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Committee to End the Marion Lockdown

The Committee to End the Marion Lockdown (CEML) was a movement organization that opposed control unit prisons in particular, and racism and oppression in general. It was founded in 1985 and came to a close in 2000. Over the course of those 15 years, CEML led and organized hundreds of educational programs and demonstrations in many parts of the country and tried to build a national movement against “end-of-the-line” prisons. Along the way the Committee wrote thousands of pages of educational and agitational literature and pioneered new ways of analyzing and fighting against this national quagmire that morphed into the proliferation of the “prison industrial complex.”

Collection includes: Publications on their efforts to shut down the Marion Prison control unit, prevent the opening of USP Florence, CO; protests against toxic water at Crab Orchard Lake; efforts to improve conditions for inmates; efforts to stop the proliferation of Control Units in general; and further human rights and social justice in the US prison system.

Kurshan, N. (2012). OUT OF CONTROL: A Chronological Narrative of the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown's 15 Year Struggle (manuscript ed., p. 1).

Documents

Correspondence to CEML Correspondence to CEML
Author: J. Michael QuinlanPublisher: US Department of Justice: Federal Bureau of PrisonsYear: 1990Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Letter in response to petition concerning the quality of water being supplied to the United States Penitentiary, Marion, ILL.
Suggested Timetable for the Spring Offensive Around the Water at Marion Suggested Timetable for the Spring Offensive Around the Water at Marion
Publisher: Committee to End the Marion LockdownYear: 1990Format: AgendaCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Task list and relevant dates
Correspondence to Steve Whitman Correspondence to Steve Whitman
Author: Dick ClappYear: 1990Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
2/5/1990 letter detailing Clapp's research into the water quality at Marion.
Correspondence to Alan Berkman Correspondence to Alan Berkman
Author: Steve WhitmanYear: 1990Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
2/1/1990 letter to Alan detailing proposal to concentrate on t5he effort to change USP Marion's water supply from Crab Orchard
Correspondence to Tim Blunk Correspondence to Tim Blunk
Author: Steve WhitmanYear: 1990Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
1/26/1990 letter in response to requests for literature.
Correspondence to Kimberly Fitzgerald Correspondence to Kimberly Fitzgerald
Author: Kenneth P. MoritsuguPublisher: US Department of Justice: Federal Bureau of PrisonsYear: 1990Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of 1/24/1990 letter regarding allegations concerning the domestic water reservoir which supplies the United States Penitentiary Marion. References EPA and Clean Water Act. Defends Crab Orchard reservoir as uncontaminated.
Correspondence to Honorable Robert Kastenmeier Re: USP Marion Correspondence to Honorable Robert Kastenmeier Re: USP Marion
Author: Jan SuslerPublisher: People's Law OfficeYear: 1990Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of 1/10/1990 letter to Congressman Kastenmeier regarding conditions at USP Marion.
Correspondence to Steven Whitman Correspondence to Steven Whitman
Author: Tim BlunkYear: 1990Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
1/21/1990 letter requesting press packet and brochures from CEML
Twelve Month Plan for Work Around Marion Twelve Month Plan for Work Around Marion
Authors: Nancy Kurshan, Steve WhitmanPublisher: Committee to End the Marion LockdownYear: 1990Format: AgendaCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
1/10/1990 Strategic plan by quarter
Letter to Jan Letter to Jan
Author: AlanYear: 1990Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of 1/28 letter.