Compassion Background

Death row inmates developed Compassion in response to a suggestion by Siddique Abdullah Hasan, who is on death row in Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown. Through a mutual contact, Hasan connected with Fred Moor of St. Rose Parish, who agreed to oversee publication. Death row inmates from around the country collaborated to establish the non-profit organization.
The inmates wanted to publish a newsletter that would develop healing communication between capital punishment offenders and murdered victims' families, and give offenders a forum to express compassionate and introspective feelings. They also wanted to establish a college scholarship fund for family members of murdered victims.
"In no way are the scholarships to the immediate family members of murdered victims meant to atone for the loss they have experienced," Hasan wrote in his first editorial. "Scholarships are…a compassionate gesture to those who have had a significant and unfortunate tragedy befall them."
Compassion published its first issue in July 2001. To date, the inmates have awarded over $21,000 in scholarships and have begun a new award cycle. The glossy, eight-page newsletter focuses on positive contributions by death row inmates and their desire to help others. It does not print accounts of individual cases, complaints about prison or the judicial system, or opinions on the death penalty.
No inmates receive money or special consideration for their stories, donations, or editing services. All inmate participation is voluntary.
The inmates' focus and ultimate objective is to genuinely foster reconciliation between prisoners and the immediate family members of murdered victims. Compassion urges prisoners to set a new standard of moral decency for themselves.
Hasan stepped down as editor after the March issue, and Dennis Skillicorn, 45, was named as his replacement. Skillicorn, a Missouri death row inmate, is a member of the Hospice program, Inmate Council and Christian Men's Council at Potosi Correctional Center. He is co-founder of 4-H LIFE (Living Interactive Family Education) and works for the Set Free Ministry. He is active in ongoing restorative justice projects at the prison that benefit youth, the elderly, and crime victims.
Under Skillicorn, Compassion continues to promote restorative justice and reconciliation. "This is an opportunity for us to have a voice and express our overwhelming desire to give back to society," Skillicorn said. "In the process, Compassion gives every one of us - regardless of our living conditions - an opportunity to restore some of what we've torn down."
Submissions to Compassion are written by men and women across the United States who have been sentenced to death. Editors as well as members of the editorial and advisory boards are capital punishment offenders from Missouri and several other states. Past stories have featured positive programs that involve death row inmates and essays from murder victims' family members.
Copies of Compassion are provided free to death row inmates. Subscriptions are available to readers on the outside. Approximately half of the donations and proceeds pay for publication and distribution. Along with designated donations, the remaining half funds the college scholarships.
Members of St. Rose Parish handle all money transactions. No inmate has access to any of the Compassion funds.
The letters and articles published in Compassion show the humanity of death row inmates and this is reflected throughout the publication, Moor said.
"Death row prisoners are not the sum of the worst act in their lives and they have potential to cultivate and achieve good," Moor said. "Many [contributors] express that it has helped them in moving forward in a positive direction and through their writings many are able to help others." Victims' family members who are interested in applying for a scholarship should contact Compassion at 140 South Boundary Street, Perrysburg, Ohio, 43551, or call (419) 874-1333.