American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a social justice organization of people of faith committed to justice and peace through humanitarian service and political action. It aims to support values of non-violence and justice through the expression of love and divinity of all humans.
This collection focuses specifically on the AFSC's efforts to shut down Control unit prisons in the US, quickly leading to the formation of the National Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons (NCSCUP), a subgroup of AFSC members and concerned community members inside and outside prison walls dedicated to putting an end to the inhumane conditions within Control Units. NCSCUP was founded at a 1994 AFSC gathering of organizations and individuals concerned with the growing number of Control units within US federal penitentiaries. The organization focused primarily educational and awareness efforts surrounding Control units violation of the UN Minimum Standards for the treatment of Prisoners and asserted the use of control units as cruel and unusual punishment.
The Collection includes materials surrounding the educational and legal efforts of the organizations main east coast headquarters and 3 regional branches. The material reflects an extensive partnership between NCSCUP and prisoners, as well as other anti-prison groups.
The Campaign to Abolish Control Unit Prisons. (1995, March 21). Campaign to abolish control
unit prisons. In University of Massachusetts. Retrieved July 26, 2012, from http://people.umass.edu/kastor/groups/nacun/c.u.pamphlet.html
American Friends Service Committee. (1994, June 19). Mission and values. In American Friends Service Committee. Retrieved July 26, 2012, from http://afsc.org/mission-and-values
American Friends Service Committee. (2011, July). CA prisoners end hunger strike as officials vow positive changes. In American Friends Service Committee. Retrieved July 26, 2012, from http://www.afsc.org/story/ca-prisoners-risk-death-challenge-isolation-policies
This collection focuses specifically on the AFSC's efforts to shut down Control unit prisons in the US, quickly leading to the formation of the National Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons (NCSCUP), a subgroup of AFSC members and concerned community members inside and outside prison walls dedicated to putting an end to the inhumane conditions within Control Units. NCSCUP was founded at a 1994 AFSC gathering of organizations and individuals concerned with the growing number of Control units within US federal penitentiaries. The organization focused primarily educational and awareness efforts surrounding Control units violation of the UN Minimum Standards for the treatment of Prisoners and asserted the use of control units as cruel and unusual punishment.
The Collection includes materials surrounding the educational and legal efforts of the organizations main east coast headquarters and 3 regional branches. The material reflects an extensive partnership between NCSCUP and prisoners, as well as other anti-prison groups.
The Campaign to Abolish Control Unit Prisons. (1995, March 21). Campaign to abolish control
unit prisons. In University of Massachusetts. Retrieved July 26, 2012, from http://people.umass.edu/kastor/groups/nacun/c.u.pamphlet.html
American Friends Service Committee. (1994, June 19). Mission and values. In American Friends Service Committee. Retrieved July 26, 2012, from http://afsc.org/mission-and-values
American Friends Service Committee. (2011, July). CA prisoners end hunger strike as officials vow positive changes. In American Friends Service Committee. Retrieved July 26, 2012, from http://www.afsc.org/story/ca-prisoners-risk-death-challenge-isolation-policies
Documents
Break the Cycle: Mass Incarceration of Women, Bodies, Families and communities
Publisher: Bonnie Kerness, American Friends Service CommitteeYear: 2004Format: TranscriptCollection: American Friends Service Committee
Discusses the incarceration of women and juvanile sin control unit style correctional facilities. Includes accounts of abuse and neglect.
US Abuse of International Human Rights Standards
Publisher: Bonnie Kerness, American Friends Service CommitteeYear: 2000Format: TranscriptCollection: American Friends Service Committee
discusses US compliance with international agreements against torture, and US prison policy and the proliferation of control unit prisons. Kerness history in community organizing; conditions of control unit prisons discussed through anecdote; Use of extended isolation; Racially targeted policies;
United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Descrimination Against Women
Publisher: Bonnie Kerness, American Friends Service CommitteeYear: 2005Format: TranscriptCollection: American Friends Service Committee
Discusses the incarceration of women and juvanile sin control unit style correctional facilities. Includes accounts of abuse and neglect.
Campaign to Abolish Control Unit Prisons: History of Control Units
Publisher: Campaign to Abolish Control Unit PrisonsYear: 1995Format: ArticleCollection: American Friends Service Committee
Includes definition of Control Unit, History of campaign, statement of purpose and structure of campaign organzation. Virtual holdings only. Original item found at http://people.umass.edu/~kastor/groups/nacun/c.u.pamphlet.html
Rutgers Senior Seminar in Social Work
Publisher: Bonnie Kerness, American Friends Service CommitteeYear: 2000Format: TranscriptCollection: American Friends Service Committee
Explores associations between community organizing and social work and how this plays out in the fight for prisoners' rights.
Best Practices and Human Rights in Supermax Prisons: A Dialogue
Publisher: Bonnie Kerness, American Friends Service CommitteeYear: 2001Format: TranscriptCollection: American Friends Service Committee
Mission, direction and accomplishments of the AFSC. Includes excerpts from inmate letters.
Torture in America: Abuse of Human Rights in the United States
Publisher: Bonnie Kerness, American Friends Service CommitteeYear: 2000Format: TranscriptCollection: American Friends Service Committee
Presented at Simmons College. Kerness history in community organizing; conditions of control unit prisons discussed through anecdote; Use of extended isolation; Racially targeted policies;
Prison Labor
Publisher: Bonnie Kerness, American Friends Service CommitteeYear: 1999Format: MonographCollection: American Friends Service Committee
Discusses prison labor as "neo-slavery"; torture as a device; racially targeted policy and practice.
Turning the Tables on US Abuse of International Human rights Standards: Exploring Ways to Use International Treaties and Covenants in Domestic Litigation
Publisher: Bonnie Kerness, American Friends Service CommitteeYear: 1999Format: TranscriptCollection: American Friends Service Committee
Presented at the National Conference of Black Lawyers 10/1999. Quotes from letters of inmates, discusses US compliance with international agreements against torture, and US prison policy and the proliferation of control unit prisons.
National Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons How To Packet
Publisher: National Campaign to Stop control Unit PrisonsFormat: PamphletCollection: American Friends Service Committee
Includes forms for gathering information on nearby control units, conditions of living and incarceration; Copy of Essay "From Alcatraz to Marion to ADX Florence: The Nightmare Escalates" by Jan Susler; Weinstein, Dr. Corey M.D. "Fighting the American Gulag." Third Force v.2 n.6 Jan/Feb. 1995 pp. 24-27.
