A3 Newsletter: Bail Hearing for Albert Woodfox on Monday, March 2 –Come to Baton Rouge to Support Albert
We’ve just received word that Albert’s bail hearing will proceed on Monday, March 2nd at 9:30am in Courtroom 6 of the US Middle District Court in Baton Rouge (777 Florida St.). Albert will be present; and though we know it is short notice, local supporters are urged to attend if at all possible.
If you have not yet done so, please sign the Amnesty International petition calling on Gov. Jindal to not oppose bail for Albert.
Albert Release Arguments Heat Up as Monday’s Bail Hearing Approaches
48 hours ago the State submitted a written request for Federal District Court Judge James A. Brady to cancel Albert’s Monday, March 2nd bail hearing on the grounds that his reindictment moves the question of release from federal to state jurisdiction.
Though Albert has retained his right to petition for bail in the state system if needed, Albert’s legal team maintains that jurisdiction over custody and release properly remains with the federal courts until the habeas appeal process is complete, regardless of whether he has been reindicted or not.
Whether or not Judge Brady agrees that it is within his jurisdiction to grant release to Albert on bail, he still indisputably retains a sweeping power to define the conditions of release however he sees fit as a part of his final mandate granting habeas corpus relief.
Please join Albert in Court on Monday to support his strong and just petition for release. His freedom is long overdue.
NEW VIDEO: Citing ’43 Years of Injustice,’ Amnesty International interviews UN Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez about Albert Woodfox
Amnesty International has just released a new video entitled “Free Albert Woodfox: 43 Years of Injustice,” (on You Tube and Facebook) featuring an interview with Juan Mendez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The video was made in support of Amnesty’s new petition campaign focusing on Albert’s pending application for release on bail.
In 2013, declaring that “Four decades in solitary confinement can only be described as torture,” Mendez called for Albert’s immediate release from solitary confinement. Speaking about Albert in this new video, Juan Mendez says:
“Mr. Woodfox is spending his days in solitary confinement…His convictions have been reversed and the State is appealing them, so in fact he should be considered an innocent man until his guilt or innocence is resolved.”
“There’s no question that his conditions inflict on him the kind of pain and suffering of a mental nature that is associated with torture and I think that should stop.”
Walter Turner of Africa Today interviews Jasmine Heiss of Amnesty Intl. USA and Robert H. King
On Feb. 23, the KPFA radio show Africa Today, focused on Albert Woodfox’s case, featuring interviews with Robert King and Amnesty USA’s Jasmine Heiss, shown to the right at an earlier event (listen here).
Asked about AG Caldwell’s continued prosecution of Albert Woodfox, Heiss said she did not understand it herself. She asked: “Why is the Attorney General, why is the State of Louisiana so committed to keeping this man behind bars despite the fact that, not only has his conviction been overturned three times, but he has a clean disciplinary record? There is no reason for him to continue to be held in solitary.”
Robert King concluded the show by reminding us to stay focused on the task at hand. “There is nothing else to do but to continue to fight… Herman was released. Albert will be out pretty soon but the struggle continues,” said King, who then emphasized that the fight for Albert’s release is part of a larger struggle against mass incarceration and human rights violations throughout the US prison system.
Write Albert:
Albert Woodfox #72148
West Feliciana Parish Detention Center
PO Box 2727
St. Francisville, LA 70775