Activists, families rally for prisoner rights

Speaker Theresa Lyons of LOOP whose grandson is on death row.

On June 21, the Cleveland Lucasville 5 Defense Committee and LOOP (Loved Ones Of Prisoners) held another in a series of protest rallies at Ohio State Penitentiary, the supermax prison where most of Ohio’s nearly 200 death-sentenced prisoners are held. Family members, friends and supporters gathered to raise the demands: “No more executions! Contact visits for death-sentenced prisoners—a hug should be a human right!”

The spirit of the crowd was lifted with songs, prayers and reminders of the progress the campaigns are starting to make.One of the Lucasville-uprising prisoners had a contact visit with his mother over Mother’s Day weekend, and was able to hug her for the first time in 15 years. Names of beloved prisoners, including Mumia Abu-Jamal, were written on balloons of all colors, which were then released into the air with powerful thoughts of freedom for them all.

—Report and photo Sharon Danaan