Louisiana inmate to be freed after 43 years in solitary confinement

(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

published 9 June 2015

Albert Woodfox, the longest-serving prisoner in solitary confinement in the U.S., is finally being released. A federal judge has ordered state officials to release Woodfox from the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. Woodfox, a former Black Panther Party prison leader who is now 68, served 43 years in the prison for the murder of a prison guard in 1972. Woodfox is the last of the "Angola Three," a group of Louisiana prisoners accused of fatally stabbing 23-year-old Brent Miller, a guard at the Angola penitentiary. Woodfox was convicted twice of the crime, but each time the decision was overturned. U.S. District Judge James Brady called for Woodfox's unconditional release and ruled that he will not be subject to a third trial.

Amnesty International and the U.N. had previously condemned Woodfox's treatment as inhumane, and a spokesperson for Amnesty told The Associated Press that Brady's ruling marks "a momentous step toward justice.