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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

Flyer Advertising No Supermax Prison T-Shirts Flyer Advertising No Supermax Prison T-Shirts
Publisher: Committee to End the Marion LockdownYear: 1993Format: FlyerCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
From Alcatraz to Marion to Florence: Control Unit Prisons in the United States From Alcatraz to Marion to Florence: Control Unit Prisons in the United States
Authors: Fay Dowker, Glenn GoodYear: 1993Format: MonographCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Treatise on the history and conditions of Alcatraz and Marion USP. Version also available in Journal of Prisoners on Prisons. 4(2) 1993. Digital version available through external source
Letter to Douglas Dougherty: Appendix G: Maxed Out Letter to Douglas Dougherty: Appendix G: Maxed Out
Publisher: Illinois TimesYear: 1993Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Campaign to Stop the Illinois Supermax Prison: A Response to Governor Edgar's Illinois Task Force on Crime and Corrections Campaign to Stop the Illinois Supermax Prison: A Response to Governor Edgar's Illinois Task Force on Crime and Corrections
Publisher: Committee to End the Marion LockdownYear: 1993Format: ReportCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction. Originally published September, 1993.
State Expected to Address Crime Problem With a Super Max State Expected to Address Crime Problem With a Super Max
Publisher: All Chicago City NewsYear: 1993Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of article from 1/24/1993 issue. Review of CEML's opinions on Supermax - especially Gov. Jim Edgar's appointed Illinois task for on Crime and Corrections.
Open and Shut Case: Prison Space Needed Open and Shut Case: Prison Space Needed
Publisher: Chicago Sun-TimesYear: 1993Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of editorial piece in 3/29/1993 issue discussing the need for more prison space in IL.
Maybe We should Bar failed Prison Policies Maybe We should Bar failed Prison Policies
Author: Nancy KurshanPublisher: Chicago Sun-TimesYear: 1993Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of article from 4/8/1993 issue. Response to Editorial "Open and Shut Case: Prison Space Needed" on 3/29/1993.
Prison: town Takes Good With Bad Prison: town Takes Good With Bad
Author: Laurie GeoringPublisher: Chicago TribuneYear: 1993Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of newspaper clipping. Article on opinions of the Tamms, Ill. Community on the building of a Supermax prison in the area. 10/24/1993
Supermaximum Prison Peril Warned Supermaximum Prison Peril Warned
Author: Eric ChristansonPublisher: Chicago TribuneYear: 1993Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of article from 5/19/1993. Piece on CEML's campaign against opening of Supermax prison in Springfield, IL..