From the NDSU Press: "Tough but Fair"

Earlier this year, the North Dakota State University Press published Winston E. Satran’s “Tough but Fair: Reformation of a Prison, Memoir of a Warden.” Upon its completion, the memoir, which details Satran’s career as deputy warden of the North Dakota State Penitentiary, was submitted to the Great Reads from Great Places book competition. This statewide contest takes three books from North Dakota authors and gives readers the opportunity to vote for which they would like to represent the state at the National Book Festival held in Washington, D.C.

Satran, in promotional material for his memoir, states that “Tough but Fair” was prompted by “twenty-eight years of experience working with troubled juveniles and convicted felons.” These delinquents were housed in the North Dakota State Penitentiary, where Satran began working as a deputy warden in late 1972. Satran was given the job following a stretch of what he describes as chaos. “...assaults on staff, improper discipline, a rapid decline in the facility structure and extreme disrepair of the utilities and services” were what Satran took up with the mantle of warden. He believes that his time at the penitentiary was “intellectually, physically and spiritually transformative.”

Satran’s memoir has received praise from a particularly interesting set of readers, with book promotions highlighting the approval of North Dakota correctional and judicial professionals. Dave Krabbenhoft, the former director of the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, appreciates how “Tough but Fair” thoughtfully approaches the “challenges and rewards of managing a state correctional facility while navigating the nexus of personal bias, policy and politics.” H. Patrick Weir, a former district court judge in North Dakota, notes that a defining aspect of Satran’s account was his wanting of “the residents to understand that [Satran’s] main concern was their future, not their past.”

Appearing on the “Chainz 2 Changed” podcast in May, Satran explains how the implementation of a resident-run rodeo program helped restore order to the penitentiary. The prison system is so often shrouded in a negative stigma that lingers with residents following their sentences, but efforts like the rodeo and general education development (GED) programs put in place during Satran’s time help to break the notions that residents are deadbeats or could never be contributing members of society. Satran comments that “for [readers that are] outside of the prison, they have no idea what daily life is like in prison…There were a lot of good times.”

Satran also explains how the residents reacted to his presence and authority. “They never called me warden or deputy; they called me Winston.” Satran didn’t see residents as inmates, but people. Residents didn’t see Satran as authority, but as someone who wanted them to build themselves back up. By taking a humanizing approach to the penitentiary system and using the institution as a constructive space for residents, Satran was able to improve resident lives during and following their sentences. An emphasis on a resident’s present and future over their past is a large part in how Satran was able to turn the system around.

As a voting option in the current voting period for North Dakota’s Great Reads from Great Places competition, supporters and readers of Satran’s “Tough but Fair” can visit the North Dakota State Library website to cast their vote in favor of this literary work. The voting will remain open until 11:45 p.m. on Dec. 31. Voting for “Tough but Fair” will give it the opportunity to represent North Dakota literature at the upcoming National Book Festival.