Blog News from the Angola 3

(New poster by artist César Maxit)

All eyes are on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals as we move into summer.

Most urgently of course, we wake up every day hopeful that the court will choose to affirm Judge Brady’s ruling that overturned Albert’s conviction for a third time. Although there is no way to know when they will rule, the average decision wait time is 10 months, so we expect word soon, and certainly by early fall.

Meanwhile, the landmark A3 civil case seeking to define long term solitary confinement as cruel and unusual punishment carries on through Robert and Albert since Herman’s passing. Final preparation and definite trial dates for the civil case remain frozen pending resolution of two appeals the State has filed with the 5th Circuit contesting two of Judge Brady’s recent decisions in A3’s favor. 
The first appeal seeks to reverse Federal District Court Judge Brady’s ruling that prison officials are not eligible for “qualified immunity,” a status which would shield them from having to pay damages if they lose the case. The second appeal seeks to reinstitute the invasive, inhumane strip searches Albert endured until Judge Brady ruled them unconstitutional and unnecessary this past January.

Once both appeal rulings are decided, the dates for the trial will be set, taking into consideration how much preparation time each side still needs (at least a few more months), and when the court is able to reschedule. We will keep everyone updated on all fronts as things develop.

Honoring Freedom Fighter Yuri Kochiyama

This month we were deeply saddened by the passing of 93 year-old Yuri Kochiyama, a longtime supporter of political prisoners and all oppressed communities. Deepa Iyer, writing for the Huffington Post, argued that “Yuri Kochiyama’s life and legacy is a reminder to Asian Americans and to all those who believe in social justice, of a basic value: To show up whenever and wherever injustice occurs and to engage in acts of resistance and solidarity.”

The A3 Coalition’s Marina Drummer reflects today:

Yuri was one of my early mentors in getting the A3/anti-solitary effort going and right through to last year there was never a time that I visited her that she didn’t ask about Albert and Herman. She was always gracious with her time and her memories and always supportive of the work we did, giving interviews, writing to Herman and Albert, speaking on the case. Yuri had an extraordinary way of making whoever she was with feel very special. She always paid close attention to what her visitors were saying. Herman and Albert always asked about Yuri, as she was their special friend and King always visited her whenever he came to town.

In 2003, Yuri Kochiyama said about the Angola Three:

Despite the fact that one of the Angola Three, Robert King Wilkerson is out, the name will remain the same,the Angola Three. The two that are still left in the infamous Angola Prison, Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox are part of the trio that became recognized for their bold, revolutionary consciousness.  The Angola Three aroused the social and political awareness of their inmate comrades in one of the harshest prison environments.  The oppressive conditions of Angola did not restrain the Three from organizing a Black Panther party.  The Three led campaigns to stop prison rape and improve conditions of the slave plantation. For their boldness, they became targets of the prison administration.

Each of the Angola Three have spent some 31 years behind prison walls; 29 in solitary.  Wilkerson has come out, still strong and outspoken; and Wallace and Woodfox are still unbroken and fighting to make prison a more humane place.  These kind of warriors must never be forgotten.  They have been at the front line of struggle, fighting against the worst kind of brutalities and humiliations.  We must get Wallace and Woodfox out!

The A3 Coalition’s sponsor, Community Futures Collective is the fiscal sponsor of the Kochiyama family’s Yuri Kochiyama Archives Project and donations will be gratefully accepted by the family towards preparing the archives to be deposited in an appropriate institution where students and other researchers will have access to the treasure trove of material she collected over her life time of activism.

Media Coverage:   NPR  II  Huffington Post  II  NY Times  II  Washington Post 

(New poster by artist César Maxit)

All eyes are on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals as we move into summer.

Most urgently of course, we wake up every day hopeful that the court will choose to affirm Judge Brady’s ruling that overturned Albert’s conviction for a third time. Although there is no way to know when they will rule, the average decision wait time is 10 months, so we expect word soon, and certainly by early fall.

Meanwhile, the landmark A3 civil case seeking to define long term solitary confinement as cruel and unusual punishment carries on through Robert and Albert since Herman’s passing. Final preparation and definite trial dates for the civil case remain frozen pending resolution of two appeals the State has filed with the 5th Circuit contesting two of Judge Brady’s recent decisions in A3’s favor. 
The first appeal seeks to reverse Federal District Court Judge Brady’s ruling that prison officials are not eligible for “qualified immunity,” a status which would shield them from having to pay damages if they lose the case. The second appeal seeks to reinstitute the invasive, inhumane strip searches Albert endured until Judge Brady ruled them unconstitutional and unnecessary this past January.

Once both appeal rulings are decided, the dates for the trial will be set, taking into consideration how much preparation time each side still needs (at least a few more months), and when the court is able to reschedule. We will keep everyone updated on all fronts as things develop.

Honoring Freedom Fighter Yuri Kochiyama

This month we were deeply saddened by the passing of 93 year-old Yuri Kochiyama, a longtime supporter of political prisoners and all oppressed communities. Deepa Iyer, writing for the Huffington Post, argued that “Yuri Kochiyama’s life and legacy is a reminder to Asian Americans and to all those who believe in social justice, of a basic value: To show up whenever and wherever injustice occurs and to engage in acts of resistance and solidarity.”

The A3 Coalition’s Marina Drummer reflects today:

Yuri was one of my early mentors in getting the A3/anti-solitary effort going and right through to last year there was never a time that I visited her that she didn’t ask about Albert and Herman. She was always gracious with her time and her memories and always supportive of the work we did, giving interviews, writing to Herman and Albert, speaking on the case. Yuri had an extraordinary way of making whoever she was with feel very special. She always paid close attention to what her visitors were saying. Herman and Albert always asked about Yuri, as she was their special friend and King always visited her whenever he came to town.

In 2003, Yuri Kochiyama said about the Angola Three:

Despite the fact that one of the Angola Three, Robert King Wilkerson is out, the name will remain the same,the Angola Three. The two that are still left in the infamous Angola Prison, Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox are part of the trio that became recognized for their bold, revolutionary consciousness.  The Angola Three aroused the social and political awareness of their inmate comrades in one of the harshest prison environments.  The oppressive conditions of Angola did not restrain the Three from organizing a Black Panther party.  The Three led campaigns to stop prison rape and improve conditions of the slave plantation. For their boldness, they became targets of the prison administration.

Each of the Angola Three have spent some 31 years behind prison walls; 29 in solitary.  Wilkerson has come out, still strong and outspoken; and Wallace and Woodfox are still unbroken and fighting to make prison a more humane place.  These kind of warriors must never be forgotten.  They have been at the front line of struggle, fighting against the worst kind of brutalities and humiliations.  We must get Wallace and Woodfox out!

The A3 Coalition’s sponsor, Community Futures Collective is the fiscal sponsor of the Kochiyama family’s Yuri Kochiyama Archives Project and donations will be gratefully accepted by the family towards preparing the archives to be deposited in an appropriate institution where students and other researchers will have access to the treasure trove of material she collected over her life time of activism.

Media Coverage:   NPR  II  Huffington Post  II  NY Times  II  Washington Post 

(PHOTO: US Congressman Cedric Richmond)

The Solitary Study and Reform Act of 2014

Today we are thrilled to announce that U.S. Congressman Cedric Richmond has introduced a simple but visionary piece of legislation that seeks to first study and then actively reform both the federal and state use of solitary confinement to ensure it is used effectively, infrequently, transparently, and Constitutionally.

The bill would establish a two-year bipartisan Commission tasked with exhaustively studying existing solitary confinement uses and impacts in the US, exploring best practices with experts, and then recommending a new national standard to be adopted by the US Attorney General no longer than 2 years after the Commission’s findings are presented.
Although the new guidelines will then automatically apply to all federal institutions, states who choose not to implement the new federal standards will lose 15% of their existing federal grant monies for prison, jail and juvenile detention each year they don’t comply.

This is the first step towards serious nationwide reform of the hell that Herman, Albert and Robert have endured and fought to end for decades. Contact your representative today and urge them to join Congressman Richmond in this historic effort.

Click here for Amnesty’s press release about this development.

Click here to read the bill in its entirety.

Robert King European Tour Begins

 (Photo from left to right:  Ann Clwyd MP / Robert King / Nicole Piché, PHRG Co-ordinator / Tessa Murphy, Amnesty Secretariat)

Robert King started a European Parliamentary tour today in the UK with a meeting with Ann Clwyd, Member of Parlianment and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group and other members of Parliament. This will be followed by meetings with the French parliament and the European Commission in Brussels.

In Paris, France there will be two public events which A3 supporters can attend: A screening of In the Land of the Free hosted by the Paris Bar Association on Tuesday, May 13 and the launch of a graphic novel about the Angola 3 with Amnesty International on Thursday, May 15.

–French article w/ Robert King: Le Nouvel Observateur — Isolement en prison : “On ne peut pas en sortir sans sentir la merde”

Albert Woodfox Speaks to the Experts

The Why Am I Not Suprised? blog published a new article entitled Albert Woodfox Speaks to the Experts. The author, shown above during a visit with Albert, reflects upon her visits the last several years with Albert and also recounts her most recent conversation with him, passing on a detailed message from Albert that powerfully describes what life is like in solitary. Albert says:

“Now, all these years later, the hearing on the civil case related to our long-term solitary confinement is approaching. So they sent this psychiatrist to question me. What he was doing, of course, was to try to get me to say that forty years in solitary confinement hasn’t really been all that bad. ‘You seem quite well adjusted,’ he said. I told him that unless he sits in a cell 23 hours a day for forty years, he has no idea what he’s talking about. I said, you want to know what I’m afraid of? I’m afraid I’m going to start screaming and not be able to stop….”

-Read the full article here.

-Also inspired by Albert’s moving account of this meeting with the DOC psychiatrist, the Clyde Fitch Report published this article by Webb Hubbell, former Associate Attorney General of the U.S., entitled Albert Woodfox: Justice Delayed, Justice Denied

–Today Policy Mic published an article about the Angola 3, entitled A Modern Day Slave Plantation Still Exists, and It’s Thriving in the Heart of America

Other Important News

Book ‘Too Cruel Not Usual Enough’ chosen as finalist for Foreword Book of the Year Award

Petition: Reform solitary confinement in California this year; Yes on AB 1652

Keep in Touch with Albert:

Albert Woodfox #72148            
David Wade Correctional Center
670 Bell Hill Road                                    
Homer, LA  71040

(PHOTO: US Congressman Cedric Richmond)

The Solitary Study and Reform Act of 2014

Today we are thrilled to announce that U.S. Congressman Cedric Richmond has introduced a simple but visionary piece of legislation that seeks to first study and then actively reform both the federal and state use of solitary confinement to ensure it is used effectively, infrequently, transparently, and Constitutionally.

The bill would establish a two-year bipartisan Commission tasked with exhaustively studying existing solitary confinement uses and impacts in the US, exploring best practices with experts, and then recommending a new national standard to be adopted by the US Attorney General no longer than 2 years after the Commission’s findings are presented.
Although the new guidelines will then automatically apply to all federal institutions, states who choose not to implement the new federal standards will lose 15% of their existing federal grant monies for prison, jail and juvenile detention each year they don’t comply.

This is the first step towards serious nationwide reform of the hell that Herman, Albert and Robert have endured and fought to end for decades. Contact your representative today and urge them to join Congressman Richmond in this historic effort.

Click here for Amnesty’s press release about this development.

Click here to read the bill in its entirety.

Robert King European Tour Begins

 (Photo from left to right:  Ann Clwyd MP / Robert King / Nicole Piché, PHRG Co-ordinator / Tessa Murphy, Amnesty Secretariat)

Robert King started a European Parliamentary tour today in the UK with a meeting with Ann Clwyd, Member of Parlianment and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group and other members of Parliament. This will be followed by meetings with the French parliament and the European Commission in Brussels.

In Paris, France there will be two public events which A3 supporters can attend: A screening of In the Land of the Free hosted by the Paris Bar Association on Tuesday, May 13 and the launch of a graphic novel about the Angola 3 with Amnesty International on Thursday, May 15.

–French article w/ Robert King: Le Nouvel Observateur — Isolement en prison : “On ne peut pas en sortir sans sentir la merde”

Albert Woodfox Speaks to the Experts

The Why Am I Not Suprised? blog published a new article entitled Albert Woodfox Speaks to the Experts. The author, shown above during a visit with Albert, reflects upon her visits the last several years with Albert and also recounts her most recent conversation with him, passing on a detailed message from Albert that powerfully describes what life is like in solitary. Albert says:

“Now, all these years later, the hearing on the civil case related to our long-term solitary confinement is approaching. So they sent this psychiatrist to question me. What he was doing, of course, was to try to get me to say that forty years in solitary confinement hasn’t really been all that bad. ‘You seem quite well adjusted,’ he said. I told him that unless he sits in a cell 23 hours a day for forty years, he has no idea what he’s talking about. I said, you want to know what I’m afraid of? I’m afraid I’m going to start screaming and not be able to stop….”

-Read the full article here.

-Also inspired by Albert’s moving account of this meeting with the DOC psychiatrist, the Clyde Fitch Report published this article by Webb Hubbell, former Associate Attorney General of the U.S., entitled Albert Woodfox: Justice Delayed, Justice Denied

–Today Policy Mic published an article about the Angola 3, entitled A Modern Day Slave Plantation Still Exists, and It’s Thriving in the Heart of America

Other Important News

Book ‘Too Cruel Not Usual Enough’ chosen as finalist for Foreword Book of the Year Award

Petition: Reform solitary confinement in California this year; Yes on AB 1652

Keep in Touch with Albert:

Albert Woodfox #72148            
David Wade Correctional Center
670 Bell Hill Road                                    
Homer, LA  71040

Solitary Confinement Exhibition Plants Seed for Advocacy Among SULC Student Body

Written for Angola 3 News by Arisa A. Banks
 
(3L Class Representative; Symposium Editor, Journal of Race, Gender, & Poverty)

The seed for advocacy was planted among the student body stirred by the Solitary Confinement Exhibition, during 2014 Law Week activities at the Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The Oliver B. Spellman Law Library’s Civil Rights Room was the site for the exhibit throughout Law Week, March 17-21. Inspired by the remarkable story of the Angola 3, this exhibition was pulled together to create a platform to solicit discussion, activism, awareness, and advocacy to end prolonged solitary confinement practices in penal systems across this nation, according to the exhibit organizers. The Solitary Confinement Exhibit Committee included the following: Arisa Banks, Chair; Nana Mireku-Boateng- Volunteer Coordinator; LeBuria Johnson- Volunteer Coordinator; Iriane Lee- Law Week 2014 Chair; Larry Williams- Law Week 2014 Co-Chair; and Professor Angela Allen-Bell, Faculty Advisor. 

The use of solitary confinement in modern penal institutions has been officially implemented to discipline prisoners that are considered unruly. These prisoners confined to solitary confinement typically spend 23 hours of their day in isolation, with a brief period for exercise outside of their cell that often takes place in isolation as well. Being placed in solitary confinement is usually the most severe disciplinary punishment. Recently there has been an increase in prolonged solitary confinement practices in the country.

The story of the Angola 3 has exposed the use of long term solitary in the Louisiana State Penitentiary system and has brought attention to this issue nationwide and internationally. From the compelling stories of the injustice experienced by these three inmates, this exhibit was given life.

Professor Angela Allen-Bell has been a prominent advocate of the Angola 3 here on Southern University Law Center’s campus. She has done extensive research about long-term solitary confinement practices, particularly at Angola State Penitentiary. She has written numerous articles on the Angola 3, and has become heavily involved in the grass-root movement for their freedom. Her passion and commitment to this movement has been one that she has successfully passed on to her students. It is her vision, passion, and tenacity in continuing the fight for justice that planted the seed for the solitary confinement exhibit at the 2014 Law Week.

This week-long public display included documentaries on the Angola 3 and a two dimensional cell that displayed the actual dimensions of a 6X9 solitary confinement cell. The recreated cell included a depiction of a bed, desk, and toilet to illustrate how such a cell may look. The featured documentaries included In the Land of the Free, Hard Time and The Angola 3: Black Panthers and the Last Slave Plantation. The exhibition also featured keynote speakers Checo Yancy, the state president of Louisiana Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE,  a national organization whose mission is to help reduce crime through criminal justice reform), prison advocate and longtime Angola 3 supporter Malik Rahim, a prison advocate and Robert King, the first freed member of the Angola 3.

King and Rahim honored the campus with their presence during the Herman Wallace Memorial Program. The Herman Wallace Memorial Program occurred on March 20, 2014. It was a program that was part of the speaker series event for the exhibit to commemorate the efforts of Mr. Wallace in his fight for justice and to honor his legacy. King spoke to the student body about his experience while in solitary confinement for 29 years at Angola State Prison. While addressing the conditions of living in solitary confinement, King challenged the student body to advocate for justice and human rights. He ended his speech by arguing that Wallace’s legacy must not end because of his death, but that the fight continues.

The audience was so engaged by King’s presentation that the silence was deafening and students were still talking about its impact for weeks following the event. Carlton Miller, a graduating senior and participant in the program, stated how he was impacted and moved from the event. In reflection, Miller said: “Learning of the significant impact solitary confinement has on human beings’ mind, body, and spirit has truly inspired me to seek justice for those forgotten in the deep pits of prisons across this country. This isn’t an isolated issue affecting only those who are imprisoned, but rather is an issue that plagues our whole country. It is a stain on our reputation and a testament of our character if we continue to let this issue go unresolved. Hearing the vivid descriptions some inmates are facing in solitary confinement is unsettling. We can and must seek to use and influence the legal and political system to be sensitive to this issue.”

Felicia Hamilton, a graduating senior, felt that this program and exhibit was among one of the best events of Law Week, and said further that “the exhibit was both chilling & thought-provoking! Hosting the exhibit in the Civil Rights Room was an appropriate backdrop to learn more about the injustice experienced by the Angola 3.”

Below are photos from the Civil Rights Room exhibit and the event with Robert King: