A man who has been in solitary confinement for more than four decades in the USA state of Louisiana has been freed, his lawyer says.
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Woodfox was released on Friday after spending more than 40 years in the Louisiana Penitentiary at Angola.
A Black Panther activist at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, Woodfox and co-defendant Herman Wallace maintained they were blamed for the killing because they had agitated for better conditions during one of its bloodiest periods. Wallace, Woodfox and Robert King Wilkerson had all been Black Panthers at Angola and argued they were kept in solitary due to their political beliefs and activism, not any danger they might have posed to the general prison population.
A federal judge had ordered Woodfox’s unconditional release in June in a strongly-worded ruling that barred any further trial on charges of murdering prison guard Brent Miller.
Criminal courts overturned Woodfox’s conviction multiple times over the years, only to see it reinstated by a higher court on appeal.
“Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no-contest plea to lesser charges”, Woodfox said.
“I hope the events of today will bring closure to many”, Woodfox stated.
The prison farm is commonly known as the Angola prison and is Louisiana’s only maximum-security prison.
Woodfox, and two others, know as the Angola Three, have brought attention to the psychological toll of solitary confinement, which typically means being locked in a tiny cell for 23 hours a day.
Woodfox’s release comes as the country is increasingly shifting away from solitary confinement in the wake of research showing that it can have a devastating impact on people, with research showing that it produces catastrophic psychological effects.
“I want to thank my brother Michael for sticking with me all these years, and Robert King, who wrongly spent almost 30 years in solitary”.
Woodfox is believed to have served the longest sentence in solitary confinement of any inmate in United States history – about 44 years, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Friday.
Albert Woodfox was released Friday after pleading no contest to manslaughter and aggravated burglary in the 1972 death of a prison guard. Speaking of his future plans, he said he wanted to visit his mother’s grave site.
He finally agreed to plead no contest to lesser charges in exchange for freedom but insisted this was not an admission of guilt.
The state also denied placing Woodfox in solitary confinement, saying he was allowed out for one hour each day and referred to the 6 x 9 foot cells as “Closed-Cell Restricted”.
John Sinquefield, senior counsel at the attorney general’s office, who prosecuted Woodfox in both murder trials, said he informed Miller’s family of the plea arrangement last week and felt they understood.
Woodfox was serving time at the facility for armed robbery and assault.
George Kendall, one of Woodfox’s attorneys, said his client “served one of the harshest sentences for years”.
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Wallace, who was convicted with Woodfox in Miller’s death, died in 2013, just days after he was freed by a judge to receive treatment for his terminal liver cancer.
