First Friday
Jeanne Woodford: From Warden to Advocate
Friday, September 7th
Main Reading Room
Wine reception at 6:30pm for pre-registered guests.
Program begins at 7pm.
For adults and high school students.
Jeanne Woodford, former warden at San Quentin who oversaw four executions, will talk about her career in the criminal justice system and why she is an ardent supporter of Prop 34, the initiative that would replace the death penalty in California with life in prison without possibility of parole. Woodford has said that presiding over executions allowed her to “see this issue from many points of view.”
Woodford began her career as a correctional officer at San Quentin in 1978 at a time when women were far outnumbered by male correctional officers. Woodford more than proved her worth, even lifting weights, so she could open cell doors without assistance. She rose through the ranks to become the prison’s first female warden in 2000, garnering the respect of staff and inmates. She was known for taking the time to speak to inmates on her rounds and for being a champion for evidence-based rehabilitation programs.
After a short stint as Director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, she served as Chief Probation Officer of the San Francisco Adult Probation Department. In early 2011, Woodford became Executive Director of Death Penalty Focus and is also currently a Senior Fellow at the Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice. Woodford is the official proponent of "Yes on 34", the SAFE California Act of 2012.
This event is free and open to the public.
Click here to register.
Funding for First Fridays is made possible by generous support from The Mill Valley Library Foundation and the Friends.