On May 7, 2010, RWC Criminal Justice students, led by Professor Marilyn Simon, visited the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio. The Lucasville prison is the home of the “Death House,” where all Ohio death row inmates are executed. Each of the students interviewed described their visit as a “powerful experience.” As their visit began, student Daniel Bennett noted that the first thing he noticed was “the scent inside of the building, even though it was clean.” A feeling of somberness also greeted the students.
Reil Becker described it this way: “In classes, we learn about the system and the prisons, and get a conceptual understanding of their operation and function. However, when you see one firsthand and aren’t a resident of the facility, your appreciation for life changes in an instant. Suddenly your freedom is a little sweeter and more important to you because you see how these people, whoever they were on the outside, are forced to spend their lives now.”
The students visited different levels of security within the prison, even where their cells were small, windowless blocks. These cells housed inmates who were a threat to other inmates.
Holly Retherford remarked that the assistant warden, Mr. Greene, insisted that they must “always treat the inmates like you want to be treated,” because although they are in prison, “they are still humans.”
Bennett described the death chamber as the most intriguing part of the visit. “It wasn’t what you would expect. It’s a small bed, clean but not comfortable, with straps on the side.” Retherford remarked that seeing the room humbled her. “I supported the death penalty before the visit, but I don’t anymore.”
Others described the sobriety at seeing the inmates and the room. “It makes you feel badly for them,” Retherford recounted.
Becker summed the trip up this way: “Many walked away with a new appreciation for personal freedom, some walked away with a new sense of determination and drive to better themselves, and some walked away a little more somber than they were walking in. Suddenly prison is a much more serious issue than it was before. Being allowed to enter and leave a maximum security prison in the same day without any other contact with the Justice System is a powerful sensation, and one we aren’t likely to forget soon.