Search Results
Lexington Prison Interviews (1987)
Date: 5/1/1987Call Number: PM 184AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberCollection: Lexington Control Unit for Women
Political prisoners Alejandrina Torres, Silvia Baraldini, and Susan Rosenberg describe their living conditions at the control unit of the federal women’s prison in Lexington which opened in 1986: radical isolation, constant surveillance, sensory deprivation, no personal property, limited visits, etc.
Defined by the government as the most dangerous women in prison for their political activities in various anti-war and liberation movements, Torres, Baraldini, and Rosenberg have been subjected to a sophisticated kind of psychological torture. According to them they have been used as examples of the consequences to be expected if one challenges the hegemony of US power.
The interviews stress the importance of public pressure to have the unit closed.
Lexington Prison Interviews (1987)
Date: 5/1/1987Call Number: PM 185AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberCollection: Lexington Control Unit for Women
Same as PM 184
Political prisoners Alejandrina Torres, Silvia Baraldini, and Susan Rosenberg describe their living conditions at the control unit of the federal women’s prison in Lexington which opened in 1986: radical isolation, constant surveillance, sensory deprivation, no personal property, limited visits, etc.
Defined by the government as the most dangerous women in prison for their political activities in various anti-war and liberation movements, Torres, Baraldini, and Rosenberg have been subjected to a sophisticated kind of psychological torture. According to them they have been used as examples of the consequences to be expected if one challenges the hegemony of US power.
The interviews stress the importance of public pressure to have the unit closed.
Florence Prison and the Fight to Free Oscar Lopez
Date: 1/20/1995Call Number: JG/ 075AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Lugo Lopez and Alejandro Molina of the National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War (Chicago) protesting the imprisonment of Oscar Lopez, sentenced to 75+ years on seditious conspiracy charges for his political work in Puerto Rico.
Mass Incarceration and Control Units in Prisons: Mind Control or Social Control? CEML #3
Date: 10/21/1995Call Number: PM 345AFormat: Cass AProducers: Committee to End the Marion LockdownCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
A program sponsored by the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown (CEML), an organization dedicated to closing the control units at Marion Prison. Nancy Kurshan of CEML introduces Jose Lopez, Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, member of the Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional, and brother of political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera. He discusses the connections between American colonialism/imperialism and the extensive use of prisons in the US.
This tape is a continuation of PM 336.
Transcript available for download.
Marion Prison and Inmate Interviews
Call Number: V 337Format: VHSCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Inside USP Marion features interviews with prisoners, including Oscar Lopez Rivera and Sekou Odinga. Guards and other prison personnel are also interviewed.
Shut Down the Control Units
Date: 1/1/1988Call Number: V 375Format: VHSProducers: Committee to End the Marion LockdownCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
US policies at Marion violate the United Nation's Standard Minimum Rules for Treatment of Prisoners that were established for countries like Chile and South Africa. The control units at Marion often are used to silence political prisoners and those demanding prisoners rights.
Medical Neglect, Control Units, Women in Prison - Part 1
Date: 10/21/1996Call Number: CD 788Format: CDProducers: Prison Activist Resource Center - PARCProgram: On the OutsideCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Judy Greenspan, director of HIV/AIDS in Prison Project, discusses compassionate release and women with AIDS. Also Catherine Campbell, an attorney with California Prison Focus, discusses the culture of violence at prisons, verbal provocations by the guards, mandates to confine members of rival gangs in same yard. Jean Stewart from the Disabled Prisoners' Justice Fund discusses the Armstrong case and the growing, neglected population of disabled prisoners and its causes. Karen Shain from Legal Services for Prisoners with Children speaks about women in prison and the class action law suits that are filed for work release, prenatal care, mother and infant programs, HIV. Herman Bell of the New York Three and former member of the Black Panther Party, discusses the need for support of political prisoners.
CEML Program (10-21-1995) Keynote Address
Date: 10/21/1995Call Number: V 620Format: VHSProducers: CEMLCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
MC Nancy Kurshan, speakers Dr. Alan Berkman, Nozomi Ikuta, and Jose Lopez. Topics discussed include proliferation of the criminal justice system and control units, control units and social control, physical and psychological conditions in control units, and prisons as reflections of America as a colonial power and its historical roots in racism and white power. There is also a taped video statement by Sanyika Shakur and his 60 minutes interview is shown.
Transcript available for download.
CEML: Marion Conf 10-24-1987 Tape #3
Date: 10/24/1987Call Number: V 622Format: VHSProducers: CEMLCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Footage of a model control unit cell followed by the judges all speaking and rendering verdicts. Moderator: Nancy Kurshan. Judges: Betty Balanoff, Darla Bradley, Dave Dellinger, Bernard Headley, Sister Jean Hughes, Morton Sobell, Akinyela Umoja.
Message from Political Prisoners
A compilation of statements by political prisoners speaking out against the proliferation of control units in the US.
