Walpole prison strike

Last updated May 21, 2024

Following a March 1973 prison officer strike, the inmates of Walpole state prison, a high-security facility outside Boston, ran the prison under watch of citizen observers for two months during a policy impasse with the prison officers' union and the state corrections commissioner.

Background

Located outside Boston,^[1] Walpole state prison was Massachusetts's highest security prison in its time.^[2] In 1973, the year of the strike, Walpole was known among the most violent prisons in the country, with regular stabbings and murders, unclean facilities, and severe psychological stress for inmates and prison officers alike.^[3]

John Boone became Massachusetts's Corrections Commissioner in January 1972, loaned from a federal position. The Walpole prison had major incidents in his early months and a six-week lockdown in the Walpole prison, starting in December 1972, escalated tensions.^[4]

Prison officer strike

The night of March 8, the prisoners voted to return to their prison jobs, ending their strike and allowing external observers in, signaling support for Boone's request for cooperation in return for good faith negotiations and 24-hour citizen observers.^[5] Rumors began to spread that the prison officers intended to strike.^[1]

The morning of March 14, 1973, the prison officers (guards) of Walpole's day shift called in sick, beginning a walkout action. One prison officer handed the prison's keys to the head of the civilian observer program. Corrections Commissioner John Boone called a state of emergency.^[6]

The striking prison officers had intended the walkout to call negative attention to the policies Boone's administration. Boone, in turn, anticipated the walkout to backfire and break the officers' union that blocked his prison reform plans. The prison's management was handed to a combination of the prisoners' newly created union, civilian observers, and a skeleton crew of trainees and officers.^[3]

Prisoners union

The prisoners formed a union to collectively bargain for improvements to working conditions and safety. Following an election in which 87 percent of the 540 inmates supported the union, they became a chapter of the National Prisoner Reform Association (NPRA). The state's correction commissioner accepted the group as the prisoners' authorized representatives for resolving grievances in April. The group's leadership articulated goals including inmate participation in the self-governance of the prison, i.e., "a say in how it's run". The guards union opposed their unionization as creating a slippery slope in which the prisoners would request more aspects of their incarceration.^[7]

The NPRA union was the main governance at Walpole between March 15 and May 19, 1973. During this period, the prison's security, policy, kitchen, and foundry were run by the prisoners. Various factions in the prison negotiated a truce at the beginning of the prison officer's strike^[8].There were no murders and violence was minimal. Civilian observers continued to volunteer at the prison, and their 10,000 recorded hours included documentation of the prisoners' self-governance.^[9]

Return of officers

Court order ended the officers' strike.^[4]

Massachusetts governor Francis W. Sargent forced Corrections Commissioner Boone to resign in June. The governor had been under pressure to fire Boone, who he said had become a symbol of the Walpole events. Sargent ordered the State Police into the prison, with their captain, Colonel John Moriarty as the prison's temporary superintendent. He immediately instituted a series of security measures including halting the prison's visitor and furlough programs, increasing internal patrols, and conducting background checks on civilian observers. He said the observer program would continue with restrictions. The Associated Press cited additional murders at Walpole in the lead-up to Boone's resignation.^[4]

Legacy

The strike is commonly regarded as either a failure of custodial control, for lack of adequate resourcing, or a radical experiment in participatory democracy.^[10] The film 3000 Years and Life documents the incident as an experiment in self-governance.^[11]

The prison officers walked out in 1978 and 1979 over on-time paychecks and segregation unit policy, respectively.^[12]

Related Research Articles

The Attica Prison Riot, also known as the Attica Prison Rebellion, the Attica Uprising, or the Attica Prison Massacre, took place at the state prison in Attica, New York; it started on September 9, 1971, and ended on September 13 with the highest number of fatalities in the history of United States prison uprisings. Of the 43 men who died, all but one guard and three inmates were killed by law enforcement gunfire when the state retook control of the prison on the final day of the uprising. The Attica Uprising has been described as a historic event in the prisoners' rights movement.

A super-maximum security (supermax) or administrative maximum (ADX) prison is a "control-unit" prison, or a unit within prisons, which represents the most secure level of custody in the prison systems of certain countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CoreCivic</span> U.S. prison-operating company

CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasley, Robert Crants, and T. Don Hutto, it received investments from the Tennessee Valley Authority, Vanderbilt University, and Jack C. Massey, the founder of Hospital Corporation of America.

Pontiac Correctional Center, established in June 1871, is an Illinois Department of Corrections maximum security prison for adult males in Pontiac, Illinois. The prison also has a medium security unit that houses medium to minimum security inmates and is classified as Level 3. Until the 2011 abolition of the death penalty in Illinois, the prison housed male death row inmates, but had no execution chamber. Inmates were executed at the Tamms Correctional Center. Although the capacity of the prison is 2172, it has an average daily population of approximately 2000 inmates.

William C. Holman Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison located in Atmore, Alabama. The facility is along Alabama State Highway 21, 9 miles (14 km) north of Atmore in southern Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Department of Correction</span> New York City government agency

The New York City Department of Correction (NYCDOC) is the branch of the municipal government of New York City responsible for the custody, control, and care of New York City's imprisoned population, housing the majority of them on Rikers Island. It employs 8,949 uniformed officers and 2,027 civilian staff, has 543 vehicles, and processes over 100,000 new inmates every year, retaining a population of inmates of between 3,000 and 6,000. Its nickname is New York's Boldest. Its regulations are compiled in title 39 of the New York City Rules.

The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison located just outside Lucasville in Scioto County, Ohio. The prison was constructed in 1972. As of 2023, the warden is Cindy Davis.

Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk, or MCI-Norfolk, is a medium security prison in Norfolk, Massachusetts under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction.Though it is rated medium security, it also houses up to 98 maximum security inmates. Opened in the early 1930s, MCI-Norfolk is the largest state prison in Massachusetts. On January 6, 2020, there were 1,251 inmates in general population beds.

Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Framingham (MCI-Framingham) is the Massachusetts Department of Correction's institution for female offenders. It is located in Framingham, Massachusetts, a city located midway between Worcester and Boston. The prison was once known as "Framingham State Prison". However, MCI-Framingham is its official name and is favored. As of May 2022 there are approximately 190 inmates in general population beds.

The Massachusetts Correctional Institution—Cedar Junction, formerly known as MCI-Walpole, is a maximum security prison under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction. It was opened in 1956 to replace Charlestown State Prison, the oldest prison in the nation at that time. MCI-Cedar Junction is one of two maximum security prisons for male offenders in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As of January 6, 2020 there was 346 Maximum and 65 Medium inmates in general population beds.

The Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord (MCI-Concord) is a medium security prison for men located in Concord, Massachusetts in the United States. Opened in 1878, it is the oldest running state prison for men in Massachusetts. This prison is under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction. The facility has a total capacity of 614 general population beds, but with a long-term decline in the number of men incarcerated for the entire state, the population as of 2023 had decreased to about 300 and Governor Maura Healey announced a plan to close the prison in the summer of 2024 and transfer the remaining prisoners to other facilities.

The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS) is the department of the New York State government that administers the state prison and parole system, including 44 prisons funded by the state government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Department of Correction</span> Corrections department of Massachusetts, US

The Massachusetts Department of Correction is the government agency responsible for operating the prison system of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The Massachusetts Department of Correction is responsible for the custody of about 8,292 prisoners throughout 16 correctional facilities and is the 5th largest state agency in the state of Massachusetts, employing over 4,800 people. The Massachusetts Department of Correction also has a fugitive apprehension unit, a gang intelligence unit, a K9 Unit, a Special Reaction Team (SRT), and a Tactical Response Team (TRT). Both of these tactical units are highly trained and are paramilitary in nature. The agency is headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts and currently headed by Commissioner Carol Mici.

The United States Penitentiary, Hazelton is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in West Virginia. The high-security facility has earned the nickname "Misery Mountain" by the inmates who are incarcerated there. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility has a satellite prison camp for minimum-security male offenders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vermont Department of Corrections</span> American state government agency

The Vermont Department of Corrections is the government agency in the U.S. state of Vermont charged with overseeing correctional facilities, supervising probation and parolees, and serving in an advisory capacity in the prevention of crime and juvenile delinquency. It is a part of the Vermont Agency of Human Services.

Corrective Services New South Wales (CSNSW) is a division of the Department of Communities and Justice of the Government of New South Wales, Australia. CSNSW is responsible for the state's prisons and a range of programs for managing offenders in the community. The state has 36 prisons, 33 run by CSNSW and three privately operated. The agency traces its origins back to 1788, when New South Wales was founded as a penal colony.

Bridgewater State Hospital, located in southeastern Massachusetts, is a state facility housing the criminally insane and those whose sanity is being evaluated for the criminal justice system. It was established in 1855 as an almshouse. It was then used as a workhouse for inmates with short sentences who worked the surrounding farmland. It was later rebuilt in the 1880s and again in 1974. As of January 6, 2020 there were 217 inmates in general population beds. The facility was the subject of the 1967 documentary Titicut Follies. Bridgewater State Hospital falls under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction but its day to day operations is managed by Wellpath, a contracted vendor.

The Baldwin State Prison, previously the Baldwin Correctional Institution and the Georgia Women's Correctional Institution (GWCI), is a prison located in Milledgeville, Georgia, United States, with a Hardwick postal address. The prison has a capacity of 900. After complaints in the early 1990s by more than 200 women of sexual abuse by guards, an investigation was conducted. More than a dozen guards were prosecuted. The state decided to move the women to other prison facilities for a total change in culture. This facility now houses only adult male felons, with a capacity of 992.

The Deer Island Prison in Suffolk County, Massachusetts was located on Deer Island in Boston Harbor. Once known as the Deer Island House of Industry and later, House of Correction, it held people convicted of drunkenness, illegal possession of drugs, disorderly conduct, larceny, and other crimes subject to relatively short-term sentencing. When it closed in 1991, some 1,500 inmates were being held at Deer Island.

William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison for men located in unincorporated Jefferson County, Alabama, near Bessemer. It came to national prominence after the Casey White prison escape.

References

1 2 Berk 2018, p. 275.
↑ "Walpole prison in Massachusetts is facing fresh crises every day". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. Associated Press. March 13, 1973. p. 9. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
1 2 Berk 2018, p. 276.
1 2 3 "State Police Tighten Security at Walpole". The Ithaca Journal . Ithaca, New York. Associated Press. June 22, 1973. p. 1. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
↑ "Tension Eases on Friday at Walpole Prison". Rutland Daily Herald . Rutland, Vermont. Associated Press. March 10, 1973. p. 10. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
↑ Berk 2018, pp. 275–276.
↑ "Walpole Prison Inmates Seek Union Status, Bargain Rights". The Fresno Bee . Fresno, California. Associated Press. May 6, 1973. p. 37. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
↑ Berk, Christopher (August 1, 2023). Democracy in Captivity: Prisoners, Patients, and the Limits of Self-Government (1 ed.). University of California Press. p. 75. ISBN 9780520394933 . Retrieved August 7, 2023.
↑ Berk 2018, p. 277.
↑ Berk 2018, pp. 277–278.
↑ Georgakas, Dan (1974). "Prison Films". Cineaste . Vol. 6, no. 3. pp. 33–34, 43. ISSN 0009-7004. ProQuest 222641910.
↑ Ray, Richard; Dwyer, Timothy (March 26, 1979). "Walpole guards strike". Boston Globe . Boston. pp. 1–2. ISSN 0743-1791. ProQuest 747158239.

Bibliography

Berk, Christopher D. (2018). "On Prison Democracy: The Politics of Participation in a Maximum Security Prison". Critical Inquiry. 44 (2): 275–302. doi:10.1086/695361. ISSN 0093-1896.