2023 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 95
BY SENATOR DUPLESSIS
A RESOLUTION
To express the sincere and heartfelt condolences of the Senate of the Legislature of
Louisiana upon the death of Kenneth "Biggy" Johnston.
WHEREAS, it is with immense sadness and profound regret that the Senate of the
Legislature of Louisiana has learned of the death of Kenneth "Biggy" Johnston; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Johnston was drafted and served his country in the Vietnam
War; and
WHEREAS, upon his return to Louisiana, and like many others who served in the
war, Biggy struggled with the trauma he witnessed and experienced, and with addiction
which eventually prompted his incarceration at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in 1974; and
WHEREAS, while incarcerated, Biggy educated himself in the practice of law in
order to assist his immediate community in navigating the court system, including filing
petitions against the nonunanimous jury system; and
WHEREAS, Biggy co-founded the Angola Special Civics Project with Norris
Henderson and this group worked with the Louisiana Legislature to pass Act 790 of the 1990
Regular Session to create Louisiana's first life sentence-parole law, years after this eligibility
was retroactively taken from offenders during Louisiana's "tough-on-crime" era; and
WHEREAS, Biggy was released through the mechanism he created and became a
paralegal upon returning to New Orleans; and
WHEREAS, in 2003, the Angola Special Civics Project was reconvened outside of
prison under the name VOTE to organize, educate, and mobilize the community impacted
by what had become the most incarcerated state in the world; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, after several years of testifying on behalf of voting rights for
himself and tens of thousands of others, Biggy became the lead plaintiff in "VOTE v.
Louisiana", a lawsuit to restore voting rights; and
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WHEREAS, in the 2018 Regular Session of the Legislature, Biggy was instrumental
to the passage of Act 636, restoring voting rights to all people on probation and those who
have been on parole over five years, including himself, and on the Act's effective date
(March 1, 2019), he became the first person on parole to register to vote since the extension
of voting rights to black men; and
WHEREAS, also in 2018, Biggy was part of the Non-Unanimous Jury Coalition, and
helped win passage of a constitutional amendment that ended the Jim Crow practice under
which he was convicted; and
WHEREAS, Biggy lived to see Voice of the Experienced (VOTE), the progeny of
the Angola Special Civics Project, create three chapters, massively grow its staff, play a lead
role in criminal justice reform, become nationally recognized, open multiple reentry houses,
launch the Formerly Incarcerated Transition (FIT) Clinic, and purchase its own building; and
WHEREAS, Biggy Johnston leaves behind a wonderful community of people,
especially his VOTE family, his life's work, his Peer Support Group that meets twice per
month, and his loving siblings and children. Johnston was a generous, kind, and cheerful
man of small stature yet truly worthy of the name "Biggy"; he will truly be missed, but will
never be forgotten.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby express sincere and heartfelt condolences on the death of Kenneth "Biggy"
Johnston, does hereby further recognize Mr. Johnston's unrelenting dedication to Louisiana,
and does hereby extend sincerest wishes that his family, friends, and loved ones may find
comfort in their shared memories of his life.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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