America’s Longest-Standing Solitary Confinement Prisoner Has Been Released
After more than four decades spent alone in a cell measuring six feet by nine feet, Albert Woodfox walked free on Friday, his 69th birthday.
Woodfox was the longest-serving solitary confinement prisoner in the U.S., and had been held in his cell 23 hours a day at the West Feliciana parish detention center in Louisiana. According to the Guardian, Woodfox has maintained his innocence for the 1972 murder of a prison guard that put him in prison 43 years ago, and his supporters say he was framed for the murders in retribution for his political affiliation with the Black Panthers. His release was the result of a plea deal with prosecutors, according to The New York Times. Reporters caught a glimpse of Woodfox as he left the prison:
Pure happiness from Alfred Woodfox as he left the prison @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/J6vBHfRPCj
— MichaelVinsanau WBRZ (@MVinsanau) February 19, 2016
BREAKING: Albert Woodfox is out of prison after 40+ years of solitary confinement @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/JiB9FaoqLD
— MichaelVinsanau WBRZ (@MVinsanau) February 19, 2016
Woodfox was known for being one of three prisoners held in Louisiana’s Angola prison, the “Angola 3.” He protested prison segregation and poor prison conditions until he was accused of murdering a prison guard, despite substantial evidence to prove the case. The other two prisoners were freed years ago—one, just days before his death.
Many observing Woodfox’s case, and those of other prisoners held in solitary confinement, liken it to torture. James Dennis, a judge with the federal fifth circuit appeals court, described Woodfox’s prison cell last November:
“For the vast majority of his life, Woodfox has spent nearly every waking hour in a cramped cell in crushing solitude without a valid conviction.”
Albert Woodfox, last "Angola 3" inmate, set free after decades in solitary confinement https://t.co/Rv9sToGF9q pic.twitter.com/0e8pQsiuOV
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 19, 2016
Woodfox, for his part, gave a startling and horrific testimony of his experience in confinement in 2014:
“I’m afraid I’m going to turn into a baby and curl up in a fetal position and lay there like that day after day for the rest of my life. I’m afraid I’m going to attack my own body, maybe cut off my balls and throw them through the bars the way I’ve seen others do when they couldn’t take any more. No television or hobby craft or magazines or any of the other toys you call yourself allowing can ever lessen the nightmare of this hell you help to create and maintain.”
