National

Court Temporarily Blocks Release of ‘Angola 3’ Inmate

Published

11 years ago

June 10, 2015

This undated photo provided by the International Coalition to Free the Angola 3 shows Albert Woodfox. Prosecutors sought to keep Woodfox, the last of the “Angola Three,” behind bars Tuesday, June 9, 2015, despite a federal judge’s order to immediately release him after 43 years in isolation, a longer period in lockdown than any other living U.S. prisoner. (Courtesy of International Coalition to Free the Angola 3 via AP)

CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press
BRIAN SLODYSKO, Associated Press

ST. FRANCISVILLE, La. (AP) — Prison activist Albert Woodfox, the last member of the “Angola Three” inmates held for decades in solitary confinement, will have to wait a bit longer to see if he’ll experience the “immediate” and “unconditional” freedom ordered by a federal judge.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday temporarily blocked the release of Woodfox, who spent more than 40 years in isolation after being accused of killing a guard. His supporters say it was retribution for his Black Panther Party activism to protest prison conditions.

Tuesday’s order came a day after a federal judge ruled that the state can’t fairly try Woodfox, now 68, a third time for the killing of a prison guard 43 years ago, and that the “only just remedy” would be setting him free after all the years he spent in “extended lockdown.”

Woodfox has long maintained his innocence in the guard’s killing, which happened during protests of brutal conditions inside the huge penitentiary built on a former slave plantation in Angola, Louisiana. His two previous convictions were overturned for racial prejudice and lack of evidence.

Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell is appealing the order by U.S. District Judge James Brady, saying Woodfox is a killer who should remain locked up. The stay by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans blocks his release until 1 p.m. Friday, providing time for the court to decide whether to accept the state’s appeal.

Woodfox is currently being held at the West Feliciana Parish Detention Center in St. Francisville, where he was transferred in preparation for a third trial. His attorney, George Kendall, met with Woodfox on Tuesday after the stay was granted.

Kendall said he is “hopeful and optimistic” the court will release Woodfox while the state’s appeal is pending. But he acknowledged the court could order Woodfox to stay in jail while that process plays out.

Kendall described the conditions Woodfox has served his time under as “brutal,” and blasted the attorney general for fighting to keep him incarcerated.

“This case ought to end,” he said.

While not awaiting trial or attending hearings, Woodfox has remained in state prisons. Most of the time was spent at Angola, where for decades an “extended lockdown review board” renewed the decision to hold him in isolation every 90 days, his attorneys say. His attorneys say he was denied contact with the general prison population and kept in a roughly 55-square-foot cell 23 hours a day.

The isolation continued when he was moved to another state prison in 2010.

Amnesty International and the United Nations have condemned Woodfox’s imprisonment as inhumane. Human rights advocates call it a form of torture.

But he has been allowed visitors and reading material, and can see a television through the bars on his cell. State officials dispute that his circumstances constitute “solitary confinement,” saying he is able to communicate with others, including other inmates and chaplains, through the bars of his cell.

“The perception of ‘solitary confinement’ is a far cry from the reality,” said Aaron Sadler, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s office.

Angela Allen-Bell, an assistant professor of legal writing and analysis at Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, said she talked with Woodfox on Monday night. She said he has been having panic attacks and is suffering from health problems, including diabetes.

“He does not allow himself to be very optimistic about things. I think that that is a coping mechanism that he has developed. But we talk often about the power of prayer and the ability of God to deliver miracles. And I do believe that he believes that that is possible,” Allen-Bell said.

Woodfox was one of several prisoners accused of killing Brent Miller, a 23-year-old guard at the prison. A year earlier, Woodfox and Herman Wallace helped establish a prison chapter of the Black Panther Party, while Robert King helped establish a Black Panther chapter in the New Orleans prison.

All three were active in hunger strikes and work stoppages that spurred improvements to prison conditions, and all three suffered harsh treatment thereafter as prison authorities kept them isolated at Angola to prevent more disruption behind bars.

Parnell Herbert, a 66-year-old New Orleans playwright and boyhood friend of Woodfox, said that at one point, the Angola Three refused to submit to dehumanizing cavity searches for contraband. They were then taken to a chamber where prison guards beat them with clubs and baseball bats, but they eventually won a battle in court to end the searches.

“Albert told me, ‘They will never break me,'” Herbert said.

In ruling against a third trial, Brady cited the inmate’s age and poor health; the unavailability of witnesses; “the prejudice done onto Mr. Woodfox by spending over forty years in solitary confinement”; and “the very fact that Mr. Woodfox has already been tried twice” before his convictions were overturned.

Wallace died in October 2013, days after a judge freed him and granted him a new trial. King has become a public speaker since his release in 2001 after the reversal of his conviction in the death of a fellow inmate in 1973.

___

Burdeau reported from New Orleans. Associated Press writers Kevin McGill and Rebecca Santana in New Orleans contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Herman Wallace died in October 2013, not last fall.

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Related Topics:Albert Woodfox Angola 3 Angola Penitentiary Angola Three herman wallace innocent inmates prison industrial complex Robert King

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Four Candidates, Including Incumbent Barbara Lee, Qualify for Oakland Mayor’s Race

POST NEWS GROUP — Four candidates, including incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee, filed their papers to run for office by last Friday’s deadline, and the City Clerk issued a list this week of those who are qualified to run.

Published

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View of downtown Oakland, California and City Hall. iStock photo.

By Post Staff

The four mayoral candidates who will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot are:

Brenda Grisham. A business owner in East Oakland and public safety advocate, Grisham led the successful recall campaign against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. As part of her platform, she pledges to work with local, state, and federal partners to secure stricter gun control measures and investments in community violence intervention programs.

Barbara Lee. A former congressional representative and state Assembly member, Lee was elected by voters in a special election last year for a two-year term. Now running for a four-year term, she points out that her administration achieved major successes in addressing some of the city’s major challenges, including balancing the city budget, dramatically reducing crime, and making significant inroads into homelessness and illegal dumping.

Mindy Pechenuk. An educator and activist, Pechenuk is a registered Republican and supporter of Lyndon LaRouche, who has been described by observers as a conspiracy theorist and cult leader. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor in last year’s special election and for the at-large council seat in 2024. She seeks to end Oakland’s police commission and MACRO and invest in more police while launching a new local war on drugs.

Julius Robinson. While little information is available so far about Robinson, he was quoted in a KTVU story about Thao’s recall, stating that people in Oakland want to come together as a community but lack infrastructure and leadership.

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Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

23 hours ago

August 15, 2026

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George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.