Campaign of prisoner sabotage hits Mansfield Correctional
In September 2012, copies of a "resistance manual" and flyers promoting "a joyous class war" and sabotage within the prison appeared within Mansfield Correctional Institution (ManCI). According to a conduct report filed against alleged leaders, these materials "instruct inmates to bring the prison system to the brink" by engaging in a wide range of activities. The flyers were distributed by a group calling themselves the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, a reference to a 1990's science fiction film.
The flyers promote three types of activities. First, wasting resources: "run electrical appliance and flush sink water all day" and "demand all food, clothes and medical/dental you are entitled to". Second, damaging prison property: "break machines in the kitchen and OPI... pour salt water in staff computers... cut phone and computer lines... put gum, paperclips, and staples in door locks". Third, broader organizing calls: "gang members to unite against our common enemy" and "steal, sabotage, organize, strike, resist".
The flyers promote three types of activities. First, wasting resources: "run electrical appliance and flush sink water all day" and "demand all food, clothes and medical/dental you are entitled to". Second, damaging prison property: "break machines in the kitchen and OPI... pour salt water in staff computers... cut phone and computer lines... put gum, paperclips, and staples in door locks". Third, broader organizing calls: "gang members to unite against our common enemy" and "steal, sabotage, organize, strike, resist".
Re-examining Lucasville: Essay 4
Summary So Far
So far, I have been discussing the Lucasville uprising as a whole. I’ve asked: Why should we doubt the accuracy of the trial court verdicts? What caused this rebellion, anyway? In what sense can these events be called “tragic”?
Let’s sum up where we have arrived.
In Essay 1 we offered some examples of the unreliability of conclusions asserted by prosecutors in trials after the end of the uprising. Particularly dramatic was the statement of one of the prosecutors (now a state court judge), Daniel Hogan, that we would never know “who hands-on killed the corrections officer, [Robert] Vallandingham. . . . I don’t know. And I don’t think we’ll ever know.” How can the State of Ohio propose to execute three men (Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Jason Robb, and James Were) for the murder of Officer Vallandingham when it doesn’t even know who killed him?
So far, I have been discussing the Lucasville uprising as a whole. I’ve asked: Why should we doubt the accuracy of the trial court verdicts? What caused this rebellion, anyway? In what sense can these events be called “tragic”?
Let’s sum up where we have arrived.
In Essay 1 we offered some examples of the unreliability of conclusions asserted by prosecutors in trials after the end of the uprising. Particularly dramatic was the statement of one of the prosecutors (now a state court judge), Daniel Hogan, that we would never know “who hands-on killed the corrections officer, [Robert] Vallandingham. . . . I don’t know. And I don’t think we’ll ever know.” How can the State of Ohio propose to execute three men (Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Jason Robb, and James Were) for the murder of Officer Vallandingham when it doesn’t even know who killed him?
Fracking Bill of Rights succeeds on ballot in Mansfield and Broadview Heights, Ohio
November 6 marks a tremendous victory for the fracktivists in Mansfield, Ohio. They passed a "Community Bill of Rights" referendum with 62.87% of the vote on Tuesday.
The Center for Health, Environment, and Justice reported this:
"Mansfield is a city with roughly 48,000 citizens located 80 miles southwest of Cleveland and 66 miles northeast of Columbus, right in the heart of the Utica Shale basin. Eric Belcastro, the Pennsylvania Organizer for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), explained the rationale behind the “Bill of Rights” push in a blog post:
Faced with the permitting of two 5,000 foot deep injection wells in Mansfield by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR)…[t]he amendment would drive a community Bill of Rights into Mansfield’s charter and then prohibit the injection of fracking wastewater on grounds that such prohibition is necessary to secure and protect those community rights. The amendment also recognizes corporate “rights” as subordinate to the rights of the people of Mansfield, as well as recognizing the rights of residents, natural communities and ecosystems to clean air and water."
The Center for Health, Environment, and Justice reported this:
"Mansfield is a city with roughly 48,000 citizens located 80 miles southwest of Cleveland and 66 miles northeast of Columbus, right in the heart of the Utica Shale basin. Eric Belcastro, the Pennsylvania Organizer for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), explained the rationale behind the “Bill of Rights” push in a blog post:
Faced with the permitting of two 5,000 foot deep injection wells in Mansfield by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR)…[t]he amendment would drive a community Bill of Rights into Mansfield’s charter and then prohibit the injection of fracking wastewater on grounds that such prohibition is necessary to secure and protect those community rights. The amendment also recognizes corporate “rights” as subordinate to the rights of the people of Mansfield, as well as recognizing the rights of residents, natural communities and ecosystems to clean air and water."
Re-examining Lucasville: Essay 6
Let’s try to visualize the most unfair criminal trial we can imagine. Let’s make a
list of elements that might be part of such an unjust proceeding.
The list might include the following elements.
1. The judge excuses one potential jury member after another who states that he or she could not in good conscience recommend the death penalty.
2. The evidence in support of convicting the defendant consists entirely of testimony by other prisoners.
Each of these elements was present in the trial of George Skatzes, who was found guilty and sentenced to death for the aggravated murder of prisoners Earl Elder and David Sommers. In addition, in the portion of the trial concerning Mr. Elder’s death:
3. Skatzes was sentenced to death for allegedly ordering prisoner Rodger Snodgrass to murder Earl Elder. But Snodgrass, a prosecution witness, testified that Elder was still alive when he left Elder’s cell.
1. The judge excuses one potential jury member after another who states that he or she could not in good conscience recommend the death penalty.
2. The evidence in support of convicting the defendant consists entirely of testimony by other prisoners.
Each of these elements was present in the trial of George Skatzes, who was found guilty and sentenced to death for the aggravated murder of prisoners Earl Elder and David Sommers. In addition, in the portion of the trial concerning Mr. Elder’s death:
3. Skatzes was sentenced to death for allegedly ordering prisoner Rodger Snodgrass to murder Earl Elder. But Snodgrass, a prosecution witness, testified that Elder was still alive when he left Elder’s cell.
Vote totals for Obama and Romney inexplicably decreasing in three Ohio counties
Election monitors are reporting funny numbers coming out of Clark, Columbiana, and Hamilton counties (Ohio). Two of these counties are listed in Ohio Secretary of State Directive 2012-49 as participating in the Secretary of State’s ENR (Election Night Reporting) Pilot Project. The most disturbing numbers are in Clark County where the computers seem to be subtracting numbers from vote totals early in the evening.
What’s currently happening at 12:23am fits the familiar pattern of election theft in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. Here’s the scenario: the exit polls are predicting a Democratic win. The state is called and projected for the Democrat. Suddenly, after 11pm, Karl Rove emerges with supposed “magic numbers” saying “not so fast. I’ve got our own numbers on the ground.” Then what happens is that the projected Democratic victory disappears and numbers that fall outside the margin of error of the exit polls are accepted.
What’s currently happening at 12:23am fits the familiar pattern of election theft in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. Here’s the scenario: the exit polls are predicting a Democratic win. The state is called and projected for the Democrat. Suddenly, after 11pm, Karl Rove emerges with supposed “magic numbers” saying “not so fast. I’ve got our own numbers on the ground.” Then what happens is that the projected Democratic victory disappears and numbers that fall outside the margin of error of the exit polls are accepted.
Join the Free Press and other concerned citizens in Election Defense
The Columbus Free Press is joining with Video the Vote, the Ohio Green Party and dozens of citizen activists around Ohio and the nation to defend voting rights on Election Day 2012.
We have established an operations center in Columbus at the Free Press offices. We will operate from this disclosed location, deploying videographers, accredited poll monitors, lawyers and journalists wherever they are needed on Election Day.
We will record on video any attempts at voter intimidation and harassment.
We will seek injunctions on behalf of citizens wherever their rights are violated.
We monitor the vote precincts to see that no voting machines are tampered with.
We will visually monitor the vote count in selected counties.
Our team of nearly two dozen online monitors will be watching the count for statistical anomalies and catch and record them as they happen.
We will communicate the facts on the ground to the public via stories on our website, video and twitter (follow us @freepressorg).
We will provide in-depth coverage before during and after the election.
We have established an operations center in Columbus at the Free Press offices. We will operate from this disclosed location, deploying videographers, accredited poll monitors, lawyers and journalists wherever they are needed on Election Day.
We will record on video any attempts at voter intimidation and harassment.
We will seek injunctions on behalf of citizens wherever their rights are violated.
We monitor the vote precincts to see that no voting machines are tampered with.
We will visually monitor the vote count in selected counties.
Our team of nearly two dozen online monitors will be watching the count for statistical anomalies and catch and record them as they happen.
We will communicate the facts on the ground to the public via stories on our website, video and twitter (follow us @freepressorg).
We will provide in-depth coverage before during and after the election.
OHIO – VOTE HEIST 2012?
A Columbus press conference on election fraud risks with Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein, Vice Presidential candidate Cheri Honkala, and FreePress.org editor and Green senatorial candidate Bob Fitrakis at the Ohio State House, Oct. 2, 2012.
YouTube Link
YouTube Link
Re-examining Lucasville: Essay 5
Representation on behalf of the five Lucasville defendants condemned to death has been frustrated by the prosecution’s unwillingness to turn over to lawyers for the defense the records of its own interviews with potential witnesses. Finally, during the winter of 2011-2012, lawyers for four of the five capital defendants won the right to see summaries and transcripts of investigators’ interviews (for the most part conducted by officers of the Ohio State Highway Patrol) with Lucasville prisoners. The labor of collecting and evaluating this material has barely begun.
What this, and the several following essays, will report is what can be concluded at this time as to each of the ten murders and the case against each of the five capital defendants.
The Death Squad
All the murders during the eleven days were horrific, inasmuch as they were to some degree premeditated, and were carried out against unarmed and helpless victims.
What this, and the several following essays, will report is what can be concluded at this time as to each of the ten murders and the case against each of the five capital defendants.
The Death Squad
All the murders during the eleven days were horrific, inasmuch as they were to some degree premeditated, and were carried out against unarmed and helpless victims.
Secretary of State’s directive allowing early voting during three days before Election Day long overdue: Lawsuits and voter confusion could have been avoided
Secretary of State Jon Husted’s directive setting expanded statewide early voting hours for all three days before the election is long overdue, but the correct move for Ohio voters. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow a lower court’s order to stand, forced Secretary Husted to issue a directive establishing uniform expanded hours.
“The federal court essentially forced Husted into allowing these early voting days,” said Mike Brickner, director of communications and public policy. “Nevertheless, the end result gives all Ohio voters what they deserve — expanded access to the polls on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday prior to the election.”
“Secretary Husted should have acted much sooner to allow all Ohioans expanded early voting opportunities,” added Brickner. “Instead, he chose to extend the legal fights, leaving early voting undecided and wasting taxpayer dollars on unnecessary lawsuits.”
Husted’s directive allows early voting on the following dates and times:
Saturday, November 3, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 4, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Monday, November 5, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
“The federal court essentially forced Husted into allowing these early voting days,” said Mike Brickner, director of communications and public policy. “Nevertheless, the end result gives all Ohio voters what they deserve — expanded access to the polls on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday prior to the election.”
“Secretary Husted should have acted much sooner to allow all Ohioans expanded early voting opportunities,” added Brickner. “Instead, he chose to extend the legal fights, leaving early voting undecided and wasting taxpayer dollars on unnecessary lawsuits.”
Husted’s directive allows early voting on the following dates and times:
Saturday, November 3, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 4, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Monday, November 5, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Last three days before election early voting reinstated in Ohio...sort of
NPR reported that a federal appeals court on Friday reinstated in-person early voting in the swing state of Ohio on the final three days before Election Day, returning discretion to local boards of elections.
The ruling by the three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati came in a case targeting a state law that ends early voting for most residents on the Friday evening before a Tuesday election. The law makes an exception for military personnel and Ohio voters living overseas.
"The State’s asserted goal of accommodating the unique situation of members of the military, who may be called away at a moment’s notice in service to the nation, is certainly a worthy and commendable goal," the court ruled. "However, while there is a compelling reason to provide more opportunities for military voters to cast their ballots, there is no corresponding satisfactory reason to prevent non-military voters from casting their ballots as well."
The ruling by the three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati came in a case targeting a state law that ends early voting for most residents on the Friday evening before a Tuesday election. The law makes an exception for military personnel and Ohio voters living overseas.
"The State’s asserted goal of accommodating the unique situation of members of the military, who may be called away at a moment’s notice in service to the nation, is certainly a worthy and commendable goal," the court ruled. "However, while there is a compelling reason to provide more opportunities for military voters to cast their ballots, there is no corresponding satisfactory reason to prevent non-military voters from casting their ballots as well."