Angola 3

The Angola Three are three former prison inmates (Robert King, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace) who were put in solitary confinement in Louisiana State Penitentiary (also known as Angola Prison), in April 1972 after the killing of a corrections officer. Each was kept in solitary for more than 25 years; two of the men served more than 40 years each in solitary.

Robert King spent 29 years in solitary confinement before his conviction was overturned and he was released. Wallace was released on October 1, 2013, after more than 41 years in prison. Woodfox's unconditional release was decided on June 10, 2015, after 43 years of solitary confinement. On November 20, 2014, Woodfox had his conviction overturned by the US Court of Appeals, and in April 2015, his lawyer applied for an unconditional writ for his release. Albert Woodfox was released on February 19, 2016, after the prosecution agreed to drop its push for a retrial and accept his plea of no contest to lesser charges of burglary and manslaughter.

The prisoners have been the subject of two documentary films and international attention. In July 2013, Amnesty International called for the release of 71-year-old Herman Wallace, who had advanced liver cancer. He was released October 1, 2013. The state re-indicted him on October 3, 2013, and he died on October 4, 2013, before he could be re-arrested.

The three men were sent to Angola Prison in 1971 after each was convicted of armed robbery. Woodfox had escaped from a Louisiana courthouse during his sentencing for armed robbery and joined the Black Panther Party.

As members of the prison's chapter of the Black Panthers, Wallace and Woodfox became activists seeking to improve conditions in Angola. They helped organize petitions and hunger strikes to protest segregation within the prison, and to end widespread rape and violence.

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