(PHOTOS: Albert's 71st Birthday party held this weekend
at his home in New Orleans. Happy Birthday, Albert!)
Albert Woodfox’s Release: Celebrating and Reflecting Upon the Two-Year Anniversary --An Interview With Law Professor Angela A. Allen-Bell
By Angola 3 News
On February 19, 2016, following 43 years in solitary confinement, Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3 was released from prison on his 69th birthday. Now two years later, as we celebrate Albert’s 71st birthday, it is still difficult to properly articulate our profound joy that after decades of hard work and perseverance, Albert is now living life on his own terms. We would once again like to express our sincere gratitude to Albert’s legal team and to the many supporters from around the world who came together to make this happen.
Since his release, Albert has been to Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, the UK, Canada and multiple campuses including Harvard and Yale. He’s now busy writing his autobiography and both he and fellow Angola 3 member, Robert King, continue to do their best to keep the conversation about solitary confinement and political prisoners in the public spotlight.
Albert and Robert will be speaking in Los Angeles, California on April 7 at The Main and on April 9 at the Mark Taper Auditorium – Central Library. The April 7 event, moderated by artist and longtime A3 supporter Rigo 23, will occur inside the exhibition ‘Rigo 23: Ripples Become Waves,’ which takes its title from a quote by Robert King: “You throw pebbles into a pond, you get ripples; ripples become waves; the waves can become a tsunami.” A fitting metaphor for the decades-long A3 struggle.
Please take action in support of John Clutchette! A sample letter and list of talking points for contacting California Governor Jerry Brown is featured at the bottom of this article.
(Photo of John Clutchette in the 1980s.)
'Soledad Brother' John Clutchette Granted Parole; Will CA Governor Jerry Brown Reverse the Decision? --An interview with Law Professor Angela A. Allen-Bell
By Angola 3 News
On January 12, 2018, the California Board of Parole Hearings granted parole to an elderly inmate named John Clutchette. However, supporters of parole for Clutchette are concerned that California Governor Jerry Brown will reverse the Board's decision, and Clutchette will not be released.
Supporters have a reason to be concerned. After all, this is exactly what happened in 2016 when Clutchette was similarly granted parole by the Board but Governor Brown chose to reverse the Board's ruling.
Legal scholar Angela A. Allen-Bell, a professor at Southern University Law Center and students in her "Law and Minorities" class began researching Clutchette's legal battle over a year ago. Following extensive research they have concluded that "the law has been used to perpetuate an injustice in Mr. Clutchette’s case."
Why did Governor Brown deny parole to 74-year-old John Clutchette? In our interview with Professor Bell, she refers to Brown's written explanation for his 2016 parole reversal, where Brown cites the fact that in the early 1970s, Clutchette was one of a trio of inmates at California's Soledad Prison, who became high profile co-defendants known as the "Soledad Brothers."
(Photo of the Soledad Brothers, with John Clutchette on the left, reprinted for a 1970 poster.)
Amnesty International UK has released a new interview with Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3. Listen to the podcast here.
Accompanying the podcast interview is a post on Amnesty UK's blog that features an extended statement by Albert Woodfox, entitled: It's a human right to agitate the 'injustice' system. Albert's full statement is featured below:
A year ago on 19 February 2016 I walked out of a Louisiana prison a free man after serving 44 years in solitary confinement.
At that moment I became 'famous' as the longest serving person in solitary confinement in the world, as well as being the last member of the Angola 3 to be free.
For over 44 years - along with fellow Black Panthers Herman Wallace and Robert King - we turned our death chambers into classrooms and courts of law from which we educated fellow inmates and stood up against a violent, racist and brutal prison system which targeted us for our activism.
(PHOTO: Albert enjoys a canoe ride in Austin, TX.)
Since Albert’s release on his birthday, February 19th, a few short months ago, he’s been really busy… After nearly a month of visiting with family and friends in New Orleans sharing more birthday cake than he’s been able to consume in over forty years, Albert has been catching up with his dreams. This trio of video-interviews with Albert recorded recently, during a visit to Sacramento, will give you a glimpse of just how well Albert is doing.
(PHOTO: Albert Woodfox stands strong during a recent visit to Sacramento, California)
A MESSAGE TO SUPPORTERS - After
thanking the many supporters around the world that never gave up in
fighting for his release, Albert sent them this message: "What they
should take from my freedom is that you stand. You don't back away. You
don't make unnecessary compromises. You stand, and no matter how
painful, you stand." Watch the full interview here.
VISITING YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK - Just
a few days before this interview was conducted, Albert visited Yosemite
National Park, where he endured a challenging uphill climb. Albert
reflects: "As you get older, you always wonder what you lose, and I
think it felt very, very great to know that my will and determination
have not changed, even though I've grown older. I know I have changed
somewhat physically, [but] mentally, emotionally, and spiritually I'm as
strong as I ever was." Watch the full interview here.
SPENDING QUALITY TIME WITH FAMILY - In
this segment, Albert discusses his relationship with his family, with
whom he tries to spend as much time as he can: "I'm a Dad, a Grandpa,
and a Great Grandpa. I'm so grateful that my family accepted me back." Watch the full interview here.
Albert has been spending time in Houston with his brother Michael and his family as well as time in New Orleans with his daughter, grandson and grandchildren. His first speaking engagement was a trip to Pittsburgh for the International Conference on Solitary Confinement at University of Pittsburgh with King. When that was over, he spent a week in Austin with King and Austin supporters before heading off to California to fulfill one of his long held dreams, a trip to Yosemite. On the way he stopped in Los Angeles to attend the Death Penalty Focus Gala, where he was joined by an old friend from Angola, recently released Gary Tyler and about twenty exonerees attending on behalf of the Innocence Project. He also had a chance to drop in on long-time supporter and artist, Rigo 23 and family before heading north. After Yosemite, Albert attended the Malcolm X Festival in Oakland. On his return to New Orleans, Albert and King’s cousin, Noonie, cooked up a “surprise” birthday party for King and celebrated with many local supporters.
The next few months are equally as busy. In August King and Albert will be in New York at the National Lawyers Guild Convention where Albert will accept the Arthur Kinoy award. After the NLG conference, Albert and King will spend time with BPP comrades in New York. In September they will be in Oakland for the Political Prisoner’s Conference and later in the month they will be speaking at a number of venues in Chicago. They’ll return to Oakland in October for the 50th Anniversary gathering of the Black Panther Party. Then in late October, they visit the UK and France to meet with Amnesty supporters, along with special events in the UK including London, Liverpool and Cambridge As you’ll be able to see from the short interviews and attached photos, Albert deals with all the activity like a champ – it’s hard to believe that he’s spent four decades in a box, as he handles himself with grace and humor regardless of the situation presented.
(Albert and Rigo 23, with the latest artwork from Rigo 23 illustrating that all of the Angola 3 are Free.)
(King and Albert in Austin- reunited in freedom!)
(Comrades from Houston and Austin join King and Albert for a welcome home party for Albert.)
(Albert with Louisiana exonerees John Thompson and Gary Tyler at Death Penalty Focus event.)
(Albert and King’s cousin, Elnora put together a sizzling surprise
birthday party for King at the Craig Center in Algiers on June 11th.
The theme was “white linen.” This photo of Albert dancing with longtime supporter Shana Griffin, was taken by the esteemed Ted
Quant to memorialize the evening. View more photos from the party here.)
9″ epoxy resin model, Alcatraz Prison Mess Hall, February 13, 2016 – First “Indians of All Tribes Day.”
As you might already know, Leonard Peltier has now spent four entire
decades behind bars for a crime he has not committed. Even though, by
most countries’ standards, he has now fulfilled both of the consecutive
life-sentences to which he was wrongly sentenced, he remains behind
bars.
In a UK Guardian article published today, Albert Woodfox reflects upon two months of life outside of prison walls and solitary confinement. The article concludes with the following excerpt:
The most disturbing part of freedom, Woodfox says, has been the dawning realisation since his release that in America in 2016 there is very little sense of political or social struggle. When he entered prison in the 1970s the country was on fire with political debate; now, as he puts it, “everybody seems to be ‘Me, me, me, me, me.’ It’s all about me, what I need and how I’m going to get it.”
That public indifference has in turn, he believes, allowed solitary confinement to flourish, to the extent that 100,000 Americans are subjected to it each year.
“The people and the government and the courts have turned their back on prisons, and that lets the wardens and officers act as judge, jury and executioner,” he says. “People don’t seem to be socially aware, that’s why solitary confinement exists and why it’s so brutal. Because nobody cares.”
(PHOTO: Tabling at the Amnesty Art for Rights event in New Orleans, December 2015)
We want to send thanks from Albert and Robert to Amnesty activists for December's Write for Rights campaign. Albert enjoyed receiving the thousands of letters and postcards which were delivered to him in sacks! We kept him up to date with photos of the country activities including his "cut out" in front of London's landmarks, the first screening of the documentary Cruel and Unusual in the Louvre Paris and the art event in New Orleans.
On the legal front, Albert's legal teams have filed their appeal of the overturning of Judge Brady's unconditional Writ with the U.S. Supreme Court. They continue to prepare for Albert's retrial, though no date has been set. The civil trial is still scheduled to begin June 27th of this year.
In St. Francisville, still behind solitary walls, Albert awaits the status of a slate of appeals of rulings pending in Louisiana's 1st Circuit Court of Appeal from September that began to set up the legal and procedural landscape for the retrial.
Unfortunately, the first of these decisions came a few days ago and served to overturn Judge Carmichael's decision requiring Albert's retrial jury to be unanimous. Despite the fact that he was afforded a unanimous jury in both of his first two trials, only 10 of 12 jurors will be required to convict or acquit him in the third. Louisiana is one of only two states that allow non-unanimous juries to hand down life sentences. Many think eventually the law will be declared unconstitutional, but not in time for Albert. His legal team is appealing this decision to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Never Silenced, Herman Wallace's Spirit is Smiling --An interview with filmmaker Angad Singh Bhalla
By Angola 3 News
Canadian filmmaker Angad Singh Bhalla has never shied away from examining politically controversial topics. Nor does he play down his own artistic goal of using media to foster political change. Bhalla's first independent work, entitled U.A.I.L. Go Back amplified the voices of Indian villagers resisting an alumina project backed by the Canadian company Alcan. The film became an important organizing tool used to pressure Alcan into ending its involvement in the project.
Bhalla has since co-founded Time of Day Media.and while working as a community organizer for immigrant rights, he produced videos for the Service Employees International Union, Working America, the Center for Constitutional Rights and other groups. His award-winning short on the lives of Indian street artists, Writings on the Wall, was broadcast on Canada’s Bravo! and Al Jazeera English.
Bhalla's debut feature documentary was the 2012 film Herman’s House, about Herman Wallace of the Angola 3 and the collaborative project Wallace worked on with artist Jackie Sumell, entitled The House That Herman Built. The film screened at more than 40 festivals, was distributed theatrically in the US and Canada, and won an Emmy Award for its 2013 POV broadcast on PBS.
In this interview, filmmaker Angad Singh Bhalla discusses his latest film, The Deeper They Bury Me, while also reflecting upon his 2012 film Herman's House, his personal relationship with Wallace and more. Bhalla concludes the interview with a focus on the call by Amnesty International and the International Coalition to Free the Angola 3 for the immediate release of Albert Woodfox, who is the last of the Angola 3 behind bars. Despite three overturned convictions, Woodfox remains in prison and in solitary confinement, where he was first placed over 43 years ago.
(VIDEO: Coverage of the panel discussion following a recent screening of The Deeper They Bury Me at the 53rd New York Film Festival. Photos from this event by Lindsey Seide/NFB are featured below alongside still images taken from the film itself.)
Join Amnesty International USA in New Orleans on December 12, from 10am to 6pm, to celebrate art, human rights and international solidarity. As part of the organization’s annual “Write for Rights” campaign, Amnesty International USA is partnering with New Orleans native, Brandan “BMike” Odums to host an “Art for Rights” pop-up exhibition at Studio Be, 2925-2999 Royal Street in New Orleans. Attendees will not only have the opportunity to write letters on behalf of prisoners and human rights defenders from around the world, they will witness the creation of 12 different murals honoring the struggles and activism of individuals on whose behalf Amnesty works.
Art can be a cultural tool during times of unrest to expose truths, helping to humanize social struggle and actualize grievances and fears. Often, it is what inspires us to action.
Amnesty has chosen to hold the inaugural event in New Orleans where Albert Woodfox, one of the 12 cases featured in this year’s Write for Rights campaign, has been held in solitary confinement for over 40 years.
Robert King, the first freed member of the Angola 3, will be joining BMike as the keynote speaker.
Art For Rights Saturday, December 12th, 2015 10am – 6pm StudioBe 2925-2999 Royal Street New Orleans, LA
While the National and International community rally to the support of Albert Woodfox, time seems to have stood still in Louisiana where the long struggle to achieve freedom for Albert Woodfox after four decades in solitary confinement for a crime he did not commit drags on nearly three years after a federal judge once again overturned Albert's conviction.
In France, the newly released " Cruel and Unusual" updates "In the Land of the Free" and digs more deeply into the arcane mode of punishment that reaches new levels of abuse in the United States- decades of solitary confinement and the results there of.
Meanwhile, Amnesty chapters both nationally and internationally urge their members to Write for the Rights of political prisoners with a special focus on twelve prisoners world-wide, including Albert Woodfox. There will be kick off events globally and Robert King will be urging letter writers on via Skyped interviews with student sections in Holland and the U.S.
As the year draws to a close, a year we were certain we would see Albert released- we pray for many things- world peace, homes for the dispossessed everywhere and freedom from fear, racism and hatred at home and abroad and finally, finally, finally.... freedom for Albert Woodfox and the too many political and economic prisoners held in gulags around the country.
Today, in conjunction with the "Write for Rights" campaign, Amnesty International USA issued an email action alert focusing on Albert Woodfox, where Amnesty reiterated the organization's call for Albert's immediate release.
Along with urging supporters to add their name to Amnesty's online petition to Louisiana Attorney General James Caldwell, Amnesty is also asking people to write letters to both AG Caldwell and to Albert, with a sample letter and other information available here.
On November 7, a protest march in support of Albert was held in London, England. The following week, following the US Fifth Circuit Court's ruling that Albert can face a third trial, both Amnesty USA and UK issued responses.
Featured below and reprinted in full, is today's email alert sent out by Amnesty USA Senior Campaigner Jasmine Heiss:
There is no other way to describe what's happening to Albert Woodfox - he is trapped in a nightmare.
US 5th Circuit Court Reverses Judge Brady in Bitterly Divided 2-1 Decision
Like Albert, many of you probably awoke to the news that yesterday evening a bitterly divided panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Judge Brady's June 8th unconditional Writ ordering his release and barring a retrial.
Albert's conviction will remain overturned, but there is no longer any doubt that he will be retried a third time by the State of Louisiana, only miles from the solitary cell where he's spent the bulk of his life.
In a stunning dissent, printed in its entirety below, Judge James Dennis passionately argued against the majority for Albert's freedom--sharing both Judge Brady's view of the exceptional injustice represented by this case and his "lack of confidence in the State to provide a fair third trial."
A3 Newsletter: Judge Rules for DNA Testing and Fingerprint Analysis but Against the Change of Venue and Dismissing the Case
This morning in St. Francisville Judge Carmichael of West Feliciana Parish's 20th Judicial District Court made the first determinations about what the legal landscape will look like if Judge Brady's "unconditional Writ" is overturned and Albert faces a third trial.
The good news is that the judge agreed to require a unanimous jury decision, to allow DNA testing of all evidence still in the State's possession that may contain adequate sample sizes for modern analysis, and to give Albert's defense team access to any fingerprint files the State possesses from Angola at the time of the murder. He also agreed to give Albert's defense team a chance to privately review (under seal) letters from the latest grand jury foreperson expressing "serious misgivings" about the "process" in order to assess whether or not the most recent indictment itself, hastily obtained in February of 2015 before the federal appeals process had fully played out, may have once again been improperly obtained.
Overall though, it was not a good day for Albert, or for justice, in St. Francisville. In a curt, 45 minute hearing (originally scheduled for two full days) the judge rejected a solid majority of Albert's 16 pre-trial motions designed to create a fair evidentiary and procedural playing field for any potential retrial. Albert's motion to quash, change the venue, and run the print evidence through the FBI's expanded AFIS database were all quite unceremoniously denied. Critically, so were Albert's requests to exclude all the now impeached, debunked, and discredited testimony presented at previous trials by Hezekiah Brown and the State's other key witnesses. Though Albert will be allowed to present impeachment evidence to a new jury, the jurors will never able to see how these now deceased witnesses respond and react on the stand when confronted with their own lies, obfuscations, and omissions from previous testimony.
(PHOTO: A3 supporters outside of the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans this morning at Albert Woodfox's oral arguments. Big Thanks to everyone that made it out!!)
Please check back here for more updates later in the day. See also our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Amnesty International USA Statement on Ongoing Incarceration of Albert Woodfox
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans heard oral argument in Albert Woodfox vs. Burl Cain. A three-judge panel will decide whether Louisiana prisoner Albert Woodfox should be granted unconditional release or face a third trial after spending more than four decades in solitary confinement.
As usual, the public is welcome to attend. Though we don't know for sure what time our case will be heard, doors open at 8am and court convenes at 8:30am. Arguments are expected to be short (usually each side only gets about 45 minutes) and for those unable to attend audio recordings are posted on the 5th's website by close of business that same day.
A decision from that Court is expected sometime later this fall. If Judge Brady's ruling is upheld, Albert will be released and a retrial banned. If reversed, the Fifth Circuit does not have the power to reinstate Albert's overturned conviction, but can put limits on the terms of Judge Brady's Writ and release order.
Featured below are photos of the new Albert Woodfox mural in New Orleans, Louisiana, painted by artist Brandan "B-Mike" Odums in conjunction with Amnesty International USA (sign Amnesty's ongoing petition for Albert here). The photos below are taken by Amnesty USA and the A3 Coalition.
For Immediate Release Date: Friday, July 12, 2013Contact: Andrew Schreiber (Conyers) –
202-225-6906 John Doty (Nadler) – 202-225-5635David Dailey (Scott) – 202-225-8351 Monique Waters (Richmond) – 202-225-6636 Reps. Richmond, Conyers, Nadler, and
Scott Lead Letter Calling for Investigation into Several Louisiana Prison
Facilities (WASHINGTON) – Today, Congressman John
Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the full U.S. House Judiciary
Committee, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee
on the Constitution and Civil Justice, Congressman Robert C. “Bobby”
Scott (D-Va.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism,
Homeland Security, and Investigations, and Congressman Cedric Richmond
(D-La.) sent a letter to the Department of Justice’s Assistant Attorney
General for Civil Rights Thomas Perez calling for investigations into the
alarming conditions in several Louisiana state prison facilities. Specifically,
the Members expressed deep concern that the Louisiana Department of Corrections
has, “engaged in a pattern or practice of violations of the United States
Constitution and federal law in its use of such confinement and detention
practices.” In the letter the Representatives urge the Attorney General
to begin an investigation into the use of solitary confinement, and other
troubling detention practices, in numerous Louisiana prison facilities,
especially in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, Louisiana. The full version of the letter transmitted
to the Department of Justice can be found below:
Herman Wallace, 71, has been diagnosed with liver cancer. He is being held
in a locked prison hospital room at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center at
St. Gabriel, Louisiana. The prognosis is grave, according to persons with
direct knowledge of the situation. Wallace is one of the two members
of the Angola 3 who, along with Albert Woodfox, is still being held
in solitary after more
than 41 years.
Tessa Murphy, U.S. Campaigner for Amnesty
International, which has taken up the case, said in an email, “The tens of
thousands of Amnesty International supporters worldwide who have campaigned
over the years for justice in Herman and Albert’s case will be devastated by
this sad news. Herman and Albert have been held in cruel conditions of
confinement for over 40 years without meaningful review; neither of the men
have disciplinary record to indicate that they are a threat to themselves,
fellow prisoners or staff, and the Louisiana prison authorities have since 1996
broken their own policy to justify the men’s continued detention under these
conditions.’’
