Remembering the Statehouse's 17-day "sleep-in" protest
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Ohioans don't get much sleep, but one protestor got plenty while carrying out a Statehouse "sleep-in" back in 1978.
Flashback: Rita Warren, a Massachusetts woman who led the Christian Civil Liberties Union, pushed for an Ohio law to mandate that public schools allow a silent moment for prayer.
- After being arrested inside the Statehouse, she returned to the Rotunda and vowed to stay until lawmakers took action.
The intrigue: Warren's group became "fixtures as familiar as portraits of Ohio's governors lining the walls," UPI reported.
- They washed up in public restrooms, ate food from downtown restaurants and passed the time by singing and watching a portable TV.
- Even when Ohio suffered the worst blizzard in state history, they stuck it out and kept warm under piles of blankets.
- There were occasional stunts for attention, like bringing in a donated casket with a sign reading "Here Lies the Voice of America."
State of play: A court order ended the sleep-in after 17 days.
- Warren was still allowed to visit during business hours, and got arrested twice more in the coming weeks.
- Lawmakers ultimately rejected the bill, while Warren failed to get the issue on the ballot.
👀 Warren returned to the headlines later that year for allegedly kidnapping her 3-year-old grandson in a Massachusetts custody dispute.
- She fled to Ohio, but was cleared of wrongdoing.
Ironically, she did spur one legislative act — the Ohio Senate passed the "Rita Warren Bill" in 1979 to prohibit future Statehouse disruptions.
- She became well known for her U.S. Capitol protests, though she had little luck there, either.
Ohio eventually allowed districts to "provide for a moment of silence each school day for prayer."
- A law further protecting students' religious expression was enacted in September 2020, the same month Warren died at the age of 92.