Angola 3 News: Angela Davis

Showing posts with label Angela Davis. Show all posts

Friday, July 27, 2018

A3 Newsletter: Why Are We Not Surprised?

Why are we not surprised that children are ripped from their immigrant parents' arms? Could it be because this has been happening for decades in U.S. jails and prisons - not to mention, with increasing frequency as the population of women prisoners grows?

Please read the article below from the July issue of the Coalition for Prisoners' Rights Newsletter, entitled "Cries of Children Echo Thru Years." The numbers cited by the newsletter, detailing the numbers of mothers and their children affected by mass incarceration, are truly staggering.

There are also cases like Veronza Bowers, Ed Poindexter of the Omaha 2 and Laverne Dejohnette, where it seems no amount of cruel and unusual treatment seems to satisfy our criminal injustice system's thirst for extreme punishment. We hope Angola 3 supporters will read these articles, sign petitions and re-commit to furthering their efforts to change the rotten systems that are in place.

One bright spot in the midst of so much bad news is the release of Debbie Africa of the Move 9. It was a joy to behold seeing Debbie with her son Mike Jr., who was torn from his mother following his birth in prison! We continue to push for the freedom for the remaining six of the Move 9, who have been repeatedly denied parole since they first became eligible in 2008. So much work left to be done!

For all of you who helped Malik Rahim raise funds for his taxes- here's a short video of the physical fundraiser in New Orleans.

Albert Woodfox Featured at Upcoming VOTE Workshops
--Events seeking participation from survivors of solitary confinement

A3 Newsletter June 11, 2018: Keep on Keeping On

Working for social justice frequently seems to be a glacially slow endeavor. This last week brought a summer thaw and more than a few things have changed.

We celebrate and honor the work of Professor Angela A. Bell and the students in her Law and Minorities classes at Southern University for their remarkable efforts in seeing the long delayed parole of John Cluchette through to his release. Please read the article and comments below on this momentous event.

Many Angola 3 supporters will remember the case of the Jena 6, yet another troubling chapter in Louisianaʻs racial history. One of Albertʻs lawyers, Rob McDuff, the amazing Emily Maw of the Innocence Project in New Orleans and Angola 3 supporter Tory Pegram, have continued to work with one of the members of the Jena 6, Theo Shaw, who rose above the massive obstacles and injustices he was faced with to graduate valedictorian of his law class this last week. Congratulations to Theo and best wishes for great success in the future.

Less personal but also a great indicator of change a coming is the article on law suits being filed against Angola by prisoners objecting to the prisoner/slave connection.... long overdue! We also want to honor the work of another one of Angola 3ʻs supporters, NRCAT and their excellent work organizing students to protest solitary confinement.

Finally, please join us in commemorating the life of Tiyo Attalah El-Salah, a prisoner at Dallas Security Prison in Pennsylvania who passed away this last week. Tiyoʻs life and work came to us through the efforts of Lois Ahrens of Real Cost of Prisons - a special friend to Tiyo and a tireless advocate for so many others. Tiyoʻs passing, much like Hermanʻs back in 2013 reminds us why we can never stop organizing and fighting.

To our comrades and allies - we are so grateful for your continued efforts. We hope this newsletter will inspire all of us to keep on keeping on. The good news lifts our spirits and the sad news reminds us that we canʻt give up!

A3 Newsletter: Kiilu Nyasha Remembered, Eric Brown, and A3 in Santa Cruz

(PHOTO: King, Ida, Marina and Kiilu at Expressions Gallery in 2001, just months after King's release from Angola.)

A3 Newsletter, May 15, 2018:
Paying It Forward

Albert and Robert continue on their epic journey, sharing their stories of solitary and false imprisonment, bringing attention to yet unreleased prisoners as in Los Angeles where they met with members of the Committee to Free Leonard Peltier, forging bonds with Native groups working on prison issues. At Princeton the following week they met with students in African American studies and shared their experiences. Next week they will be in Santa Cruz along with Angela Davis and others. They also wanted to share the story of Eric Brown, still in Angola, with their supporters, hoping that some will find the time to write and support Eric in his efforts towards freedom.

They also want to join in the memorializing of long time supporter Kiilu Nyasha who passed away unexpectedly last month. Her support of the Angola 3 and so many other political prisoners was tireless and critical to so many. She will be deeply missed.

In 2008, Kiilu interviewed Robert King on her TV show following the release of his autobiography, and she spoke at an A3 event in 2012, (featured at 17 minutes and 50 seconds into this online video). Below is an announcement for Kiilu's memorial service, to be held in San Francisco on May 20.

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Angola 3 Basics

(Download a flyer version of this fact sheet here.)

In 1972, deep in rural Louisiana, three young black men were silenced for trying to expose continued segregation, systematic corruption, and horrific abuse in the biggest prison in the US, an 18,000 acre former slave plantation called Angola.

Peaceful, non-violent protest in the form of hunger and work strikes organized by inmates caught the attention of Louisiana’s elected leaders and local media in the early 1970s. They soon called for investigations into a host of unconstitutional and extraordinarily inhumane practices commonplace in what was then the “bloodiest prison in the South.” Eager to put an end to outside scrutiny, prison officials began punishing inmates they saw as troublemakers.

At the height of this unprecedented institutional chaos, Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox, and Robert King were charged with murders they did not commit and thrown into 6x9 foot solitary cells where they remained for decades.

Their struggle for justice continued until Robert was released in 2001, Herman in 2013, and Albert in 2016.

Despite a number of reforms achieved in the mid-70s, many officials repeatedly ignored both evidence of misconduct, and of innocence.

The State’s case was riddled with inconsistencies, obfuscations, and missteps. A bloody print at the murder scene did not match Herman, Albert or anyone charged with the crime and was never compared with the limited number of other prisoners who had access to the dormitory on the day of the murder. In 2008, NPR asked Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell why the state refused to test the print. "A fingerprint can come from anywhere," Caldwell explained. "We're not going to be fooled by that."

Potentially exculpatory DNA evidence was “lost” by prison officials—including fingernail scrapings from the victim and barely visible “specks” of blood on clothing alleged to have been worn by Albert.

Both Herman and Albert had multiple alibi witnesses with nothing to gain who testified they were far away from the scene when the murder occurred.

In contrast, several State witnesses lied under oath about rewards for their testimony. The prosecution’s star witness Hezekiah Brown told the jury: “Nobody promised me nothing.” But new evidence showed Hezekiah, a convicted serial rapist serving life, agreed to testify only in exchange for a pardon, a weekly carton of cigarettes, TV, birthday cakes, and other luxuries.

“Hezekiah was one you could put words in his mouth,” the Warden reminisced chillingly in an interview about the case years later.

Notably, Teenie Rogers, the widow of the victim, prison guard Brent Miller, after reviewing the evidence believed Herman and Albert’s trials were unfair, expressed grave doubts about their guilt, and called upon officials to find the real killer. "“Each time I look at the evidence in this case, I remember there is no proof that the men charged with Brent’s death are the ones who actually killed him. It’s easy to get caught up in vengeance and anger, but when I look at the facts, they just do not add up,” said Rogers in 2013.

Herman’s conviction was finally overturned in October 2013 by a Federal Judge. Although his trial was riddled with evidence of prosecutorial misconduct and other constitutional violations, it was the systematic exclusion of women from his jury in violation of the 14th Amendment that freed him. Unfortunately he was released in the late stages of advanced liver cancer and only experienced 3 days of freedom. Sadly for Herman, justice delayed was justice denied.

Albert’s conviction was overturned three times by judges citing racial discrimination, prosecutorial misconduct, inadequate defense, and suppression of exculpatory evidence. While the case worked its way through endless appeals, Louisiana officials refused to release Albert from solitary, even when no longer convicted of the crime, because “there’s been no rehabilitation” from “practicing Black Pantherism.”4

In June 2015, a Federal Judge courageously ordered Albert's immediate release and barred a retrial stressing the “Court's lack of confidence in the State to provide a fair third trial." This extraordinary remedy was also frozen pending yet another series of appeals.

Finally, Albert was released in February of 2016, 43 years and 10 months after first being put in isolation for a crime he didn’t commit.

Louisiana today has the highest incarceration rate in the US—thus the highest in the world.

Three-fourths of the 5,000+ prisoners at Angola are African American. And due to some of the harshest sentencing practices in the nation, 97% will die there.

Reminiscent of a bygone era, inmates still harvest cotton, corn and wheat for 4 to 20 cents an hour under the watchful eye of armed guards on horseback.

We believe that only by openly examining the failures and inequities of the criminal justice system in America can we restore integrity to that system.

We must not wait.

We can make a difference.

As the A3 did years before, now is the time to challenge injustice and demand that the innocent and wrongfully incarcerated be freed.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

In 2000, Herman, Albert and Robert filed a civil lawsuit challenging the inhumane and increasingly pervasive practice of long-term solitary confinement. Magistrate Judge Dalby described their decades of isolation as “so far beyond the pale” she could not find “anything even remotely comparable in the annals of American jurisprudence.” Over the course of 16 years, this seminal case detailed unconstitutionally cruel and unusual treatment and systematic due process violations at the hands of Louisiana officials and inspired worldwide action to end long term solitary.