jimnyc
06-10-2015, 08:38 AM
I read this yesterday and see now that his "unconditional release" has been appealed and stayed. He's a former black panther convicted of murder. I believe he's had a few trials, I dunno, never really followed it. But damn, 43 years in solitary, 23 hours per day? Now THAT is torture. I'd take waterboarding daily for 6 months over this.
I don't know how I feel about this. He's convicted. But he's probably dead inside now. Should he be released? Has he paid his price to society? If me, I would vote for release.
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Chicago (AFP) - A US prosecutor has blocked the release of a former Black Panther who spent a record 43 years in solitary confinement in a case that has provoked outrage among rights groups.
Louisiana's top prosecutor on Tuesday blocked the release of 68-year-old black prisoner Albert Woodfox, whose conditions of detention -- confined 23 hours a day -- drew outrage from rights activists.
A federal judge had ordered his unconditional release in a strongly-worded ruling Monday that barred any further trial on charges of murdering a prison guard, for which Woodfox received two convictions, both later overturned.
But Louisiana's attorney general filed an appeal and won a temporary stay on Tuesday, blocking his release until at least Friday.
Woodfox's 43 years in solitary confinement are the longest of any US prisoner despite his lengthy court battles to prove his innocence.
Rights activists say the long imprisonment under difficult conditions of Woodfox and two former fellow inmates -- also former Black Panther activists -- exposed failings in the country's justice system.
The three were convicted of the murder of a guard during a 1972 prison riot.
They became known as the "Angola Three" as their years in solitary confinement at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola drew attention to their avowals of innocence.
Woodfox is the last of the group to remain behind bars.
http://news.yahoo.com/us-man-freed-four-decades-solitary-must-wait-054029017.html
I don't know how I feel about this. He's convicted. But he's probably dead inside now. Should he be released? Has he paid his price to society? If me, I would vote for release.
-----
Chicago (AFP) - A US prosecutor has blocked the release of a former Black Panther who spent a record 43 years in solitary confinement in a case that has provoked outrage among rights groups.
Louisiana's top prosecutor on Tuesday blocked the release of 68-year-old black prisoner Albert Woodfox, whose conditions of detention -- confined 23 hours a day -- drew outrage from rights activists.
A federal judge had ordered his unconditional release in a strongly-worded ruling Monday that barred any further trial on charges of murdering a prison guard, for which Woodfox received two convictions, both later overturned.
But Louisiana's attorney general filed an appeal and won a temporary stay on Tuesday, blocking his release until at least Friday.
Woodfox's 43 years in solitary confinement are the longest of any US prisoner despite his lengthy court battles to prove his innocence.
Rights activists say the long imprisonment under difficult conditions of Woodfox and two former fellow inmates -- also former Black Panther activists -- exposed failings in the country's justice system.
The three were convicted of the murder of a guard during a 1972 prison riot.
They became known as the "Angola Three" as their years in solitary confinement at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola drew attention to their avowals of innocence.
Woodfox is the last of the group to remain behind bars.
http://news.yahoo.com/us-man-freed-four-decades-solitary-must-wait-054029017.html