As the nation celebrated Independence Day, there are those who ironically fought for everyone to have complete independence from oppression in America who remain imprisoned since the 1970s or longer.
According to the Office of Justice Reforms within the U.S. Department of Justice (ojp.gov), a political prisoner is defined as “one who is detained for his or her beliefs, color, sex, ethnic origin, language, or religious creed, regardless of whether the individual has advocated the use of violence and includes those detained without trial or prosecuted as a form of persecution.”
Political prisoners have existed since the days of, ironically, the Revolutionary War and continued through the civil rights and anti-war movements in the 1960s and ’70s. The website gave several examples, including former Black Panther Party member Elmer Pratt who was falsely convicted of killing a White schoolteacher in 1968 – and who was eventually freed in the 1990s by the late legendary lawyer Johnnie Cochran.
Cheatsheets.com lists over 100 political prisoners languishing away in prisons across the U.S., while the National Alumni Association of the Black Panther Party says that most of them are former Panther members.
Below is just a short list of the many freedom fighters who remain in America’s concrete confines, according to The Guardian.
1. Former Pennsylvania death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther
Age: 64
Incarcerated since: 1981
Convicted of: Murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner
Sentence: Life without parole
Current prison: SCI Mahanoy, Pennsylvania
2. Mutulu Shakur in the Manhattan Correction Center. Photograph: New York Daily News Archive/NY Daily News via Getty Images
Age: 67
Incarcerated since: 1986
Convicted of: Helping Black Panther Party member Assata Shakur escape from prison in 1979
Sentence: 60 years
Current prison: Federal Correctional Complex, Victorville, California
3. Janine Africa, a member of Move, preaches to the crowd that gathers in front of their barricaded house. Photograph: Leif Skoogfors/Corbis via Getty Images
Age: 62
Incarcerated since: 1978
Convicted of: Third-degree murder of police officer James Ramp during Philadelphia siege
Sentence: 30 years to life
Current prison: SCI Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania
4. Ruchell ‘Cinque’ Magee
Age: 79
Incarcerated since: 1963
Convicted of: Aggravated kidnapping in 1970 courthouse break-out attempt in which Judge Harold Haley was killed
Sentence: Life without parole
Current prison: California Men’s Colony, San Luis Obispo, California
This entry was amended on 2 August 2018 to correct Ruchell ‘Cinque’ Magee’s age from 65 to 79.
5. Kamau Sidiki aka Freddie Hilton Photograph: Handout
Age: 65
Incarcerated since: 2002
Convicted of: Murder in 1971 of Atlanta police officer James Green
Sentence: Life
Current prison: Augusta State Medical Prison, Georgia
Ed Poindexter. Photograph: Courtesy of Ed Poindexter
Age: 73
Incarcerated since: 1970
Convicted of: Murder of Omaha police officer Larry Minard
Sentence: Life
Current prison: Nebraska State Penitentiary, Lincoln, Nebraska
6. Fred ‘Muhammad’ Burton. Photograph: Handout
Age: 71
Incarcerated since: 1970
Convicted of: Murder of police officer, and later murder of two prison officers
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Current prison: SCI-Somerset, Pennsylvania
Sentence: Life
