Tuesday, February 26, 2013

BREAKING: Judge Brady overturns Albert Woodfox's conviction for a third time!




NEWS COVERAGE:  Democracy Now interviews Robert King and Mwalimu Johnson (featured by the Havana Times) II  Amy Goodman's Truthdig column  II  The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)  II  The Root (Katti Gray)


On February 26, District Court Judge Brady released a 34-page ruling that granted habeas to Albert on the issue of racial discrimination in the selection of the grand jury foreperson for his 1998 retrial. This decision now overturns Albert’s conviction for a third time (view/download a PDF of Judge Brady's ruling here).

Saturday, February 23, 2013

The new film about Robert King, entitled 'Hard Time' screens in Canada w/ TV news coverage

Hard Time - promo from Shebafilms Kelly Saxberg on Vimeo.

You can watch the TV segment by Thunder Bay News Watch, and read their separate written article, both of which feature an interview with Robert King, while the video presents archival video footage from the day of King's release from Angola in 2001.

The news coverage marked the February 12 screening of the new documentary film about King by Lakehead University professor Ron Harpelle, entitled Hard Time. The following day, King spoke at both the Thunder Bay Public Library and at Lakehead University.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Watch the trailer for the new UK film entitled: Who are the Angola 3?



Featured above is the trailer for a new film from the United Kingdom, entitled "Who Are the Angola 3?" It is directed by Hugo Levien, and produced by Sian Smith. Read more here.



Friday, February 15, 2013

Strategizing to Defeat Control Unit Prisons and Solitary Confinement --An interview with author/activist Nancy Kurshan

Buy the new book Out of Control here.



Strategizing to Defeat Control Unit Prisons and Solitary Confinement
--An interview with author/activist Nancy Kurshan

By Angola 3 News

Author and longtime activist Nancy Kurshan’s new book, entitled Out of Control: A Fifteen Year Battle Against Control Unit Prisons, has just been released by the Freedom Archives. Kurshan’s book documents the work of The Committee to End the Marion Lockdown (CEML), which she co-founded in 1985 as a response to the lockdown at the federal prison in Marion, Illinois. It quickly turned into a broader campaign against control unit prisons and human rights violations in US prisons that lasted fifteen years, until 2000.  The following excerpt from Out of Control details CEML’s origins:

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Two-part article on Albert Woodfox, the Angola 3 and the broader epidemic of solitary confinement in US prisons, written by Katti Gray, The Root

(Herman Wallace, left, with Albert Woodfox, right.)

We are reprinting in full, two recent articles by Katti Gray, writing for The Root. Part one, entitled "Freedom After 40 Years in Solitary?," focuses mostly on the pending decision from US District Court Judge James A. Brady, who in 2008 ruled to overturn his conviction. That ruling was ultimately reinstated on appeal by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Part two, entitled "Reforming Prison's Harshest Tactic," focuses mostly on solitary confinement in US prisons. You can read parts one and two at The Root, or you can read the two articles reprinted below, with our own photos added (quick link here).

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Robert King Speaks at Michigan Journal of Race and Law Symposium and at anti-solitary events in NYC and Chicago

RELATED: Coverage of the recent Cage Prisoners event in the UK w/ Robert King: Video and Writeup II Wanda's Picks Radio Show interviews Robert King: Listen here.

On February 2, 2013, the Michigan Journal of Race and Law hosted a symposium at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, entitled "Inhumane and Ineffective: Solitary Confinement in Michigan and Beyond." As described by the flyer posted below and the Journal's website, the all-day event featured a keynote address given by James Forman, Jr.

In November, 2012 following his visit to the UK, where he received an honorary law degree, Robert H. King of the Angola 3 was a featured speaker at two US events focusing on solitary confinement:

Nov. 9:  King spoke in Chicago at a conference focusing on solitary confinement and human rights, organized by the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights (read their report of the event here).

Nov. 17:  King spoke in New York City as part of an all-day event at New York University, entitled "Should You Ever Happen to Find Yourself in SOLITARY:  Wry Fancies & Stark Realties," that was covered by the NY Times.

See event flyers below.