Decades in Solitary Confinement, Then Death in Freedom

[discocrisco01]

Source: New York Times

* Mr. Woodfox remains in solitary confinement and has a pending lawsuit regarding the daily strip and cavity searches that Louisiana has conducted on him, despite his “advanced age and decades of good behavior,” the legal team, which also represents Mr. Woodfox, said.
* The two men were in solitary confinement for more than 40 years, the longest known solitary confinement in United States history, the team said.
* “After the cancer was detected and oral chemotherapy was recommended, it was over a month before Mr. Wallace received his medication.”
* They were found guilty, and they are guilty,” he said, referring to Mr. Wallace and Mr. Woodfox.
* In a statement on Friday, Steven Hawkins, executive director of Amnesty International USA, which days earlier had welcome Mr. Wallace’s released, said it was a “sad day” for those who had worked for his freedom and he criticized the state’s re-indictment of Mr. Wallace.

Read more: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/04/decades-in-solitary-confinement-then-death-in-freedom/

[snagglepuss]

1. I hope those responsible for his inhumane treatment rot in hell.

[blackspade]

9. +1000

Not that I believe in hell....

[joelz]

3. Some more in this video

A dying prisoner has been released in Louisiana after serving nearly 42 years in solitary confinement, longer than any other person in the United States. Herman Wallace and two others, known as the Angola Three, were placed in solitary in 1972 following the murder of a prison guard. The Angola Three and their supporters say they were framed for the murder over their political activism as members of one of the first prison chapters of the Black Panthers. In a surprise development on Tuesday, Wallace was released from prison after a federal judge overturned his conviction, saying he did not receive a fair trial. Wallace, who is near death from advanced liver cancer, was taken directly to a New Orleans hospital where supporters greeted his arrival. We are joined by three guests: Robert King, who until Tuesday night was the only freed member of the Angola Three and helped deliver to Wallace the news of his release; Wallace’s defense attorney, George Kendall; and Jackie Sumell, an artist and Wallace supporter who is with him at the Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. "This is a tremendous victory and a miracle that Herman Wallace will die a free man," Sumell says. "He’s had 42 years of maintaining his innocence in solitary confinement, and if his last few breaths are as a free man, we’ve won

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/10/2/after_4_decades_in_solitary_dying

[cosmicone]

4. Prisons need regular audits

by independent organizations like Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International at the prison's sole cost and expense.

Their report should be published with the names of the offending guards, if any and the state should be forced to reveal what action if any was taken against such guards.

Prisons should not be black boxes.

[maindawg]

5. watch a documentary on you tube

there are several.They are all mortifying. The blatant racism in Louisiana has created what amounts to a gulag for black men.Most are guilty of being black.Once you go in, you never get out.

[Delphinus]

7. I am afraid you are correct -

their guilt of being black. Louisiana and Mississippi struck me as two states I would have a hard time living in because of the racism.

[Hydra]

6. ...

Time to lay the burdens down...

[leftynyc]

8. May he rest in peace (n/t)