Black Panther Albert Woodfox is finally out of solitary confinement after serving 40 years in one of the most notorious prisons in America. According to NOLA.com, Fox was formally released on June 8.
Woodfox was initially arrested in 1970 and sent to serve time in Angola, which is located in Louisiana. Woodfox and another prisoner, Herman Wallace, were members of the Black Panthers and began to become vocal regarding poor conditions in the prison. But in 1972, Fox was put in solitary confinement after being charged in the death of prison guard Brent Miller.
Fox, Wallace, and Robert King soon became known as the Angola Three after spending decades in solitary confinement. Wallace died in 2013 after being released and granted a new trial. King was released in 2001 after his conviction was overturned.
U.S. District Judge James Brady ordered Wallace’s release from solitary confinement and seeks to prevent prosecutors from trying him a third time for the same crime; however, Louisiana’s attorney general will appeal the ruling with the hope that Woodfox remains behind bars.
Woodfox has been relocated to a prison in St. Francisville, Louisiana while his awaits trial.
