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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

The Brother from Another Planet The Brother from Another Planet
Publisher: Committee to End the Marion LockdownYear: 1986Format: FlyerCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Flyer advertising the 3/15/1986 spaghetti dinner and showing of the John Sayles film.
Letter to Friends Letter to Friends
Author: Beth BartlettPublisher: Committee to end the Marion LockdownYear: 1986Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Letter asking for support 11/20/1986
Open Letter Open Letter
Authors: Daniel Berrigan, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Morton SobellPublisher: Committee to End the Marion LockdownYear: 1986Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Letter to CEML members about 4/18/1986 demonstration and asking for donations, as well as open letter requesting attendance
Letter to Friends Letter to Friends
Publisher: Committee to End the Marion LockdownYear: 1986Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Letter to Friends detailing the Second Conference for Education and Action on 11/1/1986.
Correspondence between Paul Simon and Edward Corwin Correspondence between Paul Simon and Edward Corwin
Authors: Edward Corwin, Paul SimonPublisher: United States SenateYear: 1986Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of letters of Protest and response regarding the Lockdown at Marion and Lewisburg and the appointment of Harold Miller as Warden
Stop the Marion Lockdown! A Conference for Education and Action on the Third Anniversary of the Marion Prison Lockdown Stop the Marion Lockdown! A Conference for Education and Action on the Third Anniversary of the Marion Prison Lockdown
Publisher: Committee to End the Marion LockdownYear: 1986Format: FlyerCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Advertisement for Marion Lockdown third anniversary conference on 11/1/1986.
Demonstrate! March to the Bureau of Prisons at Metropolitan Correctional Center Demonstrate! March to the Bureau of Prisons at Metropolitan Correctional Center
Publisher: Committee to End the Marion LockdownYear: 1986Format: FlyerCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Advertisement for demonstration on 12/6/1986.
The Murder of Fred Hampton The Murder of Fred Hampton
Publisher: Committee to End the Marion LockdownYear: 1986Format: FlyerCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Advertisement for film screening on 12/4/1986
General Petition to US Bureau of Prisons General Petition to US Bureau of Prisons
Publisher: Committee to End the Marion LockdownYear: 1986Format: PetitionCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Regarding conditions and existance of lockdown.
Prison Group Report on Marion: Calls for Continued Monitoring, Report Cites "Uneasy calm" Prison Group Report on Marion: Calls for Continued Monitoring, Report Cites "Uneasy calm"
Author: Ellen S. AlberdingPublisher: John Howard Association; the prison reform groupYear: 1986Format: Press ReleaseCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of press release 1/9/1986. "A 20-page document released today… reports on the prison watchdog's recent inspection of the super-maximum security United States Penitentiary in Marion Illinois."