A3 Newsletter: Albert Woodfox's Birthday, Book Release & Tour (tags)
Today marks the third anniversary of Albert Woodfox's release (and his 72nd Birthday), and February 8 marked the eighteenth anniversary of Robert King's release. Albert Woodfox's new book "Solitary," will be released by Grove Atlantic Press on March 5, and Albert will begin a book tour around the country. Albert will be in Los Angeles on May 2, 6:00 PM, at Eso Won Books, 4327 Degnan Blvd. Read more below
Plantations Were Prisons: Mobilizing for the Aug. 19 Prisoners Human Rights March (tags)
Law Professor Angela A. Allen-Bell confronts the history and legacy of slavery head-on, asserting: "When it comes to African Americans, we have been incarcerated from the time we arrived in this country. Plantations were prisons. The change from incarceration on a plantation, to incarceration in custodial institutions, to incarceration where there are no physical limitations, but where one exists in a state of civic and political oppression, in my view, is nothing more than semantics. Mass incarceration started when slavery started."
Restorative Justice Is Needed For Albert Woodfox, The Black Panther Party And The Nation (tags)
On Monday, June 8, 2015, US District Court Judge James Brady ruled that the Angola 3's Albert Woodfox be both immediately released and barred from a retrial. Among those who communicated with Albert during that emotional week was Southern University Law Professor Angela A. Allen-Bell. In the days following Judge Brady's ruling, she was a featured guest on several television and radio shows that focused on Albert's case, including National Public Radio. In this interview with Angola 3 News, Prof. Bell discusses her new law journal article and reflects upon the latest developments in Albert's fight for freedom. She argues that recent Angola 3-related media coverage in the US is becoming "more substantive," and that this month "the media got bolder and began digging deeper than just a soundbite."
New petition for Albert Woodfox launched today by Amnesty International; Please sign! (tags)
Urging people to sign the new petition launched today, Jasmine Heiss of Amnesty International USA declares: "Allowing Albert his freedom is the only just and humane action the state can take after decades of holding him in cruel and inhuman conditions. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal must ensure that the state stops standing in the way of Albert's freedom. Tell the Governor: Stop wasting valuable taxpayer resources. Help ensure Albert's release without further delay. It is imperative that justice delayed does not become justice denied. Albert has endured the unthinkable. It is unconscionable to hold him for a single day longer.
Albert Woodfox: 41 Years in Solitary Unjustly (tags)
police state
Terrorism, COINTELPRO, and the Black Panthers -An interview with Angela A. Allen-Bell (tags)
In her new law journal article, “Activism Unshackled & Justice Unchained,” law professor Angela A. Allen-Bell concludes that the US government’s multi-faceted response to the BPP, primarily within the framework of the FBI’s infamous COINTELPRO, was indeed the very definition of terrorism. Bell writes that “the magnitude of the unwarranted harm done to the BPP has not yet been explored in an appropriate fashion. Much like a fugitive, it has eluded justice.” As a result, “the FBI's full-scale assault on the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s remains an open wound for the nation itself. This is more than a national tragedy; this is a human wrong.
Panthers in the Hole: French Angola 3 Book Illustrates US Prison Crisis (tags)
Amnesty International France and La Boîte à Bulles have published a 128-page French language graphic novel entitled Panthers in the Hole. The book's co-authors David Cénou and Bruno Cénou present with visual art what Amnesty France describes as "la tragique histoire des Trois d'Angola" (the tragic story of the Angola 3). We interview Nicolas Krameyer, who is head of the Individuals at Risk / Human Rights Defenders Program for Amnesty International France.
A Moral Outrage: Rev. Dr. Patricia Bates on the torture of Albert Woodfox (tags)
We interview Rev. Dr. Patricia Bates from the National Religious Coalition Against Torture (www.nrcat.org), who attended Albert Woodfox's recent January 7 oral arguments before the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and made a statement at the press conference outside the courtroom on behalf of NRCAT.
Herman Wallace: Free at Last (tags)
police state
Opening the Box: Sarah Shourd on Herman Wallace, CA Hunger Strikers & Solitary Confinement (tags)
Herman Wallace of the Angola 3 has been transferred out of solitary confinement, as Louisiana’s Hunt prison reduced his classification from maximum to medium security. Herman is now staying at the prison hospital in a 10-bunk dorm, with access to a day room, and does not have to wear leg irons anymore. While celebrating the more human conditions, Herman and the International Coalition to Free the Angola 3 emphasize that the transfer from solitary is not enough. They are asking folks to continue supporting Amnesty International’s call for humane release.
Take action w/ Amnesty Intl: Compassionate Release for Herman Wallace of the Angola 3! (tags)
In response to the tragic news that Herman Wallace is terminally ill with cancer, Amnesty International has launched a campaign calling for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to immediately release Herman on humanitarian grounds. "After decades of cruel conditions and a conviction that continues to be challenged by the courts, he should be released immediately to his family so that he can be cared for humanely during his last months," says Tessa Murphy, USA campaigner, about Herman Wallace.
End 41 years of cruel and inhuman solitary confinement for Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3 (tags)
Below is a new statement, just released by Robert H. King urging people to support Amnesty International's newly-launched campaign supporting Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3. This month, Woodfox's conviction was overturned by US District Court Judge James Brady. In response Amnesty International has launched an online action campaign urging Louisiana Attorney General James Caldwell not to appeal this ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court.
Take Action Online w/ Amnesty International for Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3 (tags)
On Monday, Amnesty International launched an online campaign asking Louisiana Attorney General James Caldwell to not appeal the District Court's ruling to either release or retry Albert Woodfox, declaring: "After decades of injustice, let the Angola 3 ruling stand!" Please support Albert by taking action, and helping to spread the word. Now is a critical time in the fight for Albert's freedom. We want Caldwell's office to be inundated with emails so he hears it loud and clear that the cycle of injustice and cruelty must end.
Amnesty Intl urges State of Louisiana to not appeal Albert Woodfox's overturned conviction (tags)
In response to Judge Brady’s ruling this week that overturned Albert Woodfox’s conviction for a third time, Amnesty International has released a new statement calling on the Louisiana Attorney General to not appeal Brady’s ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court. The complete Amnesty statement is reprinted below.
Reforming Prison’s Harshest Tactic –The Angola 3 case may help change the... (tags)
The Angola 3 case may help change the arbitrary and sometimes abusive use of solitary confinement.
Freedom for Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3, After 40 Years in Solitary Confinement? (tags)
After four decades of solitary confinement in the nation's most populated maximum-security prison -- and one of its most historically brutal -- a member of the internationally known "Angola 3" has reasonable cause to expect that he will soon be released, his attorneys and supporters say. The request to set free Albert Woodfox, 65, is being heard by the same federal judge who in 2008 ordered that Woodfox be released, a ruling that Louisiana prosecutors successfully appealed and blocked.
Amnesty International Denounces Torture in California Prisons --Interview w/ Tessa Murphy (tags)
2 weeks after the release of Amnesty Intl’s new report on the use of prolonged solitary confinement inside California’s ‘Security Housing Units’ (SHUs), entitled "The Edge of Endurance," prisoners initiated another hunger strike, with 500 participants statewide. In this new interview, Tessa Murphy speaks about her visit to California SHUs and Amnesty's report based on the visit.
Do US Prisons Violate European Human Rights Law? --Interview w/ Hamja Ahsan & Aviva Stahl (tags)
An important ruling is expected early in September from the European Court of Human Rights, regarding whether or not US prisons respect human rights enough for the UK to extradite ‘war on terror' suspects to the US. We interview activist/journalist Aviva Stahl from CagePrisoners.com alongside Hamja Ahsan, the brother of Talha Ahsan, one of the appellants that will be seriously affected by the September ruling, imprisoned since 2006.
Solitary Confinement on Trial --An interview with law professor Angela A. Allen-Bell (tags)
On the eve of Tuesday's Senate hearing on solitary confinement, we interview Angela A. Allen-Bell, a law professor at Southern University in Baton Rouge. The newly released issue of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly features an article by Prof. Bell entitled "Perception Profiling & Prolonged Solitary Confinement Viewed Through the Lens of the Angola 3 Case: When Prison Officials Become Judges, Judges Become Visually Challenged and Justice Become Legally Blind.”
BTL:Amnesty International: Decades of Solitary Confinement at Louisiana’s Angola Prison Am (tags)
Interviews with Everette Thompson, southeast regional director of Amnesty USA, and Robert King, one of the Angola 3, conducted by Melinda Tuhus
Amnesty International Launches Global Angola 3 Campaign (tags)
This week Amnesty International launched a global campaign calling for US authorities to end the solitary confinement of Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox, of the Angola 3. Amnesty is calling for people around the world to contact Governor Jindal.
Troy Davis Execution Date Expected Anytime --An interview with Laura Moye of Amnesty Intl. (tags)
Laura Moye is director of the Amnesty International USA Death Penalty Abolition Campaign. Moye talks about Troy Davis, an African American on death row for over 19 years. Following a recent US Supreme Court ruling, his execution date is expected to be scheduled any day now. We must act to stop it!
The Case of the Angola 3 --A review of the new film “In The Land of the Free...” (tags)
Targeted for their militancy, co-captives Wallace, Woodfox and Robert King had organized a prison chapter of the Black Panther Party and they became known as the Angola 3 after they were falsely convicted by kangaroo courts and all-white juries.
ANSWER conference to honor the Angola 3 and other political prisoners (tags)
ANSWER Coalition leaders and organizers will make presentations and receive awards at the upcoming National Conference on Socialism in Los Angeles. The Nov. 13 and 14 event will feature two days of speakers, panels, organizing sessions, discussion and entertainment at the University of Southern California campus. Hosted by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, hundreds of workers, students, organizers, anti-war activists and progressive people will come together from across the United States.
New Film About The Angola 3 Showing Oct. 27 (tags)
"In The Land of the Free..." will be showing in Beverly Hills at 5:30 pm, on Wednesday, October 27 at the Laemmle Music Music Hall 3 Theatre, 9036 Wilshire Blvd.
What's Next for Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3? (tags)
A federal appeals court just delivered a crushing blow to prisoners' rights. Yesterday, a ruling by a federal appeals court ensured that for the forseeable future, Albert Woodfox will remain right where he has been for the last three decades: in a 6 x 9 cell in the heart of America’s largest and most notorious prison.
The Jena Generation --An interview with Jordan Flaherty (tags)
If this city is going to recover, the first step is getting out the truth that New Orleans is not okay. Most of the country believes either that New Orleans has been rebuilt, or that, if not, it’s because people here are lazy and/or corrupt and wasted the nation’s generous assistance. But New Orleans is still a city in crisis. The oft-promised aid, whether from FEMA or various federal and private agencies, has not arrived.
The Angola Three: 38 Years in Prison Hell (tags)
focusing on America's gulag
Visiting A Modern Day Slave Plantation --An Interview With Nancy A. Heitzeg (tags)
My interest in Angola is as both a paradigm of the Southern transformation of plantations into prisons and as a prototype for what we now call the prison industrial complex. Many old plantations in the South became prisons after the Civil War. Angela Y. Davis traces the initial rise of the penitentiary system to the abolition of slavery, writing: “in the immediate aftermath of slavery, the southern states hastened to develop a criminal justice system that could legally restrict the possibilities of freedom for the newly released slaves.”
The Mark of Cain: God and Man at Angola Prison (tags)
This article by James Ridgeway is featured at a brand new website focusing on the issue of solitary confinement in prisons. The Solitary Watch News site (http://www.solitarywatch.wordpress.com) is part of an emerging project called Solitary Watch, an innovative public web site aimed at bringing this issue out of the shadows and into the light of the public square.
Southern Injustice: Herman Wallace of the Angola 3 (tags)
Convicted of murder in a deeply flawed trial, Herman Wallace has spent nearly 37 years in solitary confinement. Will new evidence finally lead to his release?
Confronting Human Rights Abuses in US Prisons --an interview with Bret Grote of HRC/Fed Up (tags)
Bret Grote is an investigator and organizer with Human Rights Coalition/Fed Up!, a prisoner rights/prison abolitionist organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. HRC/Fed Up! is documenting human rights abuses in Pennsylvania prisons, and using this documentation to fight back. For more information: http://www.thomasmertoncenter.org/fedup/
The Angola Three: Torture in Our Own Backyard (in Spanish and English) (tags)
They were framed for murder after organizing a Black Panther Party prison chapter at the infamous Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Together, Herman Wallace, Robert King, and Albert Woodfox have spent more than 100 years in solitary confinement.
aWearness Call to Action--Support the Angola 3 (tags)
host a solidarity birthday party for Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3 on Feb. 19th. Enter our cake contest. www.angola3action.org
Youngest ever British person visits longest serving men in solitary at Angola Prison. (tags)
An 11 year old from London has become the youngest ever British person to visit two prisoners in Louisiana State Prison, who are the longest serving inmates in solitary confinement. Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox have spent over 35 years held in 6ft x 9ft cells for crimes even a federal judge has overturned.