Murder Conviction Overturned After 36 Years in Solitary (Former Black Panther Albert Woodfox)

[sabra]

Source: ABC News


Judge Tosses Conviction of Former Black Panther Albert Woodfox

A man who spent 36 years in solitary confinement for killing a prison guard is one step closer to freedom after a federal judge overturned his murder conviction late Tuesday. What happens next to former Black Panther Albert Woodfox now hinges on the state.

The state can appeal the court's decision or initiate a new trial for Woodfox on the murder charge because the original indictment still stands. Officials at the Louisiana State Attorney General's office met this morning to discuss their next steps, but they did not immediately issue comment.

Woodfox's lawyers are calling for the state not to pursue an appeal and to release Woodfox immediately.

"The state has already stolen nearly four decades of Albert Woodfox's life," said lead attorney Nick Trenticosta. "The injustice in this case is unfathomable. How can Louisiana continue to imprison a 61 year-old man after a federal judge has ruled that he shouldn't have been convicted in the first place?"

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) released a statement following the ruling commending the court's ruling, saying it "has taken the appropriate steps to right a terrible wrong and overturn the conviction of Albert Woodfox."

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5339513&page=1

[LiberalFighter]

1. What were prison conditions and prison guards like 36 years ago?

I wouldn't trust prison officials from that time period.

[atreides1]

5. Remember

This is Louisiana and he's black, and I'm willing to bet the guard was white!

[LiberalFighter]

13. Which is why I also focused on it happening over 30 years ago.

However bad it is not back then it was even more so especially with racism being prevalent.

[bean fidhleir]

2. And there are still lackwits who claim the US doesn't have political prisoners. K&R (nt)

[pattmarty]

6. Ya beat me to it. I was going to state the same about political prisoners.

[bean fidhleir]

9. What shocks me (you too, I bet) is that you and I are apparently the only ones

to spot it. I expected to be maybe 50th in line.

[pattmarty]

12. I know, it was the first thing I thought of when I saw the headline.

[1monster]

3. Thirty-six YEARS in SOLITARY!!!!!! Doesn't that fall under cruel and inhuman punishment?

If that man isn't a basket case, then he is far more mentally and emotionally strong than 99.9999% of the world's population.

There should be laws, strictly enforced, on conditions of imprisonment.

No one, and no sentient being should EVER be held in solitary confinement for long periods of time.

[Indenturedebtor]

4. That was my first thought as well. Just a few months of solitary has driven people insane

Solitary should be limited to 24 hour periods only. What a crime against humanity this story is.

But hey now with the Bush laws we can all be convicted of murder or just whisked away without any sort of trial whatsoever. Yay. What a wonderful country.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Surely hope he will be allowed interviews and the chance to share what the #### happened to him.

It's far too late to keep sweeping these things under the rug.

The government will look a whole lot better by treating him respectfully from today forward, and letting Americans know how it happened, arranging a public formal apology, and some financial arrangement made to assist him with what the hell is left of his life after losing so many years of income, not to mention mental, spiritual well being.

Public exoneration, apology, financial reimbursement for pain and suffering, and he should be welcomed back to the world.

[endarkenment]

8. The Angola 3. Way back when things were actually worse than they are now.

The Angola 3 are Robert King Wilkerson, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace who each arrived at Angola Prison as young men under various circumstances in the late 1960s. While inside prison, contact with members of the Black Panthers led to the creation of prison chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1971. The men then organized prisoners to build a movement within the walls to desegregate the prison, to end systematic rape and violence, for better living conditions, and worked as jailhouse lawyers helping prisoners file legal papers. Woodfox and Wallace were convicted of the 1972 stabbing murder of a prison guard. Wilkerson was said by authorities to be linked to the murder but was not charged.<1>

During this time the Black Panther Party, the anti-war movement, and other organizations were targeted by the F.B.I. for "political disruption" through its COINTELPRO.

After organizing multiple strikes and sit-ins for better conditions the three men were taken out of the general prison population and were held in solitary confinement from 1972. They remained in solitary confinement until former black panther member Malik Rahim of Common Ground Collective, and a young law student, Scott Fleming, in 1997 discovered that these men were still locked up. They began investigating the case, questioning the facts of the original investigations at Angola and raising questions about their original trials.

Robert King Wilkerson was exonerated by the state in 2001 and released after 29 years in solitary confinement. Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox are still prisoners in Angola prison and are working to get released. In March 2008 they were moved, after 36 years, from solitary confinement to a maximum security dormitory.<2>.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angola_3

Boomers: wake the fuck up. It is as bad as it ever was. You were right about things 40 years ago, you just forgot how right you were.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Thanks for posting the background. n/t

[defendandprotect]

10. That Woodfox could even be alive after 36 years in solitary is unbelievable...

It sounds more to me like he should immediately be released and charges against prison

officials should be filed!

This prison system is a threat to all of us ---

but especially to people of color and we have to find someway to protect our fellow

citizens --- and reform these prisons!

[flashl]

14. Right a wrong? nt