John Whitley
Encyclopedia
Time magazine
credited John Whitley with turning around hopelessness and violence at the largest maximum security in America—the Louisiana State Penitentiary
(commonly called Angola) with “little more than his sense of decency and fairness.”
and attended Southeastern Louisiana University
Lab School, and later graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1967 and 1968. He enlisted in the U.S. Army
and after his discharge in 1970, began his career in corrections.
in Texas. He was asked to return to Angola in 1990 to restore order in the wake of enough stabbings, suicides and escapes to cause a United States Federal Judge
to declare a state of emergency
at the prison. Within two years, he had stemmed the violence with incentives for good behavior, like extra visits, and by increasing educational opportunities with literacy tutoring, and computer and paralegal courses. And he enabled some trustworthy and deserving inmates to travel outside the prison as part of athletic teams and inmate bands that provided entertainment for churches, nursing home
s, and other charitable organizations.
He launched an outreach program to all criminal justice
programs in the State of Louisiana
, offering to send both prison officials and inmates to college classrooms to help both students and faculty better understand the realities of prison management and prison life.
host, Terry Gross
, the philosophy that lay behind the lack of censorship: “We want … different views of prison. Some of the views, I don’t like. It upsets me sometimes, but it’s true. We’re looking for the truth.”
, the prison tensed up when inmate welders—one of whose brother had been executed—were ordered by a corrections department employee to build a “hospital examining table” that they soon learned was actually a lethal injection
gurney. Hundreds of fellow inmates staged a work strike. When Whitley learned what was happening, he locked up the strikers, and brought in SWAT
teams to prepare for the strike. Then he told the media that deceiving the inmate workers was wrong and the work order should never have been issued: it put the inmates in a bad position, and he was not going to subject them to building the lethal injection gurney. With that statement, he ended the strike without violence and gained the respect of both the inmate population and his security force. He also earned a commendation from the conservative Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, for taking the unusual step—for any warden—of admitting the prison had erred and correcting the mistake. “It’s refreshing to see a high-ranking government official admit mistakes and attempt to rectify them. It’s a sign of integrity and responsibility.” So impressed was Time magazine that he was invited to New York City
to share his management philosophy with its corporate officers and editors, and was profiled in a three page feature; he was the only American prison warden to have that profile. The Russian language
magazine, America, followed suit with a six-page profile of Whitley.
during Whitley’s tenure, a concrete measure of the reforms he enacted to increase the safety under which both inmates and employees live and work on the prison farm
.
Having accomplished his goal of turning Angola into the safest maximum security in America, Whitley retired as warden in 1995. In what “may have been a first in the history of U. S. prisons,” over a hundred inmate leaders pooled their money to throw him a farewell party, which was attended by prison employees and officials, and covered by news media
throughout Louisiana.
After leaving Angola, Whitley ran a private prison in Florida until he was called back again to Louisiana to act as the Court Expert for the U.S. Middle District Court of Louisiana, which oversaw the state’s prisons compliance with a 1975 federal court
order. He remained in that position until 2003.
(Mike Wallace) - "In the Killing Fields of America" - Jan. 1995
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
credited John Whitley with turning around hopelessness and violence at the largest maximum security in America—the Louisiana State Penitentiary
Louisiana State Penitentiary
The Louisiana State Penitentiary is a prison farm in Louisiana operated by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is the largest maximum security prison in the United States with 5,000 offenders and 1,800 staff...
(commonly called Angola) with “little more than his sense of decency and fairness.”
Early life and education
John Whitley was born in January 1944. He was raised in Hammond, LouisianaHammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
and attended Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...
Lab School, and later graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1967 and 1968. He enlisted in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and after his discharge in 1970, began his career in corrections.
Career
Whitley, who began his career in corrections at Angola in 1970, rose through the ranks during its bloodiest years to become Deputy Warden of the infamous institution, moved on to become the warden of another Louisiana prison, Hunt Correctional Center, and left the state to run a private prisonPrivate prison
A private prison, jail, or detention center is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned by a third party that is contracted by a government agency...
in Texas. He was asked to return to Angola in 1990 to restore order in the wake of enough stabbings, suicides and escapes to cause a United States Federal Judge
Federal judge
Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state / provincial / local level.-Brazil:In Brazil, federal judges of first instance are chosen exclusively by public contest...
to declare a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
at the prison. Within two years, he had stemmed the violence with incentives for good behavior, like extra visits, and by increasing educational opportunities with literacy tutoring, and computer and paralegal courses. And he enabled some trustworthy and deserving inmates to travel outside the prison as part of athletic teams and inmate bands that provided entertainment for churches, nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
s, and other charitable organizations.
He launched an outreach program to all criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
programs in the State of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, offering to send both prison officials and inmates to college classrooms to help both students and faculty better understand the realities of prison management and prison life.
Philosophy
Like several Louisiana wardens before him, Whitley was committed to an open door policy with the media. He told the inmate-produced newsmagazine, The Angolite, that he would continue the decades-long policy of lack of censorship that had enabled the inmates to win major national journalism awards for investigating problems at the prison, and would also continue to welcome outside media and cooperate with them: “We’re not going to have anything to hide in Angola,” he said. “And, if there’s something that’s wrong in the prison, I want to know about it, and my staff better correct it—because I intend to be proud of this prison and the way we operate it.” Under Whitley, The Angolite branched out into uncensored radio and television journalism because he saw them in the spirit of the prison’s other outreach programs designed to educate the public about what really goes on in prison. He explained to National Public Radio’s Fresh AirFresh Air
Fresh Air is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States. The show is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its longtime host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 450 stations and claimed 4.5 million listeners. The show...
host, Terry Gross
Terry Gross
Terry Gross is the host and co-executive producer of Fresh Air, an interview format radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed throughout the United States by National Public Radio....
, the philosophy that lay behind the lack of censorship: “We want … different views of prison. Some of the views, I don’t like. It upsets me sometimes, but it’s true. We’re looking for the truth.”
Challenge
In July 1991, hours after Whitley carried out an execution in the state’s electric chairElectric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
, the prison tensed up when inmate welders—one of whose brother had been executed—were ordered by a corrections department employee to build a “hospital examining table” that they soon learned was actually a lethal injection
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
gurney. Hundreds of fellow inmates staged a work strike. When Whitley learned what was happening, he locked up the strikers, and brought in SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
teams to prepare for the strike. Then he told the media that deceiving the inmate workers was wrong and the work order should never have been issued: it put the inmates in a bad position, and he was not going to subject them to building the lethal injection gurney. With that statement, he ended the strike without violence and gained the respect of both the inmate population and his security force. He also earned a commendation from the conservative Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, for taking the unusual step—for any warden—of admitting the prison had erred and correcting the mistake. “It’s refreshing to see a high-ranking government official admit mistakes and attempt to rectify them. It’s a sign of integrity and responsibility.” So impressed was Time magazine that he was invited to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to share his management philosophy with its corporate officers and editors, and was profiled in a three page feature; he was the only American prison warden to have that profile. The Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
magazine, America, followed suit with a six-page profile of Whitley.
Accomplishments
Angola first earned accreditation from the American Correctional AssociationAmerican Correctional Association
The American Correctional Association , formerly known as the American Prison Association, is the oldest and largest international correctional association in the world. Approximately 80 percent of all state departments of corrections and youth services are active participants...
during Whitley’s tenure, a concrete measure of the reforms he enacted to increase the safety under which both inmates and employees live and work on the prison farm
Prison farm
A prison farm is a large correctional facility where penal labor convicts are put to economical use in a 'farm' , usually for manual labour, largely in open air, such as in agriculture, logging, quarrying, etc...
.
Having accomplished his goal of turning Angola into the safest maximum security in America, Whitley retired as warden in 1995. In what “may have been a first in the history of U. S. prisons,” over a hundred inmate leaders pooled their money to throw him a farewell party, which was attended by prison employees and officials, and covered by news media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
throughout Louisiana.
After leaving Angola, Whitley ran a private prison in Florida until he was called back again to Louisiana to act as the Court Expert for the U.S. Middle District Court of Louisiana, which oversaw the state’s prisons compliance with a 1975 federal court
United States federal courts
The United States federal courts make up the judiciary branch of federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government.-Categories:...
order. He remained in that position until 2003.
Recognition
Whitley received numerous awards and honors during his tenure as Warden. Several of those were: Profile in "Time" Magazine, December 1992; Alumni of the Year" Southeastern Louisiana University 1993; Profile in "AMERICA", a Russian-Language Magazine, January 1994; Panelist, Time/Warner forum on Crime & Punishment - Feb. 1994; Profile by CBS NewsCBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
(Mike Wallace) - "In the Killing Fields of America" - Jan. 1995
External links
- http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977211-1,00.html
- http://www.selu.edu/alumni_donors/alumni_assoc/recognitions/past_alum/index.html