Rich Whitney, 54, is an attorney and partner in the Carbondale, Illinois law firm of Speir and Whitney. Born in Connecticut, he received his Bachelor's Degree in telecommunications at Michigan State University in 1977. He has long been politically active in support of the labor, environmental, civil rights, women's and antiwar movements.

A magna cum laude graduate of Southern Illinois University School of Law, he now practices in the areas of employment law, civil rights and criminal defense. In collaboration with former SIU law professor Donald W. Garner, Whitney was involved in nationwide legal battles to regulate tobacco advertising, on behalf of the public health community, including the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and Public Citizen. In his legal practice, he has also taken on challenging and sometimes controversial cases to protect First, Fourth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, combating political patronage in employment, harassment and unjust firings of coal miners, prison employees, police officers and many other workers.

Whitney is also one of the founding members of the Illinois Green Party and wrote a good portion of the Party’s platform. In 2002, he ran for state representative for the Party in the 115th District, winning enough votes to make the party a legally "established" party in the District. He ran again in 2004, and in 2006 served as the Party’s first ever candidate for Governor, winning over 360,000 votes, about 10.5 percent of the total, more than enough to make the Green Party an “established” party under Illinois election law. Meanwhile, he has continued to be actively involved in local political battles to protect the environment and resist urban sprawl, as well as the ongoing effort to oppose the ongoing U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. He also has been active in his local ACLU, the Illinois Coalition for Peace, Justice and the Environment, and the Big Muddy Independent Media Center. He is also a member and supporter of Voices for Illinois Children, Greenpeace and the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, among other organizations.