As of this week a federal judge (for the 3rd
time, has rules Albert Woodfox’s conviction is to be overturned due to lack of
evidence and unfair jury selection.
As he was set to walk out of that iron door
solitary cell, the state of Louisiana
put in an emergency appeal. Three days later the 5th circuit court
of appeals ruled in favor to keep in imprisoned until the appeal is decided.
Source.
15 June 2015
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Albert Woodfox,
the last “Angola Three” prisoner still behind bars in Louisiana
In the earlier ruling, Judge James J. Brady of the US
District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana also barred a third trial
for Woodfox. He was convicted twice for the murder of a prison guard, but both
convictions were overturned.
Woodfox, now 68, is one of a group of three prisoners at
the notoriously brutal Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola
Woodfox and Herman Wallace were convicted of the April
1972 killing of Brent Miller, a prison guard at Angola
Wallace was set free October 1, 2013, at the age of 71,
after a campaign waged by Amnesty International (AI) for his release on
humanitarian grounds. A grand jury reindicted him two days later, but did not
arrest him. He died the following day of advanced liver cancer.
King was released in 2001, after a court reversed his
conviction. He has remained a tireless advocate for Wallace and Woodfox,
writing on his web site, “I may be free from Angola ,
but Angola
In overturning Woodfox’s convictions, federal courts have
ruled that his constitutional rights were violated through racial
discrimination, prosecutorial misconduct, inadequate defense and suppression of
exculpatory evidence.
A 2011 report by AI condemned the legal case against
Woodfox and Wallace, stating: “No physical evidence linking the men to the
guard’s murder has ever been found; potentially exculpatory DNA evidence has
been lost; and the convictions were based on questionable inmate testimony.”
Despite the lack of physical evidence and Woodfox’s
twice-overturned convictions, the state of Louisiana
According to Woodfox’s attorneys, he suffers from high
blood pressure and health and kidney disease. Having been held for the vast
majority of the last 43 years in solitary confinement, he is believed to have
spent the most time of any US
prisoner in what Angola
He has been held alone for 23 hours a day in a six-foot
by eight-foot cell with views through metal bars of only a concrete corridor.
In the remaining hour, he is allowed to shower and walk up and down the
corridor or to have an isolated walk in the exercise yard, weather permitting.
Woodfox’s attorney George Kendall told the Guardian last year, “There is no other American
prisoner who has been as long in solitary. If you ask other prisoners who have
spent time in solitary, they will tell you that it is the worst thing that can
happen to you in prison—it’s as lonely and painful as it gets.”
In 2008, Woodfox described the bouts of claustrophobia he
has suffered frequently in his cell: “When I have an attack I feel like I am
being smothered, it is very difficult to breathe, and I sweat profusely. It
seems like the cell walls close in and are just inches from my face. I try to
cope by pacing, or by closing my eyes and rocking myself.”
Juan E. Mendez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on
Torture, in 2013 called for Woodfox’s immediate release from solitary
confinement, stating: “Four decades in solitary confinement can only be
described as torture.”
The horrific conditions of Albert Woodfox’s incarceration
are an indictment of the US
While there is no government reporting system to count
the number of prisoners in solitary confinement nationwide, the Vera Institute
for Justice estimates that more than 80,000 people are placed in isolation in
state and federal prisons on any given day. This is likely an underestimation,
as the figure does not include those in jails, military facilities, juvenile
facilities or immigration detention centers.
The recent suicide of Kalief Browder has focused renewed attention on the
barbaric practice. Browder, who was accused of stealing a backpack at age 16,
was incarcerated for three years at New York ’s
Rikers Island
A recent Human Rights Watch report exposed that
mentally disabled prisoners in the U.S.
Woodfox’s advocate, Angela Allen-Bell, a professor at the Southern University Law
Center visited Woodfox after the 5th circuits ruling to keep him incarcerated.
He is so strong after all he has been through. It breaks my heart this
nightmare continues. Here Allen-Bell describes the effect being moved
from a state prison to a parish prison has adversely effected him.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Albert Woodfox, the Louisiana prisoner who has spent 43 years in solitary confinement, will not be set free today. A three-judge panel ruled this afternoon that Woodfox will remain behind bars while it considers whether he can be retried for the 1972 murder of a prison guard. His conviction has twice been thrown out. Earlier today, we spoke to Angela Allen-Bell, an advocate for Woodfox and a professor at the Southern University Law Center. She visited Albert Woodfox yesterday and said he was prepared for the judge's decision either way.
ANGELA ALLEN-BELL: He has been through litigating this case, now, consistently since 1972. And so he's developed an ability to sort of understand that, you know, he has control over only one set of things, which is the truth, and nothing more. And so he does not allow himself to become very optimistic. He's very cautious when it comes to the judicial system because his experience has taught him that that is best.
CORNISH: After these last 40-plus years in solitary confinement, how is his physical health? I mean, what evidence can you see of the effects of his isolation?
ALLEN-BELL: Well, one of the things that I can often notice is, in the letters that he writes, his handwriting differs when he is under the duress of this confinement. And so a lot of times, when you read the writing, it almost looks like a child learning to write, like a toddler's writing. And when I see that, I know that he's succumbing to those conditions. The other thing is, he has panic attacks regularly. He also has diabetes. He has high blood pressure. And, you know, he's 68, and he has all of the issues that goes along with living in the body of a 68-year-old. But many of those things are enhanced because of these extreme conditions that he's living under.
CORNISH: We know that his initial imprisonment was at Angola, and he's now at a separate detention center. But the conditions, it sounds like, have been the same. He's been kept away from the general population. He's been in solitary confinement. How does he describe that - the size of the cell, what he's allowed to do or not do?
ALLEN-BELL: In that cell, he has a small bunk, and there's a very thin mattress that would be akin to what you would send to preschool with your kid. He has a toilet, and he has a small desk area. And it measures about six-by-nine. For the larger part of the 43 years, he actually had bars on the outside of his cell so that he could actually hear the television or hear the guards as they move about and even hear other inmates, sometimes screaming in agony. But he had the pleasure of hearing other people up until about two months ago, when he was moved to West Feliciana. Now, he has a solid metal door on the outside of his cell, and he's sealed behind the metal door, and that seems to be taking a toll on him because he's having a lot more panic attacks and issues with anxiety as of these last few months.
CORNISH: Now, Albert Woodfox - his original crime was armed robbery. His solitary confinement came after now questionable convictions for the death of the prison guard, Brent Miller. But at the time, his advocates said that he also was being punished, in a way, for being an organizer within the prison of the first chapter of the Black Panthers. The group was organizing against inhumane conditions at the prison. Angela Allen-Bell, has Albert Woodfox ever expressed to you any regret or concern about his activity during that time?
ALLEN-BELL: Absolutely not, and it's odd that you ask that question because that was some of the conversation we had on yesterday, when he was telling me of some of the things that he would like to do when he's free. And one of the things that he says that he would love to spend time doing is mentoring young boys who grew up without a father, like himself. And I said to him, well, Albert, I said, do you think maybe you should not try to help other folks? You know, try to be a little selfish? I mean, actually, you trying to be a public servant is what got you in this. And he said, absolutely not, I'll never do that. He said, that's what I was called to do.
CORNISH: What are next steps?
ALLEN-BELL: Well, his steps have always been to trust the judicial system, but what I expect also will happen is the public will become more involved in this, and this is going to turn into a bigger movement. This is not going to quietly go away. The people are now invested in this case because of what has been done to Mr. Woodfox.
CORNISH: Angela Allen-Bell. She's a professor at the Southern University Law Center. She spoke to us about Albert Woodfox. Thank you so much for talking with us.
ALLEN-BELL: Thank you for having me.
Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved.
What can we all do? As Allen-Bell points out, the only way
to push Louisiana Attorney General, Buddy Caldwell is for us to gain momentum
on an international scale.
Please share this meme world wide!
Please join the
1000s of people who support Albert Shaka Woodfox by contacting Gov. Bobby Jindal to NOT
to waste anymore tax payer money in prosecuting this case. Consider yourself
acting on behalf of a turning tide of justice, equality, dignity, &
history.
Here are some ways you can contribute:
Sign Amnesty Petition Below:
Call Buddy Caldwell
The conditions where he is right now are
the very worse he has been in. Anyone who wants to write him and show support
to him directly, he can use your words of encouragement.
His address is:
Albert Woodfox #72148
