Skip to content Skip to footer

Federal Judge Orders Release of Albert Woodfox, Held 40+ Years in Solitary Confinement [Updated]

Albert Woodfox is the longest-serving US prisoner in solitary confinement.

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, where Albert Woodfox has been confined. (Photo: WhisperToMe/Wikipedia)

Updated, June 9, 4.50pm CT: A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the release of Albert Woodfox.

Also see: Will Albert Woodfox Be Freed? Louisiana Fights Release of Longest-Serving US Prisoner in Solitary

A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of Louisiana prisoner Albert Woodfox, the longest-serving U.S. prisoner in solitary confinement. The state has been vigorous in its efforts to keep the former Black Panther behind bars for a crime he maintains he did not commit.

“Still, I am optimistic this time Albert will be released,” says longtime friend Robert King, who spent years in prison alongside Woodfox as a member of the Angola 3.

Woodfox is the last member of the group who is still fighting for his freedom. King was released in 2001. Herman Wallace died just three days after his release on October 1, 2013. Woodfox turned 68 in February.

Earlier this year a Louisiana grand jury re-indicted Woodfox for the 1972 murder of a prison guard. He and Wallace maintained they were framed for their political activism. Amnesty International responded by calling for Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell to “stop pursuing a campaign of vengeance by trying to re-indict a man who has already spent more than four decades in cruel confinement, after a legal process tainted with flaws.”

Today, Federal Judge James Brady issued a writ in the case of Albert Woodfox vs. Burl Cain, Warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, et al. that not only called for Woodfox’s immediate release, but also barred a retrial.

Brady argued this extraordinary decision is merited based on five factors:

“Mr. Woodfox’s age and poor health, his limited ability to present a defense at a third trial in light of the unavailability of witnesses, this Court’s lack of confidence in the State to provide a fair third trial, the prejudice done onto Mr. Woodfox by spending over forty-years in solitary confinement, and finally the very fact that Mr. Woodfox has already been tried twice and would otherwise face his third trial for a crime that occurred over forty years ago.”

Many of Woodfox’s attorneys were already planning to be in Louisiana on Tuesday for a court date involving a civil case challenging the solitary confinement of Woodfox, Wallace and King. They hope to win his release tomorrow morning once the court papers are issued.

King says Woodfox is ready to be free despite the conditions he faced in prison.

“I don’t think he’ll have a problem acclimating himself. He had a pretty good concept about what his condition entailed,” says King. “He was able to perceive there would be negative effects, so he was able to think beyond the permitter of his 6×9 cell.”

It remains unclear how Louisiana will acclimate itself to Judge Brady’s ruling. Supporters say it will likely file an emergency appeal with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Read the ruling below.

Albert Woodfox vs. Burl Cain, Warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary et al

Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn

Dear Truthout Community,

If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.

We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.

Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.

There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.

After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?

It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.

We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.

We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.

Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment. We’re presently working to find 1500 new monthly donors to Truthout before the end of the year.

We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.

With love, rage, and solidarity,

Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy