Post by Anja on Jun 12, 2006 10:25:28 GMT -5
Forum raises prison issues----One California prison focuses on learning
empathy and group therapy.
For many people, the most practical solution to dealing with crime and
those who commit violent acts is fairly straightforward: Lock up the
offenders for as long as possible and, in some cases, throw away the key
or pull the switch.
But do those methods alone, along with a burgeoning growth in the number
of maximum security prisons in the nation, make society safer and inmates
who are freed less likely to commit new crimes?
Those were among the numerous issues pertaining to crime and punishment
addressed Saturday at the Youngstown Prison Forum. The seven-hour
conference in Youngstown State University's Beeghly Hall took a critical
look at social roles of prisons in Ohio, as well as mental health and
human rights issues for inmates, and alternatives to prison.
The event, co-sponsored by the Youngstown Workers' Solidarity Club and
YSU's Dr. James Dale Ethics Center and Department of English, featured
various workshops and a panel of women who have family members on Death
Row. The conference also had presentations on readjusting to society after
being incarcerated and information relating to the 11 days of rioting in
1993 at the maximum-security facility in Lucasville.
Comparison
Kicking off the sessions was a 50-minute film that pointed out the
contrasts between how inmates at the Ohio State Penitentiary on state
Route 616 are handled compared with about 60 violent offenders in the San
Francisco County Jail.
The 2002 film followed operations at the Youngstown Supermax facility,
which opened in 1998 in Coitsville Township, and showed, for example, the
procedures for strip-searching new inmates and how most of the
approximately 465 prisoners are locked in their cells for 23 hours a day
with few privileges. Interspersed with those portions was footage showing
an experimental program at the California lockup in which the emphasis for
changing violent behavior was on learning empathy and participating in
group therapy instead of on punishment.
Group formed
Theresa Lyons, Janice Conway and Ruth Group, members of the newly formed
Loved Ones of Prisoners, shared their feelings and stories about what it's
like to have a son or grandson sentenced to death. Inmates condemned to
death were moved to Youngstown earlier this year; prisoners are still sent
to Lucasville for the actual execution.
Lyons, whose grandson Odraye Jones was sentenced to die for the killing of
an Ashtabula police officer in 1998, contended he was convicted on flimsy
evidence. A 12-year-old girl said she saw Jones commit the crime, yet his
fingerprints were never found on the gun, Lyons said.
"I'm a victim because my [grandson's] on death row for something he didn't
do. I've been suffering for 8 years," the Youngstown woman said.
Conway and Group shared similar stories pertaining to their sons, whom
they say were wrongly convicted of aggravated murder.
Carol Parcell of Akron said she's come across new evidence that could
exonerate her son, Brett Hartmann, who she says was convicted of
aggravated murder, kidnapping and other charges on faulty evidence before
being given the death penalty about 8 years ago. Parcell is a member of
Families that Matter and Ohioans to Stop Executions, both
anti-death-penalty groups.
Panel
The panel was made up of Dr. Kathryn Burns of the Cuyahoga County
Community Mental Health Board, Dr. Ayham Haddad, a former OSP physician,
and Atty. Jeff Gamso, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union
of Ohio.
Gamso told the audience of a client he represents who was sentenced to
death twice before having his sentenced commuted to life in prison. The
man suffered a lifetime of sexual and other abuse, mitigating
circumstances that the courts twice failed to consider before the 4-3 Ohio
Supreme Court ruling that reduced the man's sentence.
"We have a system that doesn't work," Gamso said of the imposition of
capital punishment, adding that many on death row in Ohio are mentally
ill.
Kunta Kenyatta, a member of Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of
Errants, a national organization set up to reduce crime through criminal
justice reform, discussed his experiences upon being released after
serving 16 years, three at OSP, before being freed in November 2002.
Kenyatta said re-entry into society was initially difficult, but he has
gotten a job and owns a home.
Inmates' rights
Laurie Hoover, a member of CURE-Ohio, said her group fights for prison
reforms and inmates' rights. Life for many prisoners, especially over the
past several years, is tougher because fewer education and rehabilitation
programs are offered as more prisons focus strictly on punishment and
making higher profits, she said.
Each inmate's case should be looked at individually, and they are more
likely to be repeat offenders if they aren't "given tools to know what
options they have to lead to change," Hoover explained.
Wrapping up the program was a presentation by Atty. Staughton Lynd in
which he talked about the April 1993 prison riots at Lucasville that
resulted in the death of a corrections officer. 5 prisoners were handed
the death penalty for the killing of officer Robert Vallandingham, but at
least 2 of them were unfairly sentenced based on false testimony, Lynd
contended.
Group announced that 2 silent vigils will be from 2 to 3:30 p.m. July 16
and 23 near the Ohio State Penitentiary on behalf of inmates scheduled to
be put to death.
(source: Youngstown Vindicator)
empathy and group therapy.
For many people, the most practical solution to dealing with crime and
those who commit violent acts is fairly straightforward: Lock up the
offenders for as long as possible and, in some cases, throw away the key
or pull the switch.
But do those methods alone, along with a burgeoning growth in the number
of maximum security prisons in the nation, make society safer and inmates
who are freed less likely to commit new crimes?
Those were among the numerous issues pertaining to crime and punishment
addressed Saturday at the Youngstown Prison Forum. The seven-hour
conference in Youngstown State University's Beeghly Hall took a critical
look at social roles of prisons in Ohio, as well as mental health and
human rights issues for inmates, and alternatives to prison.
The event, co-sponsored by the Youngstown Workers' Solidarity Club and
YSU's Dr. James Dale Ethics Center and Department of English, featured
various workshops and a panel of women who have family members on Death
Row. The conference also had presentations on readjusting to society after
being incarcerated and information relating to the 11 days of rioting in
1993 at the maximum-security facility in Lucasville.
Comparison
Kicking off the sessions was a 50-minute film that pointed out the
contrasts between how inmates at the Ohio State Penitentiary on state
Route 616 are handled compared with about 60 violent offenders in the San
Francisco County Jail.
The 2002 film followed operations at the Youngstown Supermax facility,
which opened in 1998 in Coitsville Township, and showed, for example, the
procedures for strip-searching new inmates and how most of the
approximately 465 prisoners are locked in their cells for 23 hours a day
with few privileges. Interspersed with those portions was footage showing
an experimental program at the California lockup in which the emphasis for
changing violent behavior was on learning empathy and participating in
group therapy instead of on punishment.
Group formed
Theresa Lyons, Janice Conway and Ruth Group, members of the newly formed
Loved Ones of Prisoners, shared their feelings and stories about what it's
like to have a son or grandson sentenced to death. Inmates condemned to
death were moved to Youngstown earlier this year; prisoners are still sent
to Lucasville for the actual execution.
Lyons, whose grandson Odraye Jones was sentenced to die for the killing of
an Ashtabula police officer in 1998, contended he was convicted on flimsy
evidence. A 12-year-old girl said she saw Jones commit the crime, yet his
fingerprints were never found on the gun, Lyons said.
"I'm a victim because my [grandson's] on death row for something he didn't
do. I've been suffering for 8 years," the Youngstown woman said.
Conway and Group shared similar stories pertaining to their sons, whom
they say were wrongly convicted of aggravated murder.
Carol Parcell of Akron said she's come across new evidence that could
exonerate her son, Brett Hartmann, who she says was convicted of
aggravated murder, kidnapping and other charges on faulty evidence before
being given the death penalty about 8 years ago. Parcell is a member of
Families that Matter and Ohioans to Stop Executions, both
anti-death-penalty groups.
Panel
The panel was made up of Dr. Kathryn Burns of the Cuyahoga County
Community Mental Health Board, Dr. Ayham Haddad, a former OSP physician,
and Atty. Jeff Gamso, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union
of Ohio.
Gamso told the audience of a client he represents who was sentenced to
death twice before having his sentenced commuted to life in prison. The
man suffered a lifetime of sexual and other abuse, mitigating
circumstances that the courts twice failed to consider before the 4-3 Ohio
Supreme Court ruling that reduced the man's sentence.
"We have a system that doesn't work," Gamso said of the imposition of
capital punishment, adding that many on death row in Ohio are mentally
ill.
Kunta Kenyatta, a member of Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of
Errants, a national organization set up to reduce crime through criminal
justice reform, discussed his experiences upon being released after
serving 16 years, three at OSP, before being freed in November 2002.
Kenyatta said re-entry into society was initially difficult, but he has
gotten a job and owns a home.
Inmates' rights
Laurie Hoover, a member of CURE-Ohio, said her group fights for prison
reforms and inmates' rights. Life for many prisoners, especially over the
past several years, is tougher because fewer education and rehabilitation
programs are offered as more prisons focus strictly on punishment and
making higher profits, she said.
Each inmate's case should be looked at individually, and they are more
likely to be repeat offenders if they aren't "given tools to know what
options they have to lead to change," Hoover explained.
Wrapping up the program was a presentation by Atty. Staughton Lynd in
which he talked about the April 1993 prison riots at Lucasville that
resulted in the death of a corrections officer. 5 prisoners were handed
the death penalty for the killing of officer Robert Vallandingham, but at
least 2 of them were unfairly sentenced based on false testimony, Lynd
contended.
Group announced that 2 silent vigils will be from 2 to 3:30 p.m. July 16
and 23 near the Ohio State Penitentiary on behalf of inmates scheduled to
be put to death.
(source: Youngstown Vindicator)