Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons Records, 1974-1990

Collection Number: 04655

Collection Title: Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons Records, 1974-1990

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.

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Size	3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2000 items)
Abstract	The Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons was organized in 1974 with the missions of abolishing the death penalty, stopping prison construction and dependency on incarceration, developing alternatives to incarceration, and protecting the human and civil rights of prisoners. The Coalition was active in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Kentucky until the early 1990s. Records include scattered office files of memos, quarterly reports from affiliate state organizations, newspaper clippings, materials relating to the execution of specific individuals, issues of the Coalition newsletter and of other prison and criminal justice reform groups, and miscellaneous short writings apparently collected by Coalition staff. Topics covered include prison reform, capital punishment, prisoners' rights, and criminal justice reform in general, and other materials. The affiliated state organizations represented are the Alabama Prison Project, the Clearinghouse on Georgia Prisons and Jails, the Florida Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, the Kentucky Prisoners' Support Council, the Louisiana Coalition on Jails and Prisons, the North Carolina Prison and Jail Project, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Project, and the Southern Prison Ministry.
Creator	Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons (U.S.)
Curatorial Unit	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language	English

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Restrictions to Access: No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice: Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], in the Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons Records #4655, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information: Received from the Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons through Lao Rubert of the Carolina Justice Policy Center, Durham, N.C., in March 1993 (Acc. 93050).

Sensitive Materials Statement: Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

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Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, May 1993

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, March 2020

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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

Expand/collapse Historical Information

The Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons was organized in 1974 with the missions of abolishing the death penalty, stopping prison construction and dependency on incarceration, developing alternatives to incarceration, and protecting the human and civil rights of prisoners. Initially, the Coalition was active in six southern states: North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. By 1977, it was also active in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Kentucky. Over its history, the Coalition operated with as many as ten and as few as four member organizations, among them the Alabama Prison Project, the Clearinghouse on Georgia Prisons and Jails, the Florida Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, the Kentucky Prisoners' Support Council, the Louisiana Coalition on Jails and Prisons, the North Carolina Prison and Jail Project, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Project, the Southern Prison Ministry, and the Delta Ministry.

Operating with an executive director and central office in Nashville, Tenn., the Coalition produced a quarterly newsletter and sponsored project coordinators in member states. Each project coordinator was charged with identifying persons and groups in his or her state that shared the Coalition's goals and organizing these individuals and groups into local coalitions to develop education programs on prison and criminal justice reform, to identify and prioritize the needs of state and federal prisoners in their locality, to identify and prioritize areas in need of immediate change or reform within the criminal justice and penal systems, and to formulate and implement plans of action aimed at bringing about the necessary changes.

The Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons and its member organizations were financed by contributions from individuals and by grants from various private funding agencies. Some of the constituent organizations have apparently survived the demise in the early 1990s of the Coalition.

Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Records include scattered office files of memos, quarterly reports from affiliate state organizations, newspaper clippings, materials relating to the execution of specific individuals, issues of the Coalition newsletter and of other prison and criminal justice reform groups, and miscellaneous short writings apparently collected by Coalition staff. Topics covered include prison reform, capital punishment, prisoners' rights, and criminal justice reform in general, and other materials. The affiliated state organizations represented are the Alabama Prison Project, the Clearinghouse on Georgia Prisons and Jails, the Florida Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, the Kentucky Prisoners' Support Council, the Louisiana Coalition on Jails and Prisons, the North Carolina Prison and Jail Project, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Project, and the Southern Prison Ministry.

Contents list

Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

1. Administrative and Subject Files, 1974-1990.
2. Writings and Other Topical Files, 1970s and undated.

Expand/collapse Series 1. Administrative and Subject Files, 1974-1990.

Arrangement: Alphabetical

Folder 1	ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union): Capital Punishment Project, 1978-1979 Testimony of Henry Schwarzschild, memorandum, news releases.
Folder 2	ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union): Death Penalty: General Compilation of photocopied newspaper articles.
Folder 3	Alabama Prison Project, 1979
Folder 4	Amnesty International, 1979 "A Worldwide Strategy to End Capital Punishment."
Folder 5	Jesse Bishop execution, 1978-1979 Jesse Bishop, a white man, was the first person to be executed in Nevada after the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976. Chiefly photocopied newspaper articles.
Folder 6	Clark Proposal, 1980 "Alternatives to Incarceration in the South: A Proposal for Southern Prison and Jail Reform."
Folder 7	Conference on the Death Penalty, 1981 "No Killing in the Name of Justice: Organizing Against the Death Penalty."
Folder 8	Delancey Street Rehabilitation Center, 1978 Reprints of articles.
Folder 9	L. C. Dorsey, 1979 Letter and essay relating to internal organizational conflicts.
Folder 10	England: Death penalty, 1979 Newspaper articles.
Folder 11	John Evans execution John Evans, a white man, was the first person to be executed in Alabama after the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976. Photocopied newspaper articles, viewing guidelines for media reporting from Fountain Correctional Facility, press releases.
Folder 12	Expert witnesses
Folder 13	Florida Citizens Against the Death Penalty Handwritten draft of memo seeking supporters to sign on to a printed advertisement.
Folder 14	Florida Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice Copies of letters and newspaper articles.
Folder 15	Georgia Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, 1978 Newsletter and photocopied newspaper articles.
Folder 16	Gary Gilmore execution, 1976 Gary Gilmore, a white man, was the first person to be executed in the United States after the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Mailgram from North Carolina Prisoners Union in support of commutation of Gilmore's death sentence.
Folder 17	Health care proposal
Folder 18	Incarceration Rates (United States), 1979 Compiled by National Moratorium on Prison Construction.
Folder 19	Joseph Ingle, 1985 Photocopied newspaper articles that quote Joseph Ingle, who was director of the Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons at that time.
Folder 20	Robert Kanjian, 1980 Photocopied newspaper articles and letter about Detective Kanjian, who spoke out about the possibility of errors in death penalty convictions.
Folder 21	Lethal injection, 1978-1979 Reports, photocopied of newspaper articles.
Folder 22	Louisiana Coalition, 1977-1982 Reports, Inside newsletters, letters.
Folder 23	Maps of southern states with counties
Folder 24	Maryland: Alternatives to Incarceration Letter on prison construction and photocopied newspaper articles.
Folder 25	Memos: Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons, 1977-1982 Staff letters, minutes, budgets, funding proposal, and the original charter filed in Tennessee; also includes letters from Southern Prison Ministry, a project of the Committee of Southern Churchmen Inc.
Folder 26	Mississippi Prisoners Defense Committee, 1978 Letter and essay by L. C. Dorsey, list of capital murder convictions.
Folder 27	William Nagle: "A Statement on Behalf of a Moratorium on Prison Construction," 1976-1977
Folder 28	National March Against Death, 1979 Letter, printed material.
Folder 29	News clippings: Death penalty, 1978 Photocopied newspaper articles.
Folder 30-31 Folder 30 Folder 31	Newsletters: Content, 1987-1990 Articles and other materials to be used in Southern Coalition Report newsletters.
Folder 32	Newsletters: Alternatives to Incarceration Bulletin, 1984-1985 A publication of the North Carolina Prison and Jail Project.
Folder 33	Newsletters: Death Penalty Bulletin, 1985 A publication of the North Carolina Prison and Jail Project.
Folder 34	Newsletters: Death Watch, 1977-1978 A publication of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).
Folder 35	Newsletters: In These Times, 1980 Publication of Promoting Enduring Peace.
Folder 36	Newsletters: Jericho, 1977-1987 Newsletter of the National Moratorium on Prison Construction.
Folder 37	Newsletters: Journal of the National Prison Project, 1984-1990
Folder 38	Newsletters: Liberty & Justice in South Carolina, 1978 Publication of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) of South Carolina.
Folder 39	Newsletters: Liberty to the Captives, 1977-1982
Folder 40	Newsletters: LifeLines, 1981-1987
Folder 41	Newsletters: LifeLines, 1988-1990
Folder 42	"Moratorium Working Papers," 1980-1982 A publication of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee National Moratorium on Prison Construction.
Folder 43	"Moratorium Working Papers," 1983-1986
Folder 44	Newsletters: Moratorium Bulletin, 1990 A publication of St. Louis American Friends Service Committee.
Folder 45	Newsletters: National Catholic Reporter, 1987-1988
Folder 46	Newsletters: Prison and Jail Project News, 1980-1989 A publication of the North Carolina Prison and Jail Project.
Folder 47	Newsletters: Southern Coalition Report on Jails & Prisons, 1978-1990
Folder 48	North Carolina Miscellaneous printed materials of North Carolinians Against the Death Penalty and Lone Vigil.
Folder 49	Playboy printing memo, 1978 Internal memos regarding sexism in office communications about a printing offer from Playboy magazine.
Folder 50	Jack Potts, 1979 Jack Potts, a white man, gained attention as a person on death row in Georgia who wanted to be executed, although ultimately was not. Biographical information and newspaper article.
Folder 51	Press contacts: Southern states
Folder 52	Prison construction litigation Intervenor's complaint filed in Chancery Court in Nashville, Tenn.
Folder 53	A Regional Effort for Prison and Jail Reform: Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons grant proposal, 1978-1979
Folder 54	Reidsville Brothers, 1978 The Reidsville Brothers were a group of 6 Black men, Jesse Whitaker, Forrest Jordan, Andrew Johnson, James Collins, Moses Evans, and Case Johnson, who were tried for their participation in a rebellion against guard brutality and racist attacks at the Reidsville, Ga. prison. Printed materials.
Folder 55	Robert Shevin Photocopied newspaper articles.
Folder 56	South Carolina Criminal Justice Project quarterly report, 1978
Folder 57-59 Folder 57 Folder 58 Folder 59	John Spenkelink execution, 1979 John Spenkelink, a white man, was the first person to be executed in Florida after the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976. Agenda of executive clemency hearing; handwritten notes for a press release relating to anti-death penalty protests by the Southern Coalition for Jails and Prisons; appeals to the governor of Florida seeking commutation of John Spenkelink's death sentence; appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of execution; memorial service program; anti-death penalty flyer and pamphlet; photocopied newspaper articles.
Folder 60	State reports: Alabama Prison Project, 1980-1981, 1983, 1985
Folder 61	State reports: Clearinghouse on Georgia Prisons and Jails, 1979-1983, 1985
Folder 62	State reports: Florida Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, 1979-1981
Folder 63	State reports: Kentucky Prisoners' Support Council, 1980-1981
Folder 64	State reports: Louisiana Coalition on Jails and Prisons, 1978-1981, 1985
Folder 65	State reports: Mississippi Correctional Reform Association, 1980-1981, 1985
Folder 66	State reports: Prison and Jail Project of North Carolina, 1980-1983
Folder 67	State reports: South Carolina Criminal Justice Project, 1978, 1980-1981
Folder 68	State reports: Southern Prison Ministry (Tennessee), 1978, 1980-1981, 1985
Folder 69	State reports: Tennessee, 1979-1980
Folder 70	State reports: Virginia, 1985
Folder 71	Stop Olympic Prison, 1979 Appeals to stop the construction of prison at Lake Placid, N.Y.
Folder 72-73 Folder 72 Folder 73	Tennessee Criminal Sentencing Reform, 1989
Folder 74	Tennesseans Against the Death Penalty, 1978

Expand/collapse Series 2. Writings and Other Topical Files, 1970s and undated.

Arrangement: Alphabetical

Folder 75	John Adams, Florida death row, 1979
Folder 76	Anthony G. Amsterdam, "Capital Punishment," 1977
Folder 77	Appellate Review in capital sentencing cases (William Kenneth Hale), 1977
Folder 78	Charles L. Black Jr., "Governor's Dilemma," 1979
Folder 79	Burnette and Quin, "Death Penalty and Church People" study packet
Folder 80	Burns v. Estelle
Folder 81	"Classification of 'Death Qualified' Juries" (S. Lynne Stokes and Neal D. Hulkower)
Folder 82	"The Cry of the Graves," Khalil Gibran
Folder 83	Death row prisons in the South
Folder 84	Isaac Ehrlich, "Refutations"
Folder 85	Federal death penalty statutes
Folder 86	Gardner v. Florida
Folder 87	Joseph Ingle, "The Status of the Death Penalty in the South," 1979
Folder 88	Jurek v. Estelle, 1979
Folder 89	Kentucky death trial manual, 1978 Public defender training seminar.
Folder 90	Kentucky overview of the death statute
Folder 91	Kenneth P. Norwick, "State Legislative Proposals Arising Out of Recent Supreme Court Death Penalty Decisions"
Folder 92	Legal Defense Fund: Manual for Defendants' Counsel in Capital Trials
Folder 93	G. W. Lynch, "Death Penalty Issue"
Folder 94	Maryland: "Report of the Task Force on Prison Overcrowding," 1979
Folder 95	Motions in a Death Penalty Case (Millard Farmer and Courtney Mullin)
Folder 96	National Prisoners Statistics Bulletin: Capital Punishment, 1973, 1977
Folder 97	North Carolina death statute analysis (Lee Belstock and Carol L. Gerstl)
Folder 98	Peter Ross Range, "Will He Be the First," 1979 New York Times Magazine article about the return of capital punishment, featuring John Spenkelink.
Folder 99	Marc Riedel, statement on legislation of a death penalty statute in North Carolina
Folder 100	Texas death sentences
Folder 101	Texas execution procedures
Folder 102	Frank Trippett, "U.S. Prisons: Myth vs. Mayhem"
Folder 103	"Voir Dire for the Capital Case: A paper prepared by Bob Altman and Margie Fargo for the Southern Prisoners' Defense Committee Seminar," Memphis, Tenn., 1978
Folder 104	Tom Wicker, "Death Isn't Answer to Crime," 1979
Folder 105	Randall Williams: "Politics of Fear in Alabama," 1978; "Man of Convictions," 1978
Folder 106	Witherspoon trial manual: "Suggested Trial Strategies, Objections, and Canned Briefs for Defense Attorneys in Capital Cases Where the Prosecution Undertakes to Death-Qualify the Jury," 1979

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Collection Number: 04655 Collection Title: Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons Records, 1974-1990

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Expand/collapse Information For Users

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Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Contents list

Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

Expand/collapse Series 1. Administrative and Subject Files, 1974-1990.

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 57

Folder 58

Folder 59

Folder 72

Folder 73

Expand/collapse Series 2. Writings and Other Topical Files, 1970s and undated.

Collection Number: 04655

Collection Title: Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons Records, 1974-1990