Events Calendar

Coalition Members

Fact Sheets

Ongoing Initiatives

  • Family Support Initiative:
    • Working to build a network of support groups for families of the incarcerated
  • Reentry Support Initiative:
    • Working to publicize the obstacles to successful reentry and to support strategies that prevent recidivism
  • Drug Policy Initiative:
    • Educating and moblizing the public about the wide-ranging impact of drug policies and prohibition

For more information email Cynthia.Ingham@utoledo.edu

Press

Recommended Articles

Prison-related links

Ohio Organizations:

National Organizations:

Toledoans for Prison Awareness

Toledoans for Prison Awareness is a coalition of groups and individuals united by a common goal: to bring the human and institutional crisis of the prisons out of the shadows and into the foreground of policy debate, public awareness, and community ministry.

What we do: TPA facilitates initiatives pursued by coalition participants to build a concerned constituency and to promote co-sponsored events. A "Prison Awareness Week" will be held at The University of Toledo, April 8-13, 2013, as a focal point for coalition efforts to educate the public about the issues and give voice to those affected and those working on solutions.
(The events in April will spotlight the Re-examining the Lucasville Uprising Conference to be held in Columbus.)

Before there can be reform, there has to be awareness. And awareness requires education.

Toledoans for Prison Awareness POTLUCK

  • Wednesday, May 15
  • 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
  • St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
  • 2770 West Central Avenue
  • Toledo, OH
  • (in the Westgate area–across the street from Foodtown. Parking lot on Chollett)

Bring something to share or just bring yourself! We seek community and conversation about where we should go from here in the many-faceted project of “prison awareness.”

Sponsored Events

All events are free and open to the public. No registration is required.
Parking in Lot 13 and West Parking Garage off Campus Dr. (Map)

Prison Awareness Week and Conference:
April 8-13, 2013

Prison art will remain on display and for sale through Thursday, 4-18 at Third Space, 137 N Michigan. You can view samples here and here. Purchases will benefit the artists.

  • Monday, April 8: Facts and Faces of America's Prisons  (flyer)

    • 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Info tables in Student Union: the carceral state, the human cost

    • 4:30 p.m. Student Union Room 2591
      Documentary: The Great Incarcerator, Part 1: Dark Little Secret
      Filmmaker Derrick A. Jones will be present at the screening.
      Jones is assistant director, Arts Village Living Learning Community, and instructor of theatre and film at Bowling Green State University.

    • 6:00 p.m. Student Union Room 2591
      Presentation on prison abolition.
      Ben Turk, Red Bird Prison Abolition Project

  • Tuesday, April 9: Drug Policy and Civil Rights  (flyer)

    • 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Info tables in Student Union: legacy of the "war on drugs"

    • 4:30 p.m. Student Union Room 2591
      Civil Rights, Public Health, and Prisons
      Speaker: Rob Salem, Clinical Professor, University of Toledo College of Law

    • 7:00 p.m. McQuade Law Auditorium
      Speaker: "Why Some Cops Say Legalize Drugs," Capt. Howard Rahtz, ret., Cincinnati Police Dept., representing L.E.A.P. (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition); sponsored by U.T. Libertarians. (flyer)

    • Prison Art Display and sale
      Third Space, 137 N. Michigan, Toledo, Ohio
      Tues.—Sat. 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
      Purchases will benefit the artists.

  • Wednesday, April 10: Women & Families Behind Prison Walls  (flyer)

    • 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Info tables in Student Union: women's issues, the toll on families and communities

    • 4:30 p.m. Student Union Room 2591
      Marysville: Women's Prisons, Women's Issues
      Speakers: Mary Dwyer and Joe Clark: Two long-time activists will reflect on their many years of involvement with Ohio Reformatory for Women at Marysville, including the founding of the LIFE Group (support for women with life sentences).

    • 6:30 p.m. St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 2770 West Central Ave., Toledo, OH
      Support Networks for Families of the Incarcerated
      Joyce Pierce, Families Behind Bars; Germaine Kirk, Catholic Charities Diocese of Toledo; and Rob Hatcher, former inmate.

  • Thursday, April 11: Voices from Prison  (flyer)

    • 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Info tables in Student Union: prison writings, famous prisoners

      4:30 p.m. Student Union Room 2582
      Voices from Prison/History from the Inside Out
      Siddique Abdullah Hasan, on death row for his alleged leadership role in the 1993 uprising at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, will be speaking live by telephone (or prerecorded) during the first ten minutes of the session.

      Then join Dr. Peter Linebaugh, Dept. of History, The University of Toledo, in a conversation with Lucasville "survivors" Ishaq Alkhair and Abdush Shakur.
      Dr. Linebaugh will also offer his reflections on "Prison History from the Inside Out."

  • Friday. April 12: Conference  (flyer)

    "The Prison System: At Large and At Home"
    Libbey Hall, UT Main Campus

    • 9:30 a.m.

      Libbey Hall opens
      Coffee and beverages available

    • 10:00 a.m. Panel: The Prison System At Large

      Introductions

      Dr. Renee Heberle,
      "Mass Incarceration and American Exceptionalism"
      Heberle is associate professor, Department of Political Science, and co-director, Program in Law and Social Thought, at The University of Toledo. She helped launch the Inside/Out Prison Exchange Program between the UT campus and the Toledo Correctional Facility.

      Mike Brickner,
      " Liberty for Sale: An Inside Look at Prisons for Profit"
      Director of Communications and Public Policy,
      ACLU of Ohio, Brickner has worked at the ACLU for nine years, and has been an outspoken advocate on prison issues such as privatization, solitary confinement, mental health treatment, the death penalty, and sentencing reform. He has appeared in media on private prisons ranging from The Huffington Post, Democracy Now!, and the American Bar Association Human Rights Magazine.

      Richard M. Kerger, Attorney at Law
      "Our Prison System: A Failure in Every Aspect"
      Kerger has handled trials and appeals for 40 years. He has been in countless federal and state prisons and corresponded with inmates in even more. He regards the present prison system as one of our country's worst tragedies, a social Vietnam.

    • 12:00 p.m. Break (Light snacks and beverages provided.)

    • 1:00 p.m. Roundtable: The Prison System At Home
      Moderator: Dr. Lynn Bachelor
      Associate professor of Political Science and Public Administration

      • Pastor Waverly Earley, Wesley UMC (Citizens Circles)
      • Deborah Hodges, Court Administrator, Lucas County Juvenile Court
      • Pastor Karen Shepler, Monroe Street UMC
      • Jim Prager, TASC of Northwest Ohio
      • Ed Sheldon, Warden, Toledo Correctional Institution

    • 3:00 p.m. Break

    • 3:15 p.m. Panel: Healing and Hope

      • Dr. Morris Jenkins
        Restorative Justice and Prison Reform
        Chair, Department of Criminal Justice and Social Work; Associate Professor in Criminal Justice
      • Aaron Thomas Kinzel, MPA
        The Triumph and Tragedy of a Convicted Felon

    • 5:00 p.m. Discussion: Where do we go from here?

      Free Soup and Salad meal at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, half a mile away at 2770 West Central Avenue. All are invited to participate.

Saturday, April 13: Inside/Out: Breaking Down the Walls that Divide

  • 9:00 a.m. Meeting inside Toledo Correctional Institution

    Open to the public (Those interested must RSVP to renee.heberle@utoledo.edu by April 10 to gain entry into the prison.)

    Agenda: Inside/Out Prison Exchange Program: Local, Regional, National

  • Noon: Improvisational theatre by inmate group

    People for Change Troupe–about their experiences in general, in prison, and with prison programming.

The community meeting inside Toledo Correctional Institution has been postponed to May 11. If you are still interested, please contact renee.heberle@utoledo.edu.

Coalition Groups

While individual coalition members have broad agendas, some aspect of their objectives intersect with the goal of raising public awareness about the prison crisis and/or its impact in Toledo.

  • UT Community

    • School for Interdisciplinary Studies

    • Departments of Criminal Justice; Social Work; History;
      Philosophy and Religious Studies

    • UT Inside/Out Prison Exchange Program

    • Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society

    • U.T. Libertarians

  • ACLU-Ohio (Northwest Chapter)

  • Move to Amend (Toledo)

  • Lucas County Libertarian Party