PMCP Sponsors Talk on Lucasville Prison Riot

Art Tate, the warden at Lucasville prison during the prisoner rebellion in 1993 was on campus on Wednesday, March 28 to present a discussion of the causes and consequences of the Lucasville Prison Riot. The lecture was held in the large moot courtroom of the law school. Dr. Jo Ann Scott and the Prison Management Certificate Program brought Tate to campus and reports of his talk were also broadcast on WLIO in Lima.

Tate began by describing the conditions that led to the riot, including rampant violence and drug use among prisoners, aided by the casual attitude and outright illegal activities of some staff. The riot was precipitated when Muslim and Skinhead prisoners joined in common cause to resist efforts to test all prisoners for tuberculosis. When news of the plan to begin testing leaked, the prisoners in one cell block rioted, killing several of their fellow prisoners and one guard.

Tate told an nearly overflow audience made up of PMCP officers, law students, and other students that the riot ended when security forces closed off the cell block and many of the Muslim prisoners were granted the ability to transfer to another prison.

photos by Jose Nogueras of ONU Communication and Marketing