Bobby Austin: A Client Profile
Bobby Austin is the Remington Center's Staff Paralegal. Bobby was convicted of murder on December 11, 1975 and imprisoned, with a life sentence, at the Wisconsin State Prison at Waupun the following day. In an interview he described his life, his time in prison, the influence LAIP and the Remington Center have had on him, and what he has learned.
Student participates in client simulation activity
Fifteen inmates from an initial "research group" were chosen for the first Paralegal Program at Waupun Correctional Institute in 1977. Eleven of them graduated with two-year Associate degrees as legal assistants. Bobby Austin was one of those graduates. Upon graduation from the Paralegal Program at Waupun, Bobby and three other inmates were transferred to Fox Lake Prison, a medium-security facility. Professor Remington appealed to then-Governor Tony Earl for their life sentences to be reduced, in recognition of the changes they had made in their lives. Governor Earl agreed, and commuted the sentences of James Harris and Jesse Ford from life to 50 years. Bobby Austin served a mandatory 11 years and 3 months before he was eligible for parole. In his time there, he taught other inmates how to do legal research and counseled those who were in the same situation he had been in years before.
Bobby spent more time in medium-security than in maximum-security, a rarity for someone convicted of his crime and a tribute to the efforts he made to better himself while he was incarcerated. Bobby was paroled on April 13, 1992. He had served 16 years and 5 months of a life sentence.
Bobby has worked at LAIP as a paralegal since 1992. He has lectured to criminal law classes at the University of Wisconsin and Edgewood College. Today, he is a fixture at the Remington Center, always willing to offer help and advice to students, staff, and clinical faculty.
On prison and how he began changing his life:
"It was an interesting journey for me. I was functionally illiterate when I entered prison. I had never been in prison, never been in juvenile detention, and here I was, convicted of the most heinous crime a man could commit in Wisconsin murder. I had turned myself in, but I was scared, confused, and angry. After a while, I started thinking about new things, and pretty soon I began bugging teachers at the prison to help me, reading and writing, trying to understand things. I learned how to read a lot better, and then I got into the paralegal program, and it taught me a way of problem solving, which I had never had before. Before that, I had been a reactionary person. The paralegal program gave me self-esteem I had never had before. Staff members started saying to me 'hey, there's something about you that's worth salvaging.' When I started talking to Frank [Remington] and Walter [Dickey], I had never had anyone listen to me without judging me. That really helped me."
On Frank Remington:
"Frank, from my personal experience and with others, was a unique man - he was a gentle spirit. The prison administration at Winnebago tried to 'break' all prisoners convicted of certain crimes of habits that they assumed all of them had, like drug usage. One day, Frank came to see me, and I was crying, and I told him why. Frank said, 'Don't worry about it. Let me handle it.' That's all he said. He didn't make any promises, didn't say he was going to do this or going to do that. He just listened to me, scratched at his elbow like he always did when he was thinking, and said 'don't worry about it.' I had never seen anyone who could talk to people like Frank could, whether they were inmates, prison staff, or attorneys. He could sit down with the most angry, hostile person, who was yelling about what the system had done to him and how bad he had it, you know, trying to put the blame on other people. Prank would just sit there...and listen...and he'd scratch at his elbow, or rub his face and scrunch up his eyes...and he'd never interrupt them, just let them talk...and then he'd speak, in this real quiet voice, and he'd say 'Well, you do have some problems. But, you have to realize that...you did this...or you did do that, and that's not really all right...' and the next thing you knew, Frank had the guy agreeing with him. He'd get you to agree with him on one thing and then you found yourself just listening to him. I have never seen anyone who could talk to people like Frank could."
On what inmates think about LAIP:
"Inmates look at LAIP as hope. Most inmates have never had anyone listen to them. My lawyer was doing all the talking, but I couldn't understand half the words he was saying. I think the same thing is true for most inmates. When LAIP gets to inmates and listens to them, inmates finally get to see what they can do to help themselves. Once they have been heard, by LAIP, a lot of anger is gone and they have a clearer picture of what they can do, rather than what others have done to them. In prison, that means a lot."
On the lasting influence of his experience with LAIP:
"My grandmother put some things into me when I was younger. I always try to help people, and I was lucky to have people who helped me. If I hadn't met Frank, or Walter [Dickey], or Ben [Kempinen], who knows what would have happened to me. I have received many letters from students who had never been around an inmate before, especially one who had turned their life around and done something positive. Their experience was all negative.