Mark Stanton Curtis (born 1959) is a former member of the American Socialist Workers Party (SWP). Curtis was the subject of a defense campaign by the SWP after he was charged and convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 1988. The SWP and others of Curtis's defenders claimed that he had been framed by the police due to his politics and his

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

activities. Curtis was

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

d in 1996 after serving eight years of a 25-year sentence in Iowa State Penitentiary. The SWP claimed that Curtis was arrested, beaten by the police and framed up for his work in organizing a campaign to defend 17 of his co-workers from

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

who had been seized in an

INS INS or Ins or ''variant'', may refer to: Places * Ins, Switzerland, a municipality * Creech Air Force Base (IATA airport code INS) * Indonesia, ITF and UNDP code INS Biology *'' Ins'', a New World genus of bee flies * INS, the gene for the insul ...

raid of the Des Moines meatpacking plant at which they worked. Two police officers who arrested Curtis were found guilty of

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

in 1992 and ordered to pay $11,000 in damages. Curtis claimed that he was stopped at a traffic light in Des Moines when a woman approached him, said she was being followed and asked for a ride home. He claims that on arriving at her house he accompanied her to the porch at which point police came from behind, handcuffed him and pulled down his trousers. The 15-year-old girl, Demetria Morris, said she and her 11-year-old brother were watching television when Curtis knocked on their door asking for directions. According to the girl, Curtis then asked her if her parents were home, she said they were not, and he attacked her and attempted to

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

her. Unbeknownst to Curtis, however, her brother had called the police who arrived on the scene. The Morris family was awarded $80,000 in damages after suing Curtis. Subsequent events undermined Curtis's defense: His expulsion from the SWP in 1999, and the SWP's cover-up of a rape committed by another member of the Des Moines SWP in 1995.

References

Books

*Jayko, Margaret. ''The Frame-Up of Mark Curtis: A Packinghouse Worker's Fight for Justice''. Pathfinder, 1989. *McLaughlin, Martin. ''The Mark Curtis Hoax: How the Socialist Workers Party Tried to Dupe the Labor Movement''. Mehring, 1990. *Gaige, John. ''The Stakes in the Worldwide Political Campaign to Defend Mark Curtis''. Mark Curtis Defense Committee, 1991. *Crane, Naomi. ''Why Is Mark Curtis Still in Prison?: The Political Frame-Up of a Unionist and Socialist and the Campaign to Free Him''. Pathfinder, 1995. *Crane, Naomi. ''A Packinghouse Worker's Fight for Justice: The Mark Curtis Story''. Pathfinder, 1996.

External links

Curtis: `Glad To Return To The Class Struggle'
September 2, 1996 in "The Militant". {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Mark Living people Members of the Socialist Workers Party (United States) American trade union leaders American people convicted of child sexual abuse 1959 births