Louie L. Wainwright

Who is Louie L. Wainwright?

Louie L. Wainwright was Secretary of the Florida Division of Corrections from 1962 to 1987, more than a quarter of a century. He is most famous for being the named respondent in two U.S. Supreme Court cases: Gideon v. Wainwright in which indigents are guaranteed an attorney, and Ford v. Wainwright, in which the Court approved the common law rule prohibiting the execution of the insane. Time Magazine called the Gideon decision one of the ten most important legal events of the 1960s. He also appeared as the respondent in a number of habeas corpus petitions that reached the Supreme Court level during his long tenure in office, making "Wainwright" one of the most familiar names to students of habeas corpus law.

Wainwright received a masters degree in criminal justice from Nova Southeastern University, later serving as a temporary faculty member there. He was then acknowledged as Dean of American Correctional Administrators. Wainwright was appointed as Secretary of the Florida Division of Corrections by Cecil Farris Bryant in 1962, replacing H. G. Cochran and remained in the position until 1987, when Richard L. Dugger assumed the role.