Angola Three
He was released on February 19, 2016, after the prosecution agreed to drop its push for a retrial and accept his plea of no contest to lesser charges of burglary and manslaughter.
[15] In 1997, Malik Rahim, a community activist in New Orleans and a former Black Panther member, together with young lawyer Scott Fleming, who had worked as a prisoner advocate while a law student, learned that Wallace, King, and Woodfox were still incarcerated in solitary confinement.
Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop and known for her humanitarian activism, learned about the case from Fleming and helped raise international awareness about the Angola Three.
The state quickly indicted Woodfox again that year, the result of a grand jury that was headed by a white foreman appointed by the court.
In 2000, the Angola Three filed a civil suit against the Louisiana Department of Corrections "challenging the inhumane and increasingly pervasive practice of long-term solitary confinement".
[17] They seek damages against the state Department of Corrections because of the adverse effects of extended time in solitary confinement.
[11] While the men's civil suit and appeals of their cases were pending, in March 2008 Woodfox and Wallace were moved to a maximum-security dormitory at Angola.
[18] Woodfox had two appeal hearings in federal district court (one in November 2008 and one in May 2010), which resulted in his second conviction being overturned and his being granted full habeas corpus.
In March 2009 Wallace, along with a group of 15 inmates from Angola, was moved to Elayn Hunt Correctional Center and placed in a newly created closed-cell isolation tier.
In November 2010, Woodfox was moved from Angola to David Wade Correctional Center, which was a much greater travelling distance for his lawyers and supporters.
Both Wallace and Woodfox, who had served past their original sentences for armed robbery, have allegedly suffered from a range of different medical issues—some due in part to their reported conditions of confinement and their enforced sedentary lifestyle.
Wallace's defense team had filed a writ of habeas corpus, saying that he had not received a fair trial and was thus being held illegally by the state.
In October 2013 federal district judge Brian A. Jackson ruled that Wallace had not received a fair trial because no women were included on his jury.
[1] The state announced its intention to re-indict Wallace for Miller's murder, but he died on October 4, 2013, a few days after being released from jail.
"[20] On November 20, 2014, a three-person panel of Fifth Circuit judges unanimously upheld the lower court's opinion that Woodfox's conviction had been secured through racially discriminatory means.
The panel found that the selection of a white grand-jury foreperson in the 1993 indictment hearing prior to trial formed part of a discriminatory pattern in that area of Louisiana.
[21] On June 8, 2015, U.S. District Judge James Brady ordered the release of Woodfox, after having overturned his second conviction for the killing of the guard Miller.
[9] Woodfox's civil suit filed in 2000, with plaintiffs King and Wallace, is still pending against the Louisiana Department of Corrections over the practice of extended solitary confinement.
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.
The court had overturned Wallace's conviction in the murder of Miller, based on the unconstitutional exclusion of women from his jury, in violation of the 14th Amendment.
[29] Jackie Sumell, a Wallace supporter, visited him at the Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans after his release.
"[6] On October 3, 2013, a West Feliciana Parish grand jury indicted Wallace again for the 1972 murder of Miller, the corrections officer.
After more court challenges, Woodfox was finally released from prison on February 19, 2016, after being imprisoned for 45 years, 43 of them in solitary confinement.
"[11] He was referring to learning via the Black Panthers and reading while in prison about his history as an African American and racial inequities in the US.
[20] Burl Cain, the former warden of Angola, said repeatedly in 2008 and 2009 that Woodfox and Wallace had to be held in CCR because they subscribed to "Black Pantherism".
King was received as a guest and dignitary by the African National Congress in South Africa, and spoke with Desmond Tutu.
[39] NPR was the first to examine the case in depth in 2008 with a 3-part series by Laura Sullivan which unearthed new witnesses and won a Peabody Award.
It features Saul Williams, Nadirah X, Asdru Sierra, Dana Glover, Tina Schlieske, Derrick Ashong and Stewart.
[43] The song "The Rise of the Black Messiah" (2015), written by Amy Ray and performed by Indigo Girls, was inspired by the Angola 3.
