Angola 3 News: women

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Monday, September 26, 2016

Victoria Law, The Nation: These Women Are Demanding a Voice in the Criminal Justice Conversation

(PHOTO: The Council at Cucho's Justice Center in Los Angeles.)

Check out this new article about the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls written for The Nation by author and longtime prison activist Victoria Law, entitled:

These Women Are Demanding a Voice in the Criminal Justice Conversation

"The movement to reform the criminal justice system is still dominated by men and politicians. This group of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women is changing that." (The two accompanying photos are from the new article.)

(PHOTO: A Council meeting in Washington, DC.)

--And, if you have not yet done so, be sure to read Angola 3 News' previous interviews with Law:

Torturing Women Prisoners (2009), Resisting Gender Violence and the Prison Industrial Complex (2010), VIDEO: Resisting Gender Violence Without Cops or Prisons (2011), and Will AB 2530 Unshackle Childbirth in California? (w/ Tina Reynolds, 2012)

Monday, October 7, 2013

Turning Grief Into Strength; Oct. 12 Memorial Service in NOLA

HONORING HERMAN: Tribute made to by US Congressmen Conyers, Richmond, and Scott II Mural and Banner in North Carolina II Mumia Abu-Jamal's Message for Herman's Memorial

Herman Wallace, RIP
Sunrise: October 13, 1941
Sunset: October 4, 2013

What an unbelievable, surreal, momentous, and historic week it has been with Herman's amazing release after 42 years, the State's vindictive last ditch attempt of a reindictment, and his passing. This, all in a period of days. His family and friends are still in a whirlwind.

The "Muhammad Ali of the Criminal Justice System" Passes On

--Special thanks to PBS, who is currently honoring Herman by streaming the film Herman's House. Watch the full movie here.

MEDIA COVERAGE: NY Times II Amnesty International II Times-Picayune II The Advocate II ABC II Melissa Harris-Perry, MSNBC II NBC II The Independent, UK II UPI II Common Dreams II Toronto Sun / Reuters II Associated Press: NY Daily News , Memphis Commercial Appeal , Windsor Star II ACLU II All Voices II NPR II El Ciudadano, Chile II Voice of Russia interviews Solitary Watch II The China Post / AFP II Scott Crow II Facing South II Slate II Arab News II Jaan Laaman / Prison Radio II National Catholic Reporter II Los Angeles Times II Counterpunch II Policy Mic II Angela A. Allen-Bell on Reel Talk Radio (featuring Michelle Alexander on A3 at 14:50 into show) II The Militant

This morning we lost without a doubt the biggest, bravest, and brashest personality in the political prisoner world. It is with great sadness that we write with the news of Herman Wallace's passing.

Herman never did anything half way. He embraced his many quests and adventures in life with a tenacious gusto and fearless determination that will absolutely never be rivaled. He was exceptionally loyal and loving to those he considered friends, and always went out of his way to stand up for those causes and individuals in need of a strong voice or fierce advocate, no matter the consequences.

West Feliciana District Attorney Says Herman Wallace Has Been Reindicted

(Herman Wallace, in ambulance after his release.)

In an article published this evening, Lauren McGaughy of the Times-Picayune cites an announcement by West Feliciana District Attorney Samuel D’Aquilla, that a grand jury has reindicted Wallace. McGaughy writes further that:

Free At Last! Herman Wallace Has Finally Been Released

--Special thanks to PBS, who is currently honoring Herman by streaming the new film Herman's House, which you can watch, in full, here.

MEDIA COVERAGE: Oct. 2 episode of Democracy Now (embedded above) and Amy Goodman's Truthdig column II BBC News Magazine II Steven Hawkins, Amnesty International II NY Times II NY Times editorial II CNN II Times-Picayune (with photos of Herman's release) II The Advocate II NBC II ABC / AP II South China Morning Post / AFP II NY Daily News / Reuters II Huffington Post Live TV (w/ Robert King) II WAFB CBS News Baton Rouge (video) II CBS National News II UPI II Catholic Online (w/ WGNO ABC video of Herman's arrival at LSU) II The Independent, UK II Medical Daily II France 24 II Atlanta Black Star II Le Monde, France II Oregon Public Broadcasting / NPR II Fire Dog Lake II Daily Star, UK II The Scotsman II The Guardian II Die Welt, Germany II Mumia Abu-Jamal II Common Dreams

(Herman upon release, on route to the LSU hospital.
You can click on the photo above to enlarge.)

--View A3 Coalition photos from Herman's release at Flickr and Indybay. and a video of his arrival at the LSU hospital.

After a long, dramatic day, we are humbled to report that the indomitable, irrepressible Herman Wallace has just been released after spending over 4 decades in solitary confinement.

UPDATE: Judge Jackson Denies State's Request for a Stay and Issues Second Order for Herman Wallace's Immediate Release

UPDATE: At the end of the day, Herman was finally released!

MEDIA COVERAGE: Times Picayune--Herman Wallace must be released immediately or state will face contempt charge, judge rules II CNN

After this morning's bombshell ruling by Judge Jackson overturning Herman's conviction and ordering his immediate release, his legal team has spent the day trying to convince Louisiana officials to do as the Court requires and let him go free.

VIDEOS: Oakland protest supporting CA prisoner hunger strike (featuring Danny Murillo, Janetta Louise Johnson and Paige Kumm)

RELATED: Solidarity from Chiapas, Mexico and in Berlin, Germany (read writeup and watch video)

At lunchtime on Wednesday July 31, Frank Ogawa/Oscar Grant Plaza in downtown Oakland hosted a protest rally in support of the CA prisoner hunger strike that began on July 8. The rally was followed by a spirited march through downtown Oakland (view event photos here). This event was held in conjunction with other solidarity events around the world.

The Real Cost of Prisons --An interview with Lois Ahrens

The Real Cost of Prisons
--An interview with Lois Ahrens

By Angola 3 News

Lois Ahrens is the Founder/Director of The Real Cost of Prisons Project (RCPP) and has been an activist/organizer for more than 40 years. First started in 2001, RCPP brings together justice activists, artists, justice policy researchers and people directly experiencing the impact of mass incarceration to work together to end the U.S. prison nation. RCPP created workshops, a website that includes sections of writing and ‘comix’ by prisoners, a daily news blog focused on mass incarceration and three comic books that were first created in 2005: Prisoners Town: Paying the Price, by artist Kevin Pyle and writer Craig Gilmore; Prisoners of the War on Drugs, by artist Sabrina Jones and writers Ellen Miller-Mack and Lois Ahrens; and Prisoners of a Hard Life: Women and Their Children by artist Susan Willmarth and writers Ellen Miller-Mack and Lois Ahrens.

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.