that the riot at Attica was based upon a complaint about needing more toilet paper. Unlike the prison authorities and the media, Staughton Lynd acknowledges the magnitude and the complexity of the conditions that drive inmates to organize a revolt.
The triggering event at Lucasville was, by all accounts, Warden Arthur Tate's refusal to accommodate the religious convictions of the prison's Sunni Muslim inmates, which forbade them from submitting to a prison-wide, injection-based TB test. (Their request to be tested instead by chest X-ray -- a medically sound alternative -- was refused.) But Lynd also makes clear that Lucasville officials were fully aware of numerous complaints about treatment by the guards, a non-functioning grievance procedure, and intolerable conditions. Opened in September 1972, the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) had a national reputation for violence and abuse.
Lucasville allows the reader to examine the impact of social forces in formulating thoughts and making decisions in the midst of a crisis situation. We have access to transcripts of recordings made with hidden microphones during the 11-day siege, written correspondence from the prisoners, Lynd's own interviews with prisoners and law enforcement personnel, and official court documents. Muslims, Aryan Brotherhood members, and Black Gangster Disciples traveled in different routes on the prison yard and for many years interaction was minimal. But sudden drama in the big house requires one to utilize survival tactics, which meant members of these distinct groups worked together for possibly the first time in their prison lives. Being able to focus on the greater good is a very courageous act. It was, without doubt, this willingness to collaborate which prevented further violence and death in the uprising.
In the course of the uprising, prisoners murdered nine other prisoners and one prison guard. Several other guards taken hostage in the rebellion were badly beaten, and might have died if prisoners had not handed them over to authorities for care. After the uprising was over, five prisoners were charged with the murder of Officer Vallandingham. In 1998, the Ohio State Penitentiary (a new Supermax facility) opened its gate to the Lucasville Five -- Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Mamir Abdul Mateen, Jason Robb, George Skatzes and Keith Lamar -- and escorted them to death row. Staughton Lynd draws on his extensive review of court records to claim that they stand wrongly accused, victims of reprisal by prison authorities.
These men had taken leadership roles during the siege and had served as negotiators with the state. They were the so-called leaders of the 1993 rebellion and mirror the racial percentage of the Lucasville prison population, which is almost 60% black. Four of the five were in another part of the prison when Officer Vallandingham was killed on the fifth day of the uprising. It may be necessary to read the chapter "Who Killed Office Vallandingham?" twice to comprehend and fully appreciate the question, which continues, even ten years later, to be a question. It does raise an eyebrow to consider why this death, out of ten, is the only one considered by the courts to be so important.
This book addresses a very important issue within the criminal justice system. Racial prejudice is a major factor in determining process and end results across the spectrum, ranging from the initial arrest to the eventual release from custody. Most employees of the criminal justice system are white; the majority of those incarcerated are black or non-white. This is a major problem. In the Lucasville area, most residents are white and almost everyone either works at the prison or is connected to an employee. It must be said that the only black residents in Lucasville are in chains and though both white and black have been assaulted by guards, only African-American prisoners have been dying as a result of such beatings.
Attica, Santa Fe, Lucasville -- these are the names of the most horrible prison uprisings in the history of the United States. These monumental struggles resulted in the unnecessary violent deaths of prisoners and guards -- deaths which could have been avoided with use of more effective negotiation techniques. In each case, prison authorities stubbornly argued against legitimate grievances without regard for the eventual consequences. When will they ever learn?
The Lucasville uprising was more than a tragedy of ten violent deaths, numerous vicious assaults, and five men being tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. It was more than the entire prison population of 1,820, family members and the community of Lucasville being traumatized for 11 days in 1993. It was even more than the inability of human beings, deep within the prison culture, to process differences and negotiate agreements without additional injury. Most of all, Lynd's Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising is an opportunity to look inside, an exposé of a defective criminal justice system which encourages racism and brutality while creating hopelessness among desperate people.
Read this book, hear their voices, and by your action, don't allow this injustice to continue or happen again in another prison.
Peacework Magazine on the web: www.peaceworkmagazine.org
Lucasville: The Untold
Story of a Prison Uprising, Staughton Lynd;
Temple University Press, 2004.
Arnie King writes from a Massachusetts prison cell that he has occupied since 1971. He can be contacted at throughbarbedwire@yahoo.com or at Bay State Center, Box 73, Norfolk MA 02056.
Since fresh mortar was applied to the first brick, prison construction has been designed to contain ugly secrets. The high walls are built to prevent information leaks as well as prisoner escapes. Millions of Americans travel past prisons daily without curiosity or concern.
Penal authorities have traditionally offered, as primary cause for riots and disturbances, only isolated, decontextualized prison incidents. New York's Governor Rockefeller reported that the riot at Attica was based upon a complaint about needing more toilet paper. Unlike the prison authorities and the media, Staughton Lynd acknowledges the magnitude and the complexity of the conditions that drive inmates to organize a revolt.
The triggering event at Lucasville was, by all accounts, Warden Arthur Tate's refusal to accommodate the religious convictions of the prison's Sunni Muslim inmates, which forbade them from submitting to a prison-wide, injection-based TB test. (Their request to be tested instead by chest X-ray -- a medically sound alternative -- was refused.) But Lynd also makes clear that Lucasville officials were fully aware of numerous complaints about treatment by the guards, a non-functioning grievance procedure, and intolerable conditions. Opened in September 1972, the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) had a national reputation for violence and abuse.
Lucasville allows the reader to examine the impact of social forces in formulating thoughts and making decisions in the midst of a crisis situation. We have access to transcripts of recordings made with hidden microphones during the 11-day siege, written correspondence from the prisoners, Lynd's own interviews with prisoners and law enforcement personnel, and official court documents. Muslims, Aryan Brotherhood members, and Black Gangster Disciples traveled in different routes on the prison yard and for many years interaction was minimal. But sudden drama in the big house requires one to utilize survival tactics, which meant members of these distinct groups worked together for possibly the first time in their prison lives. Being able to focus on the greater good is a very courageous act. It was, without doubt, this willingness to collaborate which prevented further violence and death in the uprising.
In the course of the uprising, prisoners murdered nine other prisoners and one prison guard. Several other guards taken hostage in the rebellion were badly beaten, and might have died if prisoners had not handed them over to authorities for care. After the uprising was over, five prisoners were charged with the murder of Officer Vallandingham. In 1998, the Ohio State Penitentiary (a new Supermax facility) opened its gate to the Lucasville Five -- Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Mamir Abdul Mateen, Jason Robb, George Skatzes and Keith Lamar -- and escorted them to death row. Staughton Lynd draws on his extensive review of court records to claim that they stand wrongly accused, victims of reprisal by prison authorities.
These men had taken leadership roles during the siege and had served as negotiators with the state. They were the so-called leaders of the 1993 rebellion and mirror the racial percentage of the Lucasville prison population, which is almost 60% black. Four of the five were in another part of the prison when Officer Vallandingham was killed on the fifth day of the uprising. It may be necessary to read the chapter "Who Killed Office Vallandingham?" twice to comprehend and fully appreciate the question, which continues, even ten years later, to be a question. It does raise an eyebrow to consider why this death, out of ten, is the only one considered by the courts to be so important.
This book addresses a very important issue within the criminal justice system. Racial prejudice is a major factor in determining process and end results across the spectrum, ranging from the initial arrest to the eventual release from custody. Most employees of the criminal justice system are white; the majority of those incarcerated are black or non-white. This is a major problem. In the Lucasville area, most residents are white and almost everyone either works at the prison or is connected to an employee. It must be said that the only black residents in Lucasville are in chains and though both white and black have been assaulted by guards, only African-American prisoners have been dying as a result of such beatings.
Attica, Santa Fe, Lucasville -- these are the names of the most horrible prison uprisings in the history of the United States. These monumental struggles resulted in the unnecessary violent deaths of prisoners and guards -- deaths which could have been avoided with use of more effective negotiation techniques. In each case, prison authorities stubbornly argued against legitimate grievances without regard for the eventual consequences. When will they ever learn?
The Lucasville uprising was more than a tragedy of ten violent deaths, numerous vicious assaults, and five men being tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. It was more than the entire prison population of 1,820, family members and the community of Lucasville being traumatized for 11 days in 1993. It was even more than the inability of human beings, deep within the prison culture, to process differences and negotiate agreements without additional injury. Most of all, Lynd's Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising is an opportunity to look inside, an exposé of a defective criminal justice system which encourages racism and brutality while creating hopelessness among desperate people.
Read this book, hear their voices, and by your action, don't allow this injustice to continue or happen again in another prison.
Peacework Magazine on the web: www.peaceworkmagazine.org