By Bob Cadigan
For decades the Massachusetts Correctional System has cycled through periods of “law and order” retrenchment, followed by crises that lead to major reform efforts.
An earlier reform agenda

In 1955, the antiquated Charlestown State Prison was replaced with a new “state of the art” prison, MCI-Walpole. Russell Oswald was brought in, as Commissioner, to lead a new modern system.
The State Penal Code was amended on the same day Oswald was sworn in.
The Penal Code Changes included:
Increased good time.
Nominal pay for inmate work.
Reducing restrictions on parole eligibility.
Elimination of solitary confinement in dark cells with a diet of bread and water.
Additional Minimum Security Forestry Camps.
Modernization of the Prison Industries system.
A New Classification System.
(Daily Boston Globe October 20, 1955. p. 4)
Commissioner Oswald lasted 19 months. On May 15, 1957 on page 1 of the Boston Globe, the Headline read: "Loss of Oswald Laid to Friction: Penal Head Takes Better-Paying N.Y. Post", Associates of Oswald said that constant opposition in some quarters to his attempts to revamp the states correctional system discouraged the commissioner, so that when the New York proposition came up he did not hesitate to accept it.

Attica New York
The story of the Attica Revolt, or Rebellion is well known. Two major books and a recent documentary have shed new light on what happened on September 9th through 13th at Attica Prison in upstate New York.
“On Sept. 9, 1971, tensions boiled over as more than 1,000 prisoners … revolted, seizing 39 guards as hostages and gaining control of the prison. Five days after it started, the uprising ended in a bloody assault by law enforcement. … 39 prisoners and hostages were killed, all by law enforcement gunfire. After the smoke cleared, prisoners were stripped naked and forced to crawl through a latrine and then to run down a hall between two rows of guards who beat them as they ran.”
What is less well known is how it started. Heather Ann Thompson, in Blood in the Water, describes a relatively minor incident on September 8th in A Yard. Leroy Dewar, a white prisoner was “sparring” with another prisoner in what might have been horseplay. When confronted over the incident, Dewar struck a Lieutenant. As tensions mounted, another prisoner joined in, either verbally assaulting or physically attacking the Officer.
The event was reported to the Superintendent, who was just then meeting with CO Union leaders concerned about violence against officers. He ordered both of the prisoners involved be taken to solitary. Dewar, who was back in his cell resisted. Officers tore up his cell and removed him, motionless. The spread through the prison grapevine. (Chapter 8).
The prison was on edge the morning of the 9th and a change in routine lead to a gate that was usually open being locked. Another fight broke out. The situation escalated from there.

Governor Sargent
In Massachusetts, in the early 1970s, Governor Frank Sargent and the legislature sought to improve corrections by implementing a series of reforms through Chapter 777.
On October 6, 1971. Less than a month after the Attica uprising, John L. Fitzpatrick, the Commissioner of Correction, who had been appointed in April 1970 died suddenly. (Harvard Kennedy School Case Study I -23)
Corrections Commissioner John J. Fitzpatrick collapsed tonight at Walpole State Prison and was taken to Norwood Hospital, where doctors said he was suffering from fatigue. Mr. Fitzpatrick was at the prison to discuss a work stoppage by the inmates, resulting in their being locked in their cells.
His Deputy Joseph J. Higgins assumed duties as Commissioner as a national search for a new Commissioner was conducted. (Harvard Kennedy School Case Study I -23)
To lead the implementation of reforms, Sargent selected John O. Boone as Commissioner of Correction. He was the first Black commissioner of Correction in the United states. He worked his way up in the Federal Prison system and was Superintendent of the Lorton Federal Corrections Complex in Fairfax Virginia before his appointment as Commissioner.
John Boone grew up in the segregated south in Cedartown GA, later moving with his family to Atlanta. He and his siblings inherited from their family a rich legacy of faith, family, character and leadership. As a young boy, he witnessed the inhumane treatment of his cousin on a Georgia chain gang. Witnessing this was an early influencer for his life’s work on prison reform. He graduated from Morehouse College in 1951 and went on to earn a Master’s in Social Work from Atlanta University. Though John was older than his brother Joe, their peers included the great civil rights leaders of our country – Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, Andrew Young, Vernon Jordan, C.T. Vivian, etc. The brothers brought to their work the visions and principles of the civil rights movement. John Boone and his brother Joe talked regularly about their work when he was Commissioner of Correction. (Drawn in part from “A Celebration of Life for John Oscar Boone, Sr., April 2, 1919 – November 30, 2012.”)

John Boone was known for his strong advocacy of prison reform. However, this ambitious agenda faced numerous challenges, including disturbances in the prisons, resistance from within the Department of Correction, and a hostile press.
Our Panel explored lessons that can be learned from this experience. Our focus is not on history so much as on the interplay between the spirit of the times, ideas about criminal justice and corrections, and opportunities for - and barriers to - change. Ultimately we hope our event provided valuable guidance for contemporary and future leaders who are playing or will play crucial roles in criminal justice reform. We expect this will be the first of a number of panels exploring recent Massachusetts history in corrections.
The National Context
“If you can remember anything about the sixties, you weren't really there.” - Paul Kantner (among others)
Yet, we can’t understand what happened in corrections - nationally and in Massachusetts in the 1970s - unless we do recall the 1960s. The 1960s saw major challenges to the legitimacy of American Institutions. Those challenges fueled a demand for change both inside and outside of prison walls. The challenges are different today but are no less important.
Fighting for rights
I’ve come to believe – thanks to Bob Bell (title) that we cannot understand John Boone without understanding his commitment to civil rights and his involvement with that movement. We also cannot understand the resistance to authority at MCI Walpole and other prisons without understanding what has been called “The Prison Birth of Black Power”, outlined in the book by Roberta Ann Johnson. (Source: Journal of Black Studies , Jun., 1975, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Jun., 1975), pp. 395-414; Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2783667)
A number of American Institutions were in crisis in the 1960s and early 1970s. Most relevant for this discussion are the issues of racial injustice, but the combined effect of these challenges was a youth rebellion, a women's rights movement, the Black Power Movement, and widespread distrust of the “wisdom” of a white patriarchy.
The legitimacy of social institutions was seriously challenged on a number of fronts:
Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s energized a new generation of activists focusing on racial justice, voting rights and an end to de-facto as well as de-jure segregation. Led by influential figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this movement utilized nonviolent direct action to create awareness and demand change.
Key Event: Birmingham Campaign and "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (April 1963) – Dr. King's letter emphasized the necessity of creating tension to force communities to confront racial issues. (Source: Africa.upenn.edu)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a graduate of the Boston University School of Theology, is remembered for ‘non-violence’ but he did not hold with gradualism.
“Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.”
“Don’t trust anyone over 30”: Jack Weinberg, Free Speech Movement, 1964
The Civil Rights and the Black Power Movements challenged a range of injustices from unequal schooling to denial of the right to vote to economic and housing discrimination.
Black Power Movement
Emerging as an offshoot of the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power Movement aimed to address racial inequalities through self-defense, Black nationalism, and socialism. The movement's prominent organization, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, sought to combat police brutality and empower Black communities. (Source: Archives.gov)
In 1964, rejecting an absolute commitment to non-violence, Malcolm X, who was once incarcerated at MCI Norfolk, urged that, if the Federal government did not assist in the civil rights work of Reverend King and James Forman, the Organization of African American Unity “will take the responsibility of slipping some brothers into that area who know what to do by any means necessary.”
“That’s our motto. We want freedom by any means necessary. We want justice by any means necessary. We want equality by any means necessary. We don’t feel that in 1964, living in a country that is supposedly based upon freedom, and supposedly the leader of the free world, we don’t think that we should have to sit around and wait . . . No, we want it now or we don’t think anybody should have it.” (Source: blackpast.org)
“The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) was founded in October 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, who met at Merritt College in Oakland. It was a revolutionary organization with an ideology of Black nationalism, socialism, and armed self-defense, particularly against police brutality.” (Source: archives.gov/)
Key Quote: "All Power to the People" – Huey P. Newton, Cofounder of the Black Panther Party, 1966
Women's Rights Movement
The women’s rights movement challenged marital, economic and legal inequality, and championed birth control which was still illegal for married women in many states including Massachusetts.
The Women's Rights Movement gained momentum in the 1960s, challenging gender inequality in various spheres of life. Betty Friedan's groundbreaking book, "The Feminine Mystique," sparked national discussions on women's rights and highlighted issues such as marital, economic, and legal inequality. She described this mystique as the problem that has no name. This movement that responded to her work, and the work of others, addressed gender inequalities and discrimination in all social institutions, including the criminal justice system. (Source: Smithsonianmag.com)
Key Quote: “No woman gets an orgasm from shining the kitchen floor.” – Betty Friedan, 1963
Student Activism
Students who had championed civil rights found causes closer to home on issues such as free speech, legalization of marijuana, and opposition to the Military-Industrial Complex and the Vietnam War.
Students, previously engaged in the Civil Rights Movement, redirected their activism toward issues closer to home. They protested against the Vietnam War, advocated for free speech, and called for the dismantling of the Military-Industrial Complex.
Anti-war chants and protests against the Vietnam War were widespread, with events like the Kent State Massacre in 1970 further fueling campus disruptions and protests.
Key Quote: "One, Two, Three, Four! We Don't Want Your F**king War! " – Anti-war chant, first reported in 1969
With a large liberal population, and a concentrations of college students in many cities, Anti-Vietnam protests often dominated political news. That was certainly the case when on April 30th 1970, the US invaded Cambodia. Large contingents of students converged on the Massachusetts State House the following day. (Source: https://depts.washington.edu/moves/antiwar_may1970.shtml)
On May 4th, 1970 members of the Ohio National Guard shot into a crowd of students, killing four. The Kent State Massacre shocked the nation, and further campus disruptions lead Boston University, and other schools to cancel their graduations.
Racial Injustices and Urban Unrest
Racial violence and urban unrest highlighted the urgent need to address racial disparities and institutional racism. Riots, such as those in Watts and Detroit, were among 35 riots between 1964 and 1969 that brought national attention to racial tensions and the struggle against poverty and discrimination.
Thirteen of those riots occurred in “the long hot summer” of 1967. Boston, which had been peaceful, erupted.
Detroit Riots (1967) – These riots resulted in significant property damage and loss of lives, exposing the deep-seated racial issues within American society (Source: Smithsonianmag.com)
Four days of disturbances in the Grove Hall section of Roxbury further highlighted the need for addressing issues of poverty and institutional racism in our own back yard. (Source: hubhistory.com)
The most famous was Detroit, 43 people died, $132 million dollars in property damage (more than 1 billion dollars in today’s valuation). (Source: policing.umhistorylabs)
In 1968, The Kerner Commission Report On The Causes, Events, And Aftermaths Of The Civil Disorders Of 1967 laid the blame for urban unrest on poverty and institutional racism. (Sources: smithsonianmag.com, ojp.gov)
In Boston, tensions around school desegregation continued into the 1970s. Busing to achieve racial balance was federally ordered in 1974, following more than a decade of inaction by the Boston School Committee. (Source: nytimes.com)
Nationally, Black Power and Black Consciousness movements spread in communities of color through groups such as the Black Panthers.
Local groups such as the Roxbury Action Program, adopted a more confrontational approach than did the NAACP.
On September 9-13, 1971, the Attica Prison Uprising dramatically drew the nation’s attention to the state of incarceration. (Source: www.npr.org)
These movements also spread through prisons – often lead by incarcerated members of the Black Panther party, such as George Jackson at Soledad and L.D. Barkley at Attica. Prisoners such as Ralph Hamm III at MCI Walpole experienced an awakening through their study of Black history.
https://www.nytimes.com/1971/09/21/archives/slain-attica-leader-is-eulogized.html
Overall, correctional systems were challenged from the outside and the inside. Inside correctional systems, the challenges included:
The Black Power movement in prisons
The definition/recognition of some prisoners as “Political Prisoners”
A movement for Prisoners’ Rights
These movements, which resulted from prisoners’ beliefs that constructive dialogues with authority were impossible, then created situations that, though risky, might succeed, but might lead to further escalation.
The combined effect of these challenges: the women’s rights movement, a profound ‘generation gap’ and a Black Power Movement, all grounded in distrust of what might be called a “capitalist, militarist, white patriarchy”white patriarchy” resulted in polarization and exacerbated institutional instability.
The Massachusetts Context
It seemed apparent that many of our social institutions were not effectively addressing the problems they were designed to solve. Innovators proposed alternative and sometimes radical solutions. This was the case in Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts correctional system, like the mental health system and the youth services system, was confronted by growing professional and public pressure for deinstitutionalization and community treatment. The Massachusetts State Mental Health System in 1970 was dominated by large institutions built in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The state of treatment at Bridgewater State Hospital was graphically depicted in Frederick Wiseman’s 1968 documentary, Titicut Follies. (Source: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/titicut-follies-1968)
Jerome Miller, appointed by Governor Sargent in 1969, closed the Institute for Juvenile Guidance at Bridgewater and the Lyman, Shirley and Oakdale Training Schools between 1970 and 1972. (Source: https://www.mass.gov)
A movement for deinstitutionalization and community treatment begun in the 1960s culminated in the Northampton Consent decree in 1978 (Sources: https://commonwealthmagazine.org, https://www.mamh.org)
The Ad Hoc Committee on Prison Reform, presented a liberal challenge to the status quo.
In sum, inside and outside reformers, activists, families, and persons directly affected by inadequate treatment challenged the legitimacy of these systems.
On December 20, 1971, recognizing these public concerns, Governor Francis Sargent announced a 6-point plan for prison reform. These reforms became the foundation of Chapter 777, an omnibus reform bill:
a statewide system of halfway houses.
establishment of a nonprofit prison industries corporation.
repeal of the states 2/3 law for parole eligibility.
improved training of correctional officers.
increased recruitment of Blacks and Hispanics into the DOC.
establishment of staff inmate councils. (Harvard Kennedy School Case Study, Vol I pp. 31-32.
At the same time, the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), was seeking to fund innovative programs in criminal justice at state and municipal levels. These funds were essential to the implementation of many of these reforms. (Sources: https://www.gao.gov, https://www.ojp.gov/)
These reforms, no doubt, must have seemed even more urgent after the Attica uprising (September 9-12, 1971). American correctional systems were in trouble before Attica, but that uprising raised awareness at national and local levels.
In the last months of 1971, the U.S House Select Committee on Crime held five days of hearings in Washington D.C. November 29-December 3, 1971. In Massachusetts, Judge Harry Elam of the Boston Municipal Court, heading up the Citizens Committee on Corrections was charged with preparing Corrections 71: A Citizens Report. (Boston MA: State House Library.), which coincidentally was published on November 30, 1971.
On December 23, 1971 Governor Sargent announced that John Boone had been selected as the next Commissioner of Correction. He was sworn in on January 17, 1972.
Even before the Omnibus Correctional Reform Act (Chapter 777) went into effect in July 1972, John Boone hit the ground running with a mandate for change that was centered on his vision/goal of moving the corrections system to a community correction model. Based on his experience, he believed that upwards of 80% of persons incarcerated could go into communities during the day to work or attend school. (source: Bill Farmar Interview, Boston Phoenix)
July 18,1972 Chapter 777 enacted
Also incorporated into Chapter 777, which was signed into law July 18, 1972 were other important changes:
Creating four new Deputy Commissioner positions
Establishing a Division of Research
Mandating DOC Oversight County Correctional Programs
Mandating Department rehabilitation and reentry initiatives
Working with outside agencies in providing services for prisoners
Instituting education, training and employment programs for prisoners
Enabling prisoners nearing release to participate in community programs
Authorizing furloughs
One year later, Governor Sargent and Commissioner Boone could point to a number of reforms in areas including
Chapter 777 (in effect in October 1972)
Minority hiring increased.
Budget cuts
Classification reform
Halfway Houses
Furloughs
Work and education releases
Coeducational corrections (HKS-II, 20-21.)
Substantive Parole Reforms
Also Closure of the East wing at Concord (January 1973) HKS-II, 21
But reforms were accompanied by problems.
Commissioner Boone (who favored a greater role for prisoners in the institutions), negotiated with the National Prisoners Reform Association (NPRA) at Walpole, that was seeking recognition as a labor union.
There was resistance from the Correction Officers’ unions at Walpole and Norfolk.
There was a stream of negative news stories and editorial comments in one of the Boston papers. Much of this coverage focused on events at MCI Walpole. The problems included unstable leadership: seven Superintendents and Acting Superintendents during 1972 and 1973; five of these during Commissioner Boone’s 18 months. Correction Officers were dissatisfied with Commissioner Boone’s performance and the Commissioner was dissatisfied with their performance. The Correction Officers Union staged a walkout in March 1972, less than two months into his term.
In May 1972, Stanley Bond, a white prisoner associated with the Weather Underground, blew up himself and another prisoner whole working on a homemade bomb.
Two Department Of Correction staff – James Souza and Alfred Baranowski, a correction officer and a teacher - were shot in MCI Norfolk on July 31, 1972 by prisoner Walter Elliott, in a failed escape attempt. Elliot later killed his wife, who had been visiting, and took his own life after that attempt failed.
In the Summer of 1972, the Correction Officers Unions brought suit charging that Commissioner Boone did not meet the statutory requirements to be Commissioner. The Court ruled in favor of the Commissioner in November 1972.
At the time of John Boone’s tenure in office, there was also a heightened climate of racism that elevated the grievances toward him and made it exceedingly difficult to implement his policies and programs. His life experiences from the south allowed him face this and work to move his agenda forward.
Concord Reformatory’s East Wing, opened in 1878, was the site of a major escape in November 1972. [The East Wing was closed in January 1973. The toilets were filled with cement to ensure that it would never house prisoners again.]
In March 1973 Walpole Officers staged a walkout. This time, the Commissioner ordered them to undergo re-training before they returned to the prison.
Under pressure, John Boone resigned on June 21, 1973.His tenure had lasted 512 days.
“A poll taken just before his removal showed Boone had a recognition factor of 75 percent statewide. Only the governor, the state's two senators, and the mayor of Boston had a higher rating. One official commented of Boone, ‘He's become known by more people in a short period of time than most politicians in a lifetime.’” (Harvard Kennedy School Case Study III, p. 10)
Throughout his tenure, John Boone had strong support from liberal politicians, the Black community and the Black press. He had strong support from the Globe, but they covered his failures as well as his successes. The Herald gloated when John Boone resigned under pressure. “The Herald American’s Crusade Led to Ouster”.
After his resignation, John Boone remained in Massachusetts.
He became Community Affairs Director for WNAC-TV.
He taught at Boston University, Clark University, and Northeastern University.
He returned to Atlanta in 1979.
Reform did not stop, but continued under the leadership of Commissioner Frank Hall, through the 1970s. This is a fact sometimes overlooked by those who focus only on the drama of the Boone Commissionership.
Since that time, the Massachusetts criminal justice system has cycled through periods of “law and order” retrenchment, followed by crises that lead to major reform efforts. These reforms are fueled by executive and legislative action; advocacy and legal challenges; court decisions, and media coverage. The cycles over these fifty years have resulted in a prison system in Massachusetts that, we believe, is in many ways more innovative, and in other ways lags behind those of other demographically similar states.
By Bob Cadigan
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