Herman Wallace-Angola 3 dies a free man after 42 years of solitary

[Le Libérer]

Continued from this thread

This morning we lost without a doubt the biggest, bravest, and brashest personality in the political prisoner world. It is with great sadness that we write with the news of Herman Wallace's passing.


Herman never did anything half way. He embraced his many quests and adventures in life with a tenacious gusto and fearless determination that will absolutely never be rivaled. He was exceptionally loyal and loving to those he considered friends, and always went out of his way to stand up for those causes and individuals in need of a strong voice or fierce advocate, no matter the consequences.


Anyone lucky enough to have spent any time with Herman knows that his indomitable spirit will live on through his work and the example he left behind. May each of us aspire to be as dedicated to something as Herman was to life, and to justice.


Below is a short obituary/press statement for those who didn't know him well in case you wish to circulate something. Tributes from those who were closest to Herman and more information on how to help preserve his legacy by keeping his struggle alive will soon follow.
------------------


On October 4th, 2013, Herman Wallace, an icon of the modern prison reform movement and an innocent man, died a free man after spending an unimaginable 41 years in solitary confinement.


Herman spent the last four decades of his life fighting against all that is unjust in the criminal justice system, making international the inhuman plight that is long term solitary confinement, and struggling to prove that he was an innocent man. Just 3 daysbefore his passing, he succeeded, his conviction was overturned, and he was released to spend his final hours surrounded by loved ones. Despite his brief moments of freedom, his case will now forever serve as a tragic example that justice delayed is justice denied.


Herman Wallace's early life in New Orleans during the heyday of an unforgiving and unjust Jim Crow south often found him on the wrong side of the law and eventually he was sent to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for armed robbery. While there, he was introduced to the Black Panther's powerful message of self determination and collective community action and quickly became one of its most persuasive and ardent practitioners.


Not long after he began to organize hunger and work strikes to protest the continued segregation, endemic corruption, and horrific abuse rampant at the prison, he and his fellow panther comrades Albert Woodfox and Robert King were charged with murders they did not commit and thrown in solitary. Robert was released in 2001 after 29 years in solitary but Herman remained there for an unprecedented 41 years, and Albert is still in a 6x9 solitary cell.


Herman's criminal case ended with his passing, but his legacy will live on through a civil lawsuit he filed jointly with Robert and Albert that seeks to define and abolish long term solitary confinement as cruel and unusual punishment, and through his comrade Albert Woodfox's still active and promising bid for freedom from the wrongful conviction they both shared.


Herman was only 9 days shy of 72 years old.


Services will be held in New Orleans. The date and location will be forthcoming.
For more information visit www.angola3.org and http://angola3news.blogspot.com/.

[Red Commissar]

I don't know how to feel about this, it's very bittersweet. On one hand, he died free, but on the other he was put into this situation because of a twisted legal system that could not admit it was wrong.

RIP

[Le Libérer]

New Orleans native, former Black Panther and member of the Angola Three Herman Wallace died Thursday night because of complications from liver cancer, friends and counsel confirmed Friday morning.
"He passed away in my home," said Ashley Wennerstrom, a long-time friend and program director at Tulane's School of Medicine. "He was surrounded by friends and family and love in his last few days."
Among his last words were, "I am free. I am free," said Wallace's counsel, who added he had "no hate in his heart...despite the cruelty (he) was shown."
Parnell Herbert, a Navy veteran who grew up with Wallace and has written a play documenting the story of the Angola Three, called Wallace "a phenomenal person" whose mission was to help people.
"He completed that mission," said Herbert. "And he was able to see himself a free man. He passed away peacefully in his sleep."
Wallace, 71, spent more than four decades in solitary confinement in Louisiana's prisons, after being convicted of the 1972 murder of prison guard Brent Miller at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola or "The Farm."
He maintained his innocence in the murder until his death late Thursday. Physical evidence in the case was scant and Miller's widow repeatedly questioned the court's findings, especially after Wallace said an inmate witness who testified against him was offered concessions by prison staff to do so.
Wallace and fellow Angola Three member Albert Woodfox said they were only implicated because of their involvement with Angola's Black Panther chapter. While at Angola, Wallace and Woodfox started the chapter to fight against the culture of violence and rape pervasive there at the time.
Herbert said Wallace also helped other inmates learn how to read and write, get their GEDs and prepare legal briefs.
On Tuesday, a federal court judge in Baton Rouge overturned Wallace's grand jury indictment in Miller's death, saying he did not receive a fair hearing because the jury had no female members. Wallace was released from Elayn Hunt Correctional Center that evening, where he was being held in the hospital wing, and was transported to LSU Interim Hospital in New Orleans.
Thursday afternoon, less than 24 hours after Wallace had been transported into hospice care at Wennerstrom's home, a newly-convened grand jury in West Feliciana re-indicted Wallace on the murder charge.
West Feliciana District Attorney Samuel D'Aquilla confirmed the reindictment Friday morning, saying the grand jury featured six women and at least one black member, an older man roughly Wallace's age.
D'Aquilla said no court date would have been set until December, long after friends and family expected Wallace to live. But D'Aquilla denied the move was political, saying only "we just had concerns about compassion issues."
D'Aquilla maintained his stance that Wallace was guilty of Miller's murder, however, saying the federal judge only overturned the grand jury indictment and not his 1974 conviction.
Robert King, the third member of the Angola Three and who was convicted of killing a fellow inmate, was exonerated and released from prison in 2001 after 29 years in solitary.
Woodfox remains incarcerated at David Wade Correctional Center in Homer and is appealing to the 5th Circuit Court for his release. He is also seeking a restraining order against the state for daily strip and cavity searches by guards at the facility.
Nick Trenticosta, a member the Angola Three legal team, said Friday he feels confident in Woodfox's case going forward, adding, "we feel pretty good that we'll prevail."
Amnesty International USA Executive Director Steven Hawkins also called attention to Woodfox's case in a statement release Friday morning.
"Nothing can undo the authorities’ shocking treatment of (Wallace), which led more than 200,000 people to act on his behalf," Hawkins said, referring to an Amnesty petition calling for his release. "The state of Louisiana must now prevent further inhuman treatment by removing Wallace’s co-defendant Albert Woodfox from solitary confinement."
Wennerstrom said she hopes Wallace's case will call attention to the wider problems in the state's penal system.
"This was never just about Herman or just about Albert," she said. "This is about a much larger movement to make the criminal justice system actually just."


Source

[adipocere]

Here is the article about his death on Common Dreams:

"I Am Free. I Am Free." Prisoner Herman Wallace Dies Just Days After Release


- Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer

Herman Wallace, the "Angola 3" prisoner who was released from jail earlier this week after being held in solitary confinement for 41 years, died early Friday morning after a battle with liver cancer.
Herman Wallace rides in an ambulance taking him away from prison. (Photo: Democracy Now!) Among his last words, according to those in attendance, were: "I am free. I am free."
71-year-old Wallace, who was wrongfully accused of murdering a prison guard 41 years ago, maintained his innocence for that duration and finally had his case overturned Tuesday.
However, as he lay on his death bed, Wallace was re-indicted by a Louisiana grand jury on Thursday, according to District Attorney Samuel D’Aquilla who filed for the re-indictment.
Wallace died shortly after on Friday morning at 5:30 am Louisiana time.
"He passed away in my home," said Ashley Wennerstrom, a long-time friend and program director at Tulane's School of Medicine. "He was surrounded by friends and family and love in his last few days."
"He completed that mission," said longtime friend Parnell Herbert. "And he was able to see himself a free man. He passed away peacefully in his sleep."
Following Wallace's release from prison earlier in the week, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! wrote of Wallace's final days:

As he lies dying, Herman Wallace knows that after a lifetime of enduring the torture of solitary confinement for a crime he did not commit, he is now a free man. [...]
The Angola 3 were united for the last time Tuesday. The prison rules allowed King and Woodfox to say their final goodbyes to Wallace, not because he was leaving prison, but because he was dying. By sheer coincidence, that was when the judge overturned Wallace’s conviction, and they were the ones who gave Wallace the news. Robert King described their final moments together: “Albert’s last words were, ‘Herman, we love you, and you’re going to get out today.’” King described how Albert Woodfox leaned over, hands and feet shackled, and kissed Herman goodbye on his forehead. [...]
Wallace was transferred to an ambulance and driven to the Louisiana State University Hospital in New Orleans. He has dreamed of his release for years, and describes it in “Herman’s House”:
“I got to the front gate, and there’s a whole lot of people out there. ... I was dancing my way out. I was doing the jitterbug. ... I turn around, and I look, and there are all the brothers in the window waving and throwing the fist sign—it’s rough, man. It’s so real. I can feel it even now.”
Herman Wallace was strapped into an ambulance, not dancing, as he left the prison, hanging on to life by a thread. But he was free, after almost 42 years in solitary confinement, longer than any other prisoner in U.S. history.

"Nothing can undo the authorities’ shocking treatment of (Wallace), which led more than 200,000 people to act on his behalf," said Amnesty International USA Executive Director Steven Hawkins, in reference to an Amnesty campaign for the release of Wallace and the last co-defendant of the Angola 3 case who remains behind bars, Albert Woodfox. "The state of Louisiana must now prevent further inhuman treatment by removing Wallace’s co-defendant Albert Woodfox from solitary confinement."

[Le Libérer]

When he mentioned that he was free in his last words, I think he meant something far greater than being released from Angola. I would hope that this story would positively impact all of us to live better and to become better people and fight with all we have in us to undo injustice like plantation justice.

[Le Libérer]

PBS is streaming Herman's House in honor of Herman's life long fight for freedom. Here is the link for anyone who wants to watch it. http://www.pbs.org/pov/hermanshouse/...p#.Uk8s2xD3MfF

[Red Commissar]

Thursday afternoon, less than 24 hours after Wallace had been transported into hospice care at Wennerstrom's home, a newly-convened grand jury in West Feliciana re-indicted Wallace on the murder charge.

West Feliciana District Attorney Samuel D'Aquilla confirmed the reindictment Friday morning, saying the grand jury featured six women and at least one black member, an older man roughly Wallace's age.

D'Aquilla said no court date would have been set until December, long after friends and family expected Wallace to live. But D'Aquilla denied the move was political, saying only "we just had concerns about compassion issues."

D'Aquilla maintained his stance that Wallace was guilty of Miller's murder, however, saying the federal judge only overturned the grand jury indictment and not his 1974 conviction.

Agh, these kinds of bonehead prosecutors really get to me.

[blake 3:17]

Just for folks who don't know who the Angola Three are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angola_Three

[Smith's Dream]

A tragic story all round. In a twisted sense, it's almost a blessing that he no longer has to endure the torture he endured. RIP

[Hrafn]

He died in freedom. That is all we can ever ask for.

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

Rest in peace and freedom.

[brigadista]

RIP Herman your name lives on

Very sad here- true struggler

No justice - No peace!!

[Ocean Seal]

When was he released. How many days did he get a free man?

[Prometeo liberado]

He died in freedom. That is all we can ever ask for.

Nope. He deserved, deserves something more. And the pig nation needs to foot the bill for this it is they who murdered him.

[Hrafn]

Nope. He deserved, deserves something more. And the pig nation needs to foot the bill for this it is they who murdered him.

I wholeheartedly disagree with the notion that there is anything more important than freedom, even if his sudden lack of imprisonment was just a small step towards any type of full liberation.

[Prometeo liberado]

I wholeheartedly disagree with the notion that there is anything more important than freedom, even if his sudden lack of imprisonment was just a small step towards any type of full liberation.

A bill was accrued. Now those who accrue it off our life and/or labour gotta pay.

[Le Libérer]

When was he released. How many days did he get a free man?

He was unshackled 2 days before his death.

[Rational Radical]

A bill was accrued. Now those who accrue it off our life and/or labour gotta pay.

I 110% agree,my pathway to socialism being Malcolm X and the BPP I feel personally offended by this whole miscarriage of justice. This was a state sanctioned murder, not a victory. Although they will lock us up,revolutionaries don't need any more Herman Wallace's, I'm going to leave that statement ambiguous,but y'all get the drift.

[skitty]

Thought I would add this here, with respect to CoR's efforts on behalf of prisoners. It's an article from The Nation about prison profiteering:
http://www.thenation.com/prison-prof...medium=twitter

[Le Libérer]

If you can, please help raise funds to help cover the costs of Herman's burial! Supporters in the New Orleans area can attend the benefit Tue Oct 8th, supporters further away who cannot attend but who would like to help can make online donations at this link: http://angola3.org/donate.aspx Please designate that your donation is for the memorial. Thank you Comrades!


And from Robert King

+ YouTube Video