Will Sutton: Black faces everywhere behind bars, but not in offices running Louisiana prisons

BY WILL SUTTON ~ NOLA.COM

When it comes to incarcerated people, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Louisiana compete to lead the nation. Louisiana continues to incarcerate more people per capita than any other state.

Gov. John Bel Edwards and Louisiana Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc have worked with corrections officials, judges and legislators on important reforms. Those have had some impact. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Louisiana had 695 people in prison per 100,000 residents in 2019, and 680 people incarcerated per 100,000 residents in 2020. That’s a 2.4% drop. But there are other parts of this picture.

More than 67% of our prison population is Black and far too few of our corrections leadership team is Black.

According to a detailed analysis of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections done by a group of Black retired corrections officials, there are about 1,500 prison guards and 56% of them are Black. The senior leadership looks quite different. The report, “The Under-representation of Black Employees in Executive and Upper-Management Positions in the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections,” shows that among the top agency leaders — wardens, deputy wardens and assistant wardens — 70% are White. That’s not a good look, inside or outside.

"That's the old plantation syndrome — 70% of your inmates are Black, and almost all your wardens are White," Larry Smith, a former deputy secretary of the DOC, told Advocate reporter Lea Skene.

Among the wardens overseeing the seven state prisons, only one is Black: Frederick Boutte, who leads the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women. That prison is one of our smallest. I’m sure there are experienced, smart, talented White corrections leaders, but where are the experienced, smart, talented Black corrections leaders? Some of them are on staff.

Whalen Gibbs graduated from LSU with a criminal justice degree in 1979, and he wanted a criminal justice career. He wanted it so much that he left a well-paying construction labor job to become a probation and parole specialist in 1981, earning $1,051 a month. “I made that much a week,” he said, but he really wanted a criminal justice career. He quickly rose in the ranks, becoming a supervisor in about five years. Then things stalled. He couldn’t get into higher levels of leadership. In 2004, he was appointed an assistant secretary by then Gov. Kathleen Blanco. He retired in 2015, with a salary of $104,000.

Gibbs left the department pleased that he had achieved some success, but disappointed that others got jobs for which he believes he was more qualified. He oversaw a re-entry program he’s proud of, but he’s dissatisfied that more Black people haven’t followed him into senior leadership. He grew weary. “I got tired of the fight,” he said, “and I walked away.”

When former corrections deputy secretary Larry Smith asked him to help with a comprehensive analysis of the agency’s hiring, promotion and leadership, he did it for Smith, a friend and mentor, and for the people who still have a shot to achieve more. The work started after the killing of George Floyd last year. The report was given to Edwards, LeBlanc, legislative leaders and others. LeBlanc diplomatically responded. He acknowledged most failures. He even agreed that a number of White leaders had gotten into key positions as family corrections legacies. That didn’t sit well with Gibbs, who called that conclusion “insulting.”

LeBlanc has a relatively positive reputation among corrections stakeholders, including corrections staff, judges, legislators and some advocates. But even good guys sometimes don’t always get things right. LeBlanc’s promise to hire a diversity, equity and inclusion official is good, but his acceptance of a “good ol' boy” system is downright disgusting.

When I read about the committee’s work, I immediately thought about our Baton Rouge and New Orleans river pilots who claim family ties are a natural part of high-paying river navigation jobs. I also thought about South Africa and its apartheid rule. From 1948 until the presidential election of Nelson Mandela in 1994, that African nation with a majority Black population was ruled by a White minority with state-sanctioned segregation and separation. “They” said it was best for the nation. Black South Africans didn’t have a say for a long time.

LeBlanc knows what’s going on. He’s been in the department for 40 years and he’s led it for more than a decade. He sees the faces of his senior leadership team. Edwards shares some of the responsibility, too.

Edwards and LeBlanc have worked together on penal reform. They need to institute corrections leadership reform.