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Resources
Ohio groups
American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio filed a class-action lawsuit in 2001 against state of Ohio officials, charging that the treatment of the inmates at OSP constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. jmgamso@earthlink.net (Jeff Gamso)

American Friends Services Committee has a Criminal Justice Program that is focused on the issues of supermax prisons, human rights and prisoner justice. The AFSC's Star Cafe features a Supermax Community Reading Room
(937) 278-4225

Campaign to End the Death Penalty The group's Toledo chapter is currently building the Free Siddique Abdullah Hasan Coalition: P.O. Box 20011 Toledo, Ohio 48810. Patrick.Dyer@utoledo.edu; toledocedp@yahoo.com or
(419) 340-4902

Cleveland Coalition Against the Death Penalty is a group of religious and secular organizations, working to oppose executions and to abolish capital punishment.
clevedp@yahoo.com or (216) 472-2212

Compassion newsletter works to develop healing communication between capital punishment offenders and murdered victims' families.
compassionondeathrow@msn.com or (419) 874-1333 (Fred Moor, Outside Coordinator)

Correctional Institution Inspection Committee (CIIC)
Committee maintains a bipartisan program of inspection of each state correctional institution. CIIC consists of 8 legislators. Shirley Pope, Director.
cwebmaster@lsc.state.oh.us or (614) 466-6649

CURE, Ohio Chapter of Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants. Focus: Humane treatment of prisoners, fairness in the parole process, less-expensive alternatives to incarceration, and training in job skills for prisoners.
Ohio-CURE, PO BOX 14080, Columbus, OH 43214.

Emerald Phoenix-Entrepreneurial Training & Advocacy. "We hope this will be a place where you can feel at home as you start taking your first steps toward a successful re-entry into society. This group is for anyone with the desire to end the revolving door cycle of our penal system, and to build a dream of a better tomorrow. Come let us build that dream together."

Free Siddique Abdullah Hasan Coalition is an anti-death penalty group in defense of Prisonersolidarity co-editor Siddique Abdullah Hasan. Visit www.FreeHasan.org to access S.A. Hasan personal web site. For more information, contact Saadiqah Amatullah Hasan at:
Saadiqah@FreeHasan.org or (419) 514-7634

Innocent Inmates Association of Ohio is a NGO dedicated to supporting the rights of Ohio citizens who have been imprisoned unjustly and publicizing their cases.
execdirector@innocentinmates.org

Intercommunity Justice & Peace Center Cincinnati is
a coalition of faith-based organizations and individuals who work together to educate around justice issues, take collaborative action and do public witness.
info@ijpc-cincinnati.org or (513) 579-8547 (Alice Gerdeman)

Interfaith Coalition to Stop Executions. We invite leaders of all faith traditions to join us in calling for an immediate moratorium on executions in the State of Ohio, and for the abolition of the death penalty.
3400 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43221
contact@stopexecutions.org OR (614) 224-7147

Justice Watch. Garden Street Transitional Home. Operates transitional homes and gives job training and support services. 1120 Garden St.; Cincinnati, OH 45214.
(513) 241-0490

Cleveland Lucasville Five Defense Committee. The Lucasville Five are five men who were given death sentences in connection with the prison rebellion in Lucasville, Ohio in 1993 in which a guard and 9 prisoners died. None of the Five were responsible for these deaths.
pfcenter@sbcglobal.net OR (216) 481-6671 (Sharon Danann).

Ohio Death Penalty Information Blog (ODPI). News and information relevant to the abolition of the death penalty in Ohio, and also national and federal death penalty news of relevance to abolition in all states including Ohio. Not a discussion list.
audiohoh@aol.com

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Terry Collins; Director. Andrea Dean, Public Information Officer. Inmate Search Engine. Complete phone directory. Bureau of Public Information Press Releases.
andrea.dean@odrc.state.oh.us OR (614) 752-1150

Ohio Innocence Project at the U-Cincinnati College of Law seeks to assist those prison inmates who claim to be actually innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted.
charlotte.cullina@uc.edu or (513) 556-0752 (C. Cullina)
Screening questions

Ohio Justice and Policy Center in Cincinnati works statewide for fair-minded progressive reform of Ohio's Justice system.
contact@ohiojpc.org or (513) 421-1108

Ohio Public Defender's Death Penalty Division maintains a list of people on Ohio's death row, including the race of defendants and victims. OPD maintains a reports section.
(800) 686-1573

Ohioans to Stop Executions was founded in 1987. Its purpose is to end the use of capital punishment in the state of Ohio through education. OTSE maintains a discussion list.
julie@ijpc-cincinnati.org, OTSE.org@gmail.com (Sr. Alice Gerdeman) or (614) 560-0654

Ohio State Penitentiary is Ohio's only supermax prison. OSP also houses the state's death-row inmates. 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Road, Youngstown, OH 44505. Marc Houk, Warden; Keith Fletcher, Public Information Officer
(330) 743-0700-X-2003

Our Fight For Justice. "We encourage you to lend your hearts and ears to the true account of how lies and corruption lead to the conviction of innocent men during the 1993 Lucasville riot." Contact: 3393 East 108th, Cleveland, Ohio 44104.
fight@ourfight4justice.com

Prisonersolidarity.org serves as a catalyst for communication between prisoners and people on "the outside." Prisonersolidarity maintains a discussion list. Contact: PO Box 422; The Plains, OH 45780.
prisonersolidarity-owner@yahoogroups.com

Prison Radio. Prison Radio's mission is to challenge mass incarceration and racism by airing the voices of men and women in prison by bringing their voices into the public dialogue on crime and punishment.

Anti-death penalty groups
Campaign to End the Death Penalty is a national grassroots organization with local chapters committed to the fight to end the death penalty. It publishes The New Abolitionist.
(773) 955-4841 (National office, Chicago)

Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty works to end the death penalty through aggressive public education, and the promotion of tactical grassroots activism.
abe@cuadp.org or (800) 973-6548 (Abe Bonowitz)

Death Penalty Focus is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the abolition of capital punishment through grassroots organizing, research, and the dissemination of information about the death penalty and its alternatives.
lance@deathpenalty.org or (415) 243-0143

Death Penalty Information Center is a great resource on issues concerning the death penalty nationwide. It has a special section dedicated to monitoring the status of the lethal injection legal debate, state-by-state.
dpic@deathpenaltyinfo.org or (202) 289-2275

D.R.I.V.E. was formed in November 2005 seeking to unite the Death Row Community and to first bring about change for everyone caged on Death Row. Inmates are non violently protesting not only for humane conditions but they also protest against their executions, and amazingly others as well when an execution is imminent.
drivemovement@yahoo.com

End to Capital Punishment Movement undertakes research and action focused on raising awareness as to the fundamental injustices of the death penalty, its inherent incompatibility with America’s founding principles and its standing in the world.
fjarolimek@ecpm-us.org (Frank Jarolimek-Proner)

Equal Justice USA kicked off the Moratorium Now! campaign in 1997. The campaign seeks to build momentum for a national moratorium by mobilizing local groups to adopt their own resolutions and to recruit others in their area to join the call. Midwest: eunicetr@quixote.org (Eunice Timoney-Ravenna). ejusa@quixote.org or (301) 699-0042

Journey of Hope...from Violence to Healing is led by murder victim family members joined by death row family members, family members of the executed, the exonerated, and others with stories to tell, that conducts public education speaking tours and addresses alternatives to the death penalty.
bill@journeyofhope.org or (877) 924-4483 (92-4-GIVE)

Moratorium Campaign was founded by Sister Helen Prejean, the author of the noted book, "Dead Man Walking."
Info@moratoriumcampaign.org

Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights is an NGO of family members of victims of criminal murder, terrorist killings, state executions, extrajudicial assassinations, and “disappearances” working to oppose the death penalty from a human rights perspective.
(617) 491-9600

Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation MVFR is a national organization of family members of both homicide and state killings who oppose the death penalty in all cases.
membership@mvfr.org

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty mobilizes people and institutions that reject the state's use of homicide as an instrument of public policy.
delliot@ncadp.org or (202) 543-9577 (David Elliot)

People of Faith Against the Death Penalty is an interfaith organization whose mission is to mobilize faith communities to act to abolish the death penalty in the United States.
Info@pfadp.org or (919) 933-7567

Religious Organizing Against the Death Penalty Project seeks to build a powerful coalition of faith-based activists.
c/o American Friends Service Committee
information@deathpenaltyreligious.org or (215) 241-7130

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty is a grassroots Texas organization comprised of individuals and groups who work to end the death penalty in all cases, everywhere. Contact Vicki McCuistion (Program Coordindator) or Rick Halperin (President).
info@tcadp.org or (512) 441-1808

Lobby groups & think tanks
360 Degrees explores the criminal justice system and its prison population. Through 1st person stories the interactive site takes a critical look at who is in prison today and why.
acorn@picture-projects.com or (212) 226-3099 ext.301

Action Committee for Women in Prison promotes the leadership of and gives voice to women prisoners, former prisoners, and their families. Maintains a Pen Pal Project.
penpal@acwip.net (Jeanne Pieper)

All of Us Or None is a national organizing initiative of prisoners, former prisoners and felons, to combat the many forms of discrimination that we face as the result of felony convictions.
(415) 255-7036

Amnesty International USA works for an end to executions. AI maintains a Death Penalty Web Log.
admin-us@aiusa.org or (212) 807 8400

Books 4 Prisoners Crew Since our founding in 2002 we have sent out over 50,000 prisoner book packages. The group also publishes Inside Out - A Resource Guide for the Incarcerated. Box 19065, Cincinnati, OH 45219
b4pcrew@hotmail.com

Books Not Bars is a California campaign aiming to shut down the state's abusive and costly youth prisons and replace them with alternatives that work – like regional rehabilitation centers and community-based programs.
bnb@booksnotbars.org or (510) 428-3939 x240

Books Through Bars sends progressive political and educational materials at no charge to state and federal prisoners in all states except Michigan and Oregon.
4722 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143
info@booksthroughbars.org or (215) 727.8170

Cageprisoners.com is a non-sectarian Islamic human rights group that raises awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and others held as part of "War on Terror."
Contact@cageprisoners.com

California Prison Focus works to end human rights abuses and torture in California prisons including abolishing the Security Housing Units, to end medical neglect and to insure civil and human rights for all prisoners.
Contact@prisons.org or (415) 252-9211

Center for Constitutional Rights has litigated for Ohio supermax prisoners and for the detainees in Guantanamo Bay. In a 2005 landmark ruling, the US Supreme Court held that prisoners are entitled to due process. CCR continues to represent more than 200 the detainees at Guantánamo Bay Prison, and coordinate a legal network comprised of hundreds of attorneys.
Info@ccr-ny.org or (212) 614-6464

Center on Wrongful Convictions Excellent source for information on wrongful convictions; based in Illinois and a project of Northwest University School of Law.
cwc@law.northwestern.edu

Chicago Books to Women in Prison sends free books to women prisoners in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi and Ohio. C/o Beyond Media Education, 7013 N. Glenwood Ave, Chicago, IL 60626
chicagobwp@hotmail.com

Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons examines the nature and extent of violence, sexual abuse, degradation, and other abuses in American prisons, funded through the Vera Institute of Justice.
aleman@vera.org or (212) 376-3155 (Abbi Leman)

Critical Resistance is opposed to caging and controlling people in prisons, maintaining that prison is not an effective response to poverty and crime. Check out its Ex-Prisoner Resource Page.
rose@criticalresistance.org or (510) 444-0484 (Rose Braz)

CURE, International Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants is a membership organization of families of prisoners, prisoners, former prisoners and other concerned citizens. CURE's two goals are to use prisons only for those who have to be in them and for those who have to be in them, to provide them all the rehabilitative opportunities they need to turn their lives around. National CURE, P.O. BOX 2310, National Capitol Station, Washington, DC 20013-2310
Call (202) 789-2126

Death Penalty Information Center is a great resource on issues concerning the death penalty nationwide. It has a special section dedicated to monitoring the legal situation state-by-state in regard to lethal injection.
dpic@deathpenaltyinfo.org or (202) 289-2275

Defending Justice by Political Research Associates is an Activist Resource Kit that helps progressive activists understand and resist the Right, the State, and other forces that contribute to the growing system of courts, surveillance, policing, and incarceration.
pra@publiceye.org or (617) 666-5300

Education Not Incarceration advocates reprioritizing resources away from prison systems into comprehensive and equitable education for all people. The Oakland (Calif.) based nonprofit group provides an intelligent curriculum page.
ednotinc@riseup.net or (510) 533-3204

Fortune Society staffed primarily by former prisoners, this NGO is dedicated to educating the public about prisons, criminal justice issues, and the root causes of crime.
kkidder@fortunesociety.org or (212) 691-7554

Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut promotes the study of human rights in the USA and
globally. It has hosted conferences on 'Human Rights in an Age of Terrorism', 'Economic Rights' and 'Humanitarian
Narratives of Suffering'.
humanrights@uconn.edu

Human Rights Watch HRW's Prison Project keeps track of prison conditions around the world, international human rights standards, and the prison related activities of the U.N.
hrwdc@hrw.org or (202) 612-4321

Innocence Project at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in New York. Handles only cases of actual innocence provable by DNA testing. See consideration form, or write: Innocence Project 100 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 1001.
info@innocenceproject.org or (212) 364-5340

Justice Denied The magazine for the wrongly convicted is published bi-monthly by The Justice Institute. The only magazine in the world exclusively devoted to publicizing cases of wrongful conviction. Request for JD's information packet to be sent to a prisoner at: info@justicedenied.org
hsherrer@justicedenied.org or 206-335-4254 (Hans Sherrer)

Justice Policy Institute promotes effective solutions to social problems and is dedicated to ending society’s reliance on incarceration. JPI has a new online section, featuring factsheets, research reports and more resources.
ljones@justicepolicy.org or (202) 558-7974

Legal Services For Prisoners With Children advocates for the human rights and empowerment of incarcerated parents, children, family members and people at risk for incarceration.
Info@prisonerswithchildren.org or (415) 255-7036

Prison Activist Resource Center is a source for progressive information on prisons and the criminal prosecution system. Educational and activist resources, news, alerts and analysis.
parc@prisonactivist.org or (510) 893.4648

Prison Design Boycott Campaign: It's Time to Stop Building Prisons. Many architects, designers, and planners already refuse to do prison work as an informal policy. The campaign hopes to raise awareness of the problems with the prison system. Director: Raphael Sperry, www.450architects.com
prisons@adpsr.org OR (415) 974-1306

Prison Book Program covers prisoners in all states but CA, MA, MD, MI, PA, or TX. Publishes the National Prisoner Resource List free to prisoners nationwide on request. Specify several subjects that might be interesting to the person rather than a specific title. Lucy Parsons Bookstore, 1306 Hancock Street, Suite 100, Quincy, MA 02169.
info@prisonbookprogram.org or (617) 423-3298 or

Prison Legal News is a monthly journal edited by former Washington State prisoner Paul Wright that covers prison-related news and analysis. Features a prisoner look-up search engine. Or visit another state-by-state database.
dminiken@prisonlegalnews.org (Don Miniken), Pwright@prisonlegalnews.org (Paul Wright) or (206) 246-1022

Prison Radio’s mission is to challenge mass incarceration and racism by airing the voices of men and women in prison by bringing their voices into the public dialogue on crime and punishment. Audio files of commentaries written by Prisonersolidarity coeditor S. A. Hasan are here.
Info@prisonradio.org or (415) 648-4505

PrisonerLife.com started with an idea conceived by prisoners incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Ft. Dix. They believed there was a need to provide ALL prisoners with an opportunity to communicate with the world, and for their families and friends, as well as the public, to better understand the prison system and the people it holds.
webmaster@prisonerlife.com

PrisonSucks.com is a website with lots of interesting statistics and links to statistical information related to imprisonment.

Real Cost of Prisons Project brings together activists, economists, artists, researchers and people directly experiencing the impact of mass incarceration to create workshops and materials which explore both the immediate and long-term costs of incarceration. Free Comic Books!
lois@realcostofprisons.org (Lois Ahrens, Northampton, MA)

Sentencing Project is a nonprofit organization which promotes reduced reliance on incarceration and increased use of more humane alternatives to deal with crime. mauer@sentencingproject.org or (202) 628-0871 (M. Mauer)

Soros Justice Fellowship The Open Society's US Justice Fund supports the efforts of diverse groups, to mobilize support for alternatives to incarceration and to irrational sentencing and parole policies.
kblack@sorosny.org

Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics provides an easy way to access data that can be difficult to find on governmental sites (Albany State University).

STOPMAX campaign to stop prison isolation and related forms of torture holds up the voices of prisoners in solitary confinement. These prisoners share their with us through letters, pictures and calls or interviews. Organized by the American Friends Services Committee.

Supermaxed.com News, reports and profiles on supermax prisons by New Mexico attorney Paul Livingston.
paul@supermaxed.com

Urban Institute has studied the incarceration boom, questioning the effectiveness of imprisonment as a crime prevention strategy.
(202) 833-7200 ( Susan Brown)