All language subtitles for Cruel.and.Unusual.2017.720p

Man: You don't cry with tears.

You don't cry literally.

The soul cries.

And it's kind of hard to
describe when the soul cries.

I mean, it's... it's a deep...

It's a agony, you know?

Male voice recording:
This call originates

from a Louisiana
correctional facility

and may be recorded
or monitored.

Male voice recording: You have
15 seconds left on this call.

John conyers: One of
the amazing things

about the way our founding
fathers put the constitution

together was, after they'd
finished, there were

a number of people that
said, wait a minute,

there's something missing here.

There are not enough specific
guarantees to we, the people.

And so they put together
this bill of rights,

all of these 10 amendments.

And one of them
dealt with the fact

that government can try any
of its citizens for a crime,

but no cruel and unusual
punishments can be inflicted.

And here come these
three men serving

a sentence of
imprisonment turned

into solitary confinement.

That is cruel and unusual
punishment if there is ever

any accurate use of that term.

Narrator: In Louisiana, there
is a place called Angola prison,

where three men have spent
longer in solitary confinement

than any other
prisoners in America...

For crimes they insist
they did not commit.

What has happened to Herman
Wallace and Albert woodfox

is one of the most serious
indictments of America's

judicial system,
because they challenge

age-old assumptions about power
and race that lie at its heart.

They have always maintained they
were held unjustly because they

were defying abuses
of power as members

of the black panther party.

But there is one
man who knows what

they are suffering, because he,
too, endured a similar fate.

And he will not rest until
his comrades are free.

Together, they have become
known as the Angola three.

Robert king: To be
convicted for a crime

that you know you didn't
commit, and you're going

to be in prison for
the rest of your life

without the possibility
of parole, probation,

or suspension of sentence, and
you're in the environment where

you in a cell, in solitary
confinement, for from now

on until till you are
there, this is terrible.

And without me, and after you're
dead, the state of Louisiana

can claim your body.

You belong to the state.

Narrator: The state of
Louisiana has been determined

to keep the Angola
three behind bars,

because it holds them
responsible for the 1972 murder

of a prison guard at Angola.

There's not a year
that goes by that I

don't have to relive this.

It just keeps going and going.

And then, these men, I mean,
if they did not do this... and I

believe that they didn't...

They have been living a
nightmare for these years.

Narrator: The prison is built
on a former slave plantation.

It's called Angola because the
slaves who once worked the land

came from Angola, in Africa.

Home to over 5,000
inmates, Angola has become

America's largest prison.

It has developed its own
distinctive way of life.

Radio dj: Boys and girls,
bound or free, black or white,

it's that time again... that's
right, the annual prison rodeo.

Narrator: At Angola's
rodeo, the most

popular event is convict poker.

The last inmate to get up
from the table wins $200.

150 miles down the
Mississippi river,

the men destined to
become the Angola three

grew up in a New Orleans
emerging from segregation.

Robert king: You
know, they called

the '50s the golden years,
but they were golden for us.

While they may have been
golden to some, you know,

it was, like, brown to
tin to me, you know?

Because we lived in the
shabbiest house on the block,

you know?

And we had to sort of, kind
of, you know, use buckets

in places when it rained.

Malik rahim: King and
I was raised together.

He got me by about five years.

His back yard and my
back yard used to meet.

So, like, king was on summer,
and I was on hendy street.

There was in school that
was right within two blocks

from my house, had
all the amenities.

But we couldn't even
go in that yard.

That was a arresting offense.

We actually feared the police.

They call it cleaning the books.

Yeah, the used to
clean the books

on a lot of black young
men during that time.

Robberies that were
committed that...

That went unsolved, they
would arrest a young black man

and put the charge on him.

I used to see a police
and really just run.

Then he would come back.

And then, the next
time I saw him,

he was at a new
Orleans police station.

Robert king: You know,
I ain't no angel.

Never been a angel.

It wasn't anything
vicious though.

You know, I wasn't doing it...

You know, anything that
was dastardly or anything

like that, but a burglary
or something like that,

or you know, the little theft,
you know, walking in a store,

steal something, yeah,
of course I did that.

Narrator: Herman Wallace
was also finding himself

on the wrong side of the law.

When I saw the name
"Herman Wallace,"

I go, wow, bank robbery,
9th street and magazine.

So I knew the whole family.

And he used to walk what we
call pigeon-toed, like this.

So we called him "hooks."

And this is how he had that
name since he was a little kid.

I was surprised,
because he wasn't

the type of guy that would be
in and out of the boys' home

or locked down.

He had minor problems, just
as the average youngster

would have.

Narrator: While Herman Wallace
was facing a long sentence

for his 1967 bank robbery,

woodfox was not far behind him.

Well, you know, I feel
like a king, yeah.

I think it was initially,
I arrested for maybe

suspicion of armed robbery.

And then it was upgraded,
you know, to armed robbery.

I was arrested not because I
looked like the perpetrator

or that I was the
perpetrator, I was arrested

because I had a record.

And it was one lone
black dude on the trial.

He said not guilty.

And then one white
dude said not guilty.

And ten other whites
found me guilty.

And I ended up getting 35 years.

Narrator: By the
end of the 1960s,

all three men had been convicted
of separate armed robberies

and faced decades in prison.

But Albert woodfox
wasn't going to disappear

without a struggle.

Narrator: The black panthers
demanded social justice.

And if white America
wouldn't give it to them,

they were prepared to
seize it for themselves.

Bobby seale: So the concept
is this, basically...

The whole black nation has to
be put together as a black army.

And we're going to say to
the whole damn government,

stick 'em up, motherfucker.

This is a hold-up.

We come for what's ours.

Narrator: Albert woodfox was
impressed by these ideas.

Recaptured in new
York, he was detained

in the infamous tombs prison.

Reporter: We were littered with
debris from the riot, glass,

masonry, tear gas canisters,
even several dead rats thrown

out the windows by the inmates.

Narrator: Ultimately,
the panthers' protests

against the
horrendous conditions

would lead to the
demolition of the prison.

Narrator: Albert was
sent back to the new

Orleans parish prison.

Robert king was already there.

By the fall of 1970,
outside its walls,

conflicts between the
panthers and the police

had reached the desire
housing projects of the city.

On September the 15th, we
had a shootout with the police

there.

It just so happened
I witnessed the...

The shootout.

Because the... they
had a television.

And the interruption,
the newscaster came on.

When he say that
someone was in a house

shooting it out with the
police, I must admit,

I really felt proud.

And it was at that time that
I really became a... you know,

a active member of the
black panther party.

Malik rahim: I mean, it was the
first time that the lions ever

attacked the waterhole.

But now, the wildebeest
is not running.

But they stood up.

They're saying, to
the authorities,

that you cannot come into
our community and destroy.

We went from the streets of
desire, to court, to death row,

all in one day.

They had told us they was
going to execute all of us,

made sure that they
allow us to see where

the electric chair was
going to be and, you know,

crap like that.

Malik was on the c1, which is...

C1 would be down
on the other side.

And it was known, at that
time, as a..

Narrator: The authorities hoped
that they could neutralize

the black militants
in the parish prison

by putting them
together with prisoners

they called black gangsters,
men like Herman Wallace.

Malik rahim: My first
experience with Herman

is I gave him my shoes.

We was on our way to court.

And I seen that he
needed some shoes.

Malik rahim: I axed
him what size he was.

We was the same size,
so I gave him mine.

Malik rahim: That happened to be
one of the days I go to court.

And I muzzled that.

You know, it's your old boy.

The boy ain't got
no shoes, you know?

Ok, there was a thing.

But I... I knew how it was to
be swung down the way they was.

Malik rahim: I knew that I
stood a better chance of getting

another pair of shoes, because
I know my comrades wouldn't

allow me to go without...

That collective spirit
that we had developed,

you know, and the collective
spirit that Albert and Herman

still exemplify.

Narrator: The panther tier
had brought the Angola three

together for the first time.

But it would not be for long.

In the summer of
1971, Robert king

was left alone in parish
prison, because Albert

woodfox and Herman Wallace were
sent down a different road.

There was no doubt that
they was Angola bound.

Angola bound now.

Angola bound.

Angola bound now.

Angola bound.

I got lucky last summer
when I done my time.

Angola bound.

Well, my partner
got 100, I got 99.

Angola bound.

You been a long time coming,
but you're welcome home.

Angola bound.

Angola, Louisiana,
get your burdens on.

Angola bound.

Oh, captain...

Lloyd hoyle: The
security of the prison

was in the hands of convicts.

They actually supervised
the farm lines where...

Where they had cotton, and corn,

and sugarcane, and so forth.

They actually positioned
these convicts out around...

With guns...

Around hundreds of inmates.

Mwalimu Johnson: They
are prison guards

that were, in fact, involved
with homosexuals inside Angola.

They would give
individuals to selected

puppets of theirs who would
obey their every Beck and call.

So who are the good guys,
and who are the bad guys?

Harry Lucas: Once
you enter Angola,

if you wasn't made of a certain,

you would be turn out... we
call it turn out, meaning rape.

Some was raped violently.

Some was killed in the
process of... of being raped.

And some just submitted to...

When the fresh fish... they
actually called it fresh fish...

That mean new convicts coming...

Grab a couple of them
boys and hold for me.

Inmate: We start from the time
that you go on down the walk.

About a few of the inmates come
out, be looking at you, looking

your way, see you who they
might to claim for the kid

or who they might be might be
able to make pay protection.

Best thing I can
tell you is you're...

You should carry your own
stuff on down the walk.

Because if you don't,
there's a possibility

that, if you do get a
help with your stuff,

that somebody's going
to by about 9 o'clock

at night and fuck in your ass.

Ex-convict: Man's
like me are punch you

in the mouth, ready
front the warden,

knowing that, when we both get
locked up, when we get over

here, I got my paid
card here to put me

and you in the same cell.

And I'm going to
beat your ass again,

between you into submitting.

Inmate: Now, I can't tell
you how you can do your time.

Nobody can tell
you how to do that.

But if you got to fight, fight.

If you got to do whatever
you got to do, do it,

you know if you
want to stay a man.

Ex-convict: And
then naturally, you

arm yourself up, just
something like this,

wrapping your arm up.

And when you come out
there starting war,

we going to knife fight.

And as is your...
Whap, whap, whap.

That's that knife... whap, whap.

Extremely dangerous.

There were some very
bad people there.

They did not have the facilities
to isolate the troublemakers.

It was a terrible,
terrible place.

Robert king: Herman and Albert,
they went to Angola at a time

when Angola was considered the
bloodiest prison in the nation.

And they were the two
who extended the new

Orleans chapter of the
black panther party

into a territory that...

That really was alien.

The first thing they
did, they wanted

to organize a work stoppage
for better working conditions.

And they want to
stop the violence

that existed among the inmates.

And they decided to begin
holding political class,

teaching inmates,
black and white,

about the politics of prison,
about the politics of America,

and about the politics of
the black panther party.

Man: We want all black brothers
and sisters held in federal,

county, state, city jails
and prisons to be released,

because they have
not had a fair trial.

They've been tried by
all-white juries who

have no understanding of
the average regional man

in the black community.

Robert king: I
think they did good,

because a lot of the... the
raping of other young inmates

stopped, brutality by guards.

And it just went on
vacation for a minute.

But Herman an Albert,
in the process of,

you know, getting this done
along with other inmates,

they became targets.

Lloyd hoyle: I mean, it
was a culture-type thing

more than anything else.

And you had all these
marches going on,

and everything, and
Martin Luther King,

and this type of thing
going on in society.

And then, here we are
trying to integrate a bunch

of hardcore prisoners, see?

Narrator: By the spring
of 1972, the authorities

were struggling to cope.

Increasing outbreaks
of inmate violence

were straining the prison's
resources to breaking point.

Anybody knows that,
if you got 100 men

or better in a dormitory...

And you're lucky if
you got one officer

to put in there on each shift...

That that's no security.

Narrator: One morning in
April, 1972, that lone officer

would be Brent Miller.

This is Brent.

And this was in the
front of our home.

Called that car
the maroon monster.

It was always breaking down.

And this is Christmas...
One Christmas morning...

Brent with my dad and my
little brother, Clint.

And this is me.

He just thought I was just, you
know, a spicy, little coon ass.

But I was buried at 16,
but, um, a widow at 17.

That day, I think I dropped him
off at work about 6:00 or 6:30.

And then I went home.

And then I went to school.

And while I was at
school, my sister,

she came in with
someone with the prison

to tell me that he
had been killed.

And then we went back home.

And it was chaos.

That's how I found out.

Anne Butler: They'd staged, kind
of, a strike in the cafeteria,

which pulled some of the
correctional officers off

of the walk, leaving Brad Miller
totally alone with, you know,

hundreds of inmates to watch.

Whenever ever the convicts
go to the mess hall,

you lock the damn door, and you
stand out on the hall, visible.

You don't sit in a dormitory
and drink coffee with your back

to the door.

Anne Butler: He really
should not have been there.

He should have been the
one taking the people

to eat in the cafeteria
and going to help

with the disturbance there.

But he had gone into one of the
dormitories, and sat on a cot,

and was having coffee with
this elderly black inmate.

And that's when the...

The killing happened.

That was like a
slaughterhouse in there.

Narrator: Brent Miller
was stabbed 32 times

and left to die in
a pool of blood.

Teenie verret: It
was really bad.

It was hard to talk about that.

But, um, I can remember
being in our room,

and the priest coming.

And they wanted me to
go to Mrs. Miller's.

And it was just...

It was crazy.

It was just crazy.

There's so much in
and outs, you know?

But...

Man: Now, when you have
a killing like that,

you have to interview
every prisoner down there.

Narrator: After just two
days of investigation,

four leading black militants,
including Herman and Albert,

were accused of the murder.

The case against one of the four
collapsed when it was revealed

that he had been
inserted into the case

by those within the prison
administration determined

to discredit the black panthers.

He had nothing to do
with the crime at all.

Witnesses placed him
in other locations

at the time of the killing.

Narrator: And in a
dramatic turn of events,

another defendant,
Chester Jackson,

admitted to holding
Miller during the murder.

It's not a one-man deal,
Chester Jackson, with that boy,

as far as I'm concerned.

There were two or more of
them until they subdued him

enough where he was immobile.

In my mind... and I got 40 years
of experience around convicts...

Those three men
murdered that boy.

Narrator: Chester Jackson turned
state's evidence mid-trial

in return for accepting the
lesser plea of manslaughter,

and that left Albert woodfox
and Herman Wallace facing

the prospect of conviction
for the gravest of crimes,

the murder of a prison guard.

The nearest town to Angola
is the historic community

of St. francisville, and
it was here in may 1972

that they were
committed for trial

by a grand jury drawn from the
still grieving local populace.

He said, where
the black people is?

I was curious myself.

Was all white jury.

Not one black person was on it.

So the judge told him,
get him out of here.

Get him out.

I stood up.

I said, listen.

And Herman, when
he was pulling him,

he had his hand peace and power.

He said, take care.

Ok.

I couldn't attend any trials.

And I was afraid I'd
see something I didn't

want to see, you know, I just...

I just couldn't do it.

I didn't want no part of it.

Vicky Wallace: I got up
and I turned around to them

people in the back who they
say my brother killed, I said,

how in the hell you all
going to say my brother

killed Joe's son.

My brother ain't not murderer.

He ain't never killed
nobody in his life.

And my mama said,
shut up, Vicky.

I said, mother, I'm
not going to shut

up because they got it wrong.

Lloyd hoyle: In my mind,
I mean I'm 81.

I'd go to my grave
knowing that those people

were the perpetrators.

Period.

No question in my mind.

Teenie verret: I
was glad, you know.

I've trusted that they
had the right people.

I trusted everything.

And I totally wholeheartedly
believed that they

had the ones that killed him.

Narrator: Herman and Albert
were sentenced to life.

And for them, the
Angola administration

added their own
special punishment,

solitary confinement in closed
cell restriction, or ccr.

Revd.

John: Where the cells in ccr
where, them cells would make

you lose your mind, make you
go crazy, if you ain't strong,

you know?

Because being locked up...

A dog don't want to be locked
up 24 hours a day, you know?

A dog wants some freedom too.

I cut myself here, and I cut
myself here trying to get

out them cells to the hospital.

Narrator: Prisoners
were only supposed to be

locked up in ccr temporarily.

In theory, it was
while they were

deemed to be a
danger to themselves

or to other prisoners.

But the Angola
authorities simply

signed the forms every 90 days.

And Herman and
Albert were trapped.

They began a life
in isolation that

was to last more than 40 years.

Decades passed, and long after
they should have been released

from their original
sentences, Herman

and Albert remain
in Angola because

of the murder of Brent Miller.

It wasn't until the 1990s that
a new generation of lawyers

emerged, prepared to take
a fresh look at their case.

Scott Fleming: Soon
as I became a lawyer,

they were my first clients.

At that point, with the
exception of their families

and maybe a couple of friends,
nobody in the outside world

even knew that they existed.

Nick trenticosta: First file
I read was Herman's trial.

And I looked at it,
and said, you know,

this doesn't look like
a solid conviction.

And then I read Albert's trial.

And Albert's trial, to me, was
obfuscation after obfuscation.

The prosecution was
trying to paint him

as a racist radical
hell-bent on overthrowing

the United States government.

I mean, it was that
flavor of his trial

that told me, wait a minute.

Where's the proof?

You can throw out a lot of
innuendo and a lot of rhetoric,

but where's the proof?

Scott Fleming: One
of the witnesses

who testified against
Albert was a prisoner

by the name of Paul fobb.

Paul fobb's testimony
is totally improbable.

He testified that on the
morning of the murder

he saw Albert woodfox
walk into the dormitory.

Now, we know based on
his medical records,

that he was so
blind, he couldn't

have recognized anybody
walking into the dormitory.

But this man testified for
the state at a murder trial.

The proof was boiled
down to really one person,

a man named Hezekiah brown.

Hezekiah first told the
investigators at the prison

that he didn't know
anything about the murder.

A few days later, he's dragged
from his bed at midnight,

put under the bright
lights of interrogation,

and told if you help
us crack the case,

we will get you your freedom.

At that point, he said it
was Wallace and woodfox.

Narrator: Local author, Anne
Butler's research recordings

provided evidence
of just how pliable

Hezekiah brown could be.

Scott Fleming: Immediately
after he gave the authorities

information he was transferred
to the most minimum security

part of the prison.

He was given a private house
of his own on prison grounds.

And on the orders
of the warden, he

was given a carton of cigarettes
every week by the state.

A carton of cigarettes
in prison is currency.

Nick trenticosta: Obviously
though the reward of freedom

is everything to
a life prisoner.

Scott Fleming: And
eventually he was released,

and he died a free man.

Narrator: After decades of
fighting their convictions

from their cells,
in 1992, Albert

won an appeal which
forced prosecutors

to present his case
to a new grand jury

back in the St.
Francisville courthouse.

And despite the fact she had
already written about the case,

Anne Butler was chosen as the
chairperson of the grand jury.

Anne Butler: I had
already written this book

I had extensively researched
it, knew a lot about the case,

and asked to be excused.

But the district attorney
felt differently and insisted

that I stay on the grand jury.

This is an unusual
judicial district

because people in the jury
pool are employed at Angola

or married to people at Angola.

So it's hard to
get a jury that's

totally uninvolved with Angola.

Narrator: Anne Butler and
the St. francisville jurors

were asked once again to
consider whether Hezekiah

brown was a credible witness.

Anne Butler: Hezekiah
was very credible.

He convinced the
entire grand jury.

Nick trenticosta: Years later,
documents show he was promised

freedom for his testimony.

Narrator: The co-author
of Anne Butler's book

was her then husband, Murray
Henderson, warden of Angola

at the time of the murder, the
same man who had campaigned so

vigorously for Hezekiah
brown's release,

and one of the key
people in charge

of the original investigation.

But that investigation
seem prepared to discard

a dramatic piece of evidence
found close to Miller's body.

Teenie verret:
What really got me

was that this one fingerprint...

I mean, they have all
these inmates in there

and I'm sure all
their fingerprints on.

I mean, they're
not going nowhere.

You know, why couldn't they
find out who that belonged to?

When you have a murder case
that had a very bloody crime

scene and you have a bloody
fingerprint right next

to the body of the victim,
that's a obviously very

important piece of evidence.

And when you have this
murder scene happen

to be inside a prison, which
is a unique environment

because everybody there
has been fingerprinted,

that seems to me to be the
key to solving the murder.

And in this case, the state
didn't try to find out who left

this bloody fingerprint behind.

They established that this
bloody fingerprint didn't

belong to Albert woodfox
or Herman Wallace

or anybody else who was
suspected of the murder.

But they never took
the steps to just try

to find out who it belong
to, which seems to me

just beyond incompetent.

It seems malicious.

Narrator: The authorities
were convinced

that the murder of
a white prison guard

had been the result of a
black militant conspiracy.

Just two weeks after
Miller's killing,

as part of the roundup
of black radicals,

Robert king was brought to
Angola from New Orleans.

I was 150 miles away from Angola

and hadn't been in Angola for
six months prior to his death.

Had never met the
man in my life,

but I was investigated for that.

The fact is that I was a member
of the black panther party,

and they saw me as being some
kind of forward conspirator.

And from there, they
determined that I would be sent

to ccr where Herman and Albert
was, along with other members

of the black panther party whom
they had scooped up en masse

and had placed in cells
around the prison.

They told me I was
being investigated

for a death of Brent Miller.

I said, why am I being inves...

I said, I wasn't even in Angola.

You know?

And nevertheless,
that's what it was.

I was being investigated.

I was under investigation from
1972 when they put me in ccr

until the time I was released.

Malik rahim: He was
in ccr for a murder

that they knew he
couldn't have commit.

Under investigation.

Because he wound up doing
all 29 years in solitary

under investigation...

What investigation
take 29 years?

Narrator: There was
never any evidence

of Robert's involvement
in Miller's murder,

but the Angola authorities soon
found another reason to keep

him in solitary confinement.

An inmate was
murdered in a knife

fight on Robert's ccr tier.

Robert king: The
opened up all of the cells

and let everybody out to shower.

This is how everybody was
out in the hall that morning.

Narrator: One prisoner
called Grady brewer admitted

this killing in
self-defense, but Robert

was also held responsible.

They saw an opportunity to
inject me, insert me into it.

Despite the fact that the
coroner's report stated

that blood was found
only on one of the knives

that they have found.

And my fingerprint
wasn't on nothing.

No blood was ever found on
any piece of clothing of mind.

On the other hand, the
shirt that Grady had on...

And he wasn't trying to
hide it... was drenched

in blood because, you
know, he admitted he

had killed him in self-defense.

Nevertheless, they got
someone to say that I

had also participated in.

So I was charged
with the murder,

and we went to trial jointly.

Narrator: Like Herman
and Albert before him,

Robert found himself in the
St. francisville courthouse.

Robert king: A trial date was
about to be set without our

having even talk
to the attorneys

that they had appointed to us.

Grady was more
outspoken than I was.

And the judge, you
know, he kept telling...

Your honor, I don't want to go
to trial with these lawyers.

They can't protect me.

They can't defend me.

They haven't even
heard, you know.

I chimed in also.

They don't know
anything about the case,

and Grady kept talking.

And I think the judge
sort of said, shut up.

I'm talking!

And he said, but your
honor, I need a lawyer.

I can't stand to be.

And the judge said, one
more word out of you,

and I got something for you.

And well, Grady, he said,
I don't open my mouth.

But you got it.

I don't say one more word.

And at that, the judge
called to sheriff

and said, bound him and gag him.

And we sat there, had duct
tape over our mouths, shackled,

and our hands was
handcuffed behind our back.

And I was convicted.

Narrator: And so Robert
again disappeared back

into the depths of Angola
alongside Albert and hermann

in solitary confinement.

Congressman John
conyers: The court never

said that these men
will be sentenced

to solitary
confinement for life.

That wasn't the sentence.

Yes, people that transgress
the law must be punished,

but there is a humane
consideration in how

that punishment is exacted.

Narrator: Every 90 days
their status was reviewed,

but the administration always
insisted that they were

a threat to the general
prison population

and kept them in
solitary confinement.

Nick trenticosta: It doesn't
take but a few years for one

to begin "losing their mind."

Our clients are extraordinary.

They have kept
their minds active.

They have studied.

They've enrolled
in college courses.

Something to keep
their mind active.

Robert king: They didn't allow
us to be in the same cell.

So we were in different cells.

So we called our spots out.

We would say pawn to..

The pawn were easy.

The rooks was
relatively, with a nice...

Sometimes they fall.

We used to take toothpaste...
We were allowed to have

toothpaste and toothbrush...

And we would take toilet paper...

And for instance,
like these squares,

we used to take and
glue this together

and we'd take toothpaste
and glue it to the floor.

And we did 64 of them.

And then we make the chessboard
out the toilet paper.

Over the years, I spent quite
a few hours playing chess

but still get kind
of tested sometimes.

I could beat Albert
on the chessboard,

but Herman was kind
of more difficult.

Narrator: By 1996,
Robert Herman and Albert

should all have been released
from their original sentences

for robbery.

Instead, years passed
with the Angola 3 still

languishing in
solitary confinement,

unnoticed by all but a few.

Malik rahim: I hadn't made
contact with Herman or Albert,

and I had to honor commitments.

And my commitment to
them was that I would

never allow people to forget.

You know, and so with that, we
started a support committee.

Narrator: But the authorities
had an answer for the defiance

of the Angola 3.

Malik rahim: One
of the things they

used to keep inmates
in line is the threat

the sentiment of ccr.

But then inside
ccr, there's a hole.

There's a hole within the hole.

That hole is called camp j.

It was a situation
that a person really

needed every ounce of
whatever it takes to survive,

whatever wit.

You know?

And some people
managed to do that.

Narrator: Even with the
threat of being sent

to the dungeons of camp
j, the Angola 3 continue

to demand basic human rights.

They became prison litigators.

They were suing the penitentiary
on all kinds of issues.

They became
extraordinary lawyers.

They did their best to stop us.

Several times, they
kind of spread us out

and put us in different places.

But I think they kind of
realized that in doing that,

they wasn't doing nothing
but maybe distributing

what they wanted to contain.

So they decided to keep
us all in one place.

I remember I used to determine
how wide the cell was

by the outstretch of my arm.

And I barely really make
both hands touch the wall.

You know, I look at the cell...

Six by nine by 12.

One, two, three, four.

Walk to the left.

And then I would
walk to the right.

You'd be surprised how long
it takes to do 5,000 steps.

You're just trying to get
out of the space, you know,

that you have.

Become part of your habitat.

But, yeah.

This cell here... it's
not an exact replica.

But hey, this is about as close
as you could get using wood.

You know?

Some guy's got fancy.

They'd begin to put drawings
on in there and color it up.

Put the tablecloth on there.

And so they thought
we were having fun.

Then they decided to come over
and cut the holes in the bars.

Narrator: The Angola 3's
struggle for prisoner rights

came from their belief in
the black panthers' demands

that African-Americans be
treated as equal human beings.

They insist modern
America should live

up to its founding principles.

Bobby seale: We
just want the courts

to make sure we have
peers on the jury, people

from the black
community, as defined

by their jive constitution of
the so-called United States.

Robert king: The black panthers
believed in the constitution.

The constitution states
that a person shall be tried

by the jury of their peers.

And there were no black
people in this country

who were ever tried by their
peers at that particular time.

So we want them to be free.

Narrator: In the year
2000, Robert's new lawyer

was able to use the
panthers' demand

for representative juries
to get his case reopened.

The courts found that,
like Herman and Albert,

Robert's conviction rested on
unreliable inmate testimony

and was judged unsound.

The words are beautiful.

Narrator: It had taken 29 years.

Chris aberle: A
negotiation was had.

They said, well, we'll go in to
the state court, where we are

now, and we will
say his conviction

should be reversed if he pleads
guilty now to a lesser crime.

That way they get a conviction,
and he gets to go out.

It's not the exoneration
or the vindication

he wanted, but freedom.

I guess the last time I
was coming up these stairs,

I came up with two security
guards, one on both sides.

He said the state had told him

that if I was willing to
plead guilty to accessory

after the fact that I would
be released and walk out.

And I thought about it
and thought about it.

And it donned on me that well,
pleading guilty to accessory

they could have charged anybody
with that, any of the 13 people

who resided on the
tier at the time

because we all know
somebody had been killed.

And so this was the
reason why I..

No problem.

I'll accept that plea.

That's when I had
to break the news

that they'd changed the plea
from accessory to a conspiracy.

Conspiracy, yeah.

Then I came out here
and told you about it.

And as I recall, your first
instinct was not to accept it.

I went back in an
told the da no deal.

I came back, and I think we said
goodbye right here at the door.

What they were saying
was really tempting.

And the fact of my getting
out after 31 years,

it was so appealing.

But at the same time, you
know, it's not getting out.

It's just how you get out.

I was thinking about this.

Chris aberle: Well, you
wanted a vindication.

Right.

Chris aberle: And it
was my first case,

and I wanted to out right win.

And then we got
into the real world,

and the state
didn't want to take

a chance of losing out right.

And we didn't want to take a
chance of you standing in jail

for the rest of your life.

Well, like I said,
you know, I guess time

and history will
determine whether or not

the right decision was made.

I think being
out of jail an hour

and a half later was the
proof enough that you

made the right decision.

Yeah.

I went on home.

And the judge... you know, you
have to raise your right hand

and tell the truth.

I needed to defy, and I
knew I needed to defy.

So when he asked me
to raise my right hand

that I was telling the
truth, I raised my left hand.

Nobody, none of my
supporters at court saw it.

But the district attorney
saw it, and he looked at me.

But he didn't say anything.

The juries didn't notice it.

And in a way, I was
kind of glad because it

really would have been a...

May have been an
embarrassing situation.

And then maybe not
have turned out

the way it did because I
probably would have continued

to raise my left hand.

Walked down.

They was still in St.
Francisville courthouse.

And they congratulate me and
they will be..

So when the officer called
me, told me to get your stuff.

You're going.

I thought he was really
joking, you know?

He said, no.
He said, you going home.

You ready to go?

You ready to go
there, old soldier?

That's what the officer said.

I said, of course
I'm ready to go home.

He said, well, you're
going home right now.

You're not going home tomorrow.

He was the officer
that was pretty cool.

He said, well, I'm
going to let you holler

at your buddies.

It was difficult
because when I walk out,

I would like to have walk
out with Herman and Albert,

which I know it
was not possible.

But I think I walked
out with a purpose.

It was then and
there that I made

a determination that I would be
a Thorn in the flesh of Angola.

I would throw all kind of
monkey wrenches in the machine.

And I'm still.

I'm free free from Angola,
but Angola isn't free of me.

And when I walked out that day,
the cheers

just went up, you know.

Everybody was
hollering and cheering.

I see all these people and more
who had been to the courthouse.

We pull on away from
Angola, and I guess

I've been moving ever since.

I may be free of
Angola, but Angola

will never be free of me.

Narrator: When body shop
founder Anita roddick heard

about Robert's release in
the Angola support committee,

she visited Albert.

Her backing helped
bring their campaign

to worldwide attention.

Reporter: Despite the
compelling evidence

of a terrible
miscarriage of justice,

Wallace and woodfox
remain behind bars

here in solitary confinement
now for 34 years.

Robert king: If
there is any case

that requires some type
of judicial scrutiny,

it is this case.

Cedric Richmond: Today I'm
announcing that the judiciary

committee in the house
of representatives

will hold hearings on what is
commonly known as the Angola 3.

Robert king who's
to the left of me

served 29 years in
solitary confinement

in Angola for a crime
that he did not commit.

However, there are two gentlemen
that are still in Angola

with two weeks shy of 36
years in solitary confinement

for a crime that they most
likely did not commit,

which is why we're here today.

You have to be kidding.

Solitary confinement
for almost 36 years?

That's just wrong.

I mean, by any stretch of the
imagination, it's just wrong.

So I realized, once
again, we'd look

like a backwards state doing
something inhumane to people.

So I got involved, and
I said how can I help.

Narrator: In march
2008, Cedric Richmond

visited Herman and Albert in
ccr and he brought a colleague

from Washington with him.

Congressman John conyers:
I was at Angola prison.

Those of us who were there
had the most animated,

thoughtful,
intelligent discussion.

These people, their
spirit isn't broken.

I want to pledge
to you the secure...

The release of those
two incredibly brave men

who withstood the
terror and oppression

of the failed criminal
justice system in our society.

Cedric Richmond: It was days
after congressman conyers

and myself visited Angola that
Herman and Albert were released

from solitary confinement.

I don't even think
it was a week.

They released them and put them
in a dormitory style setting.

Congressman John conyers:
There's only one chairman

of the house judiciary
committee I presume that may

have had some effect upon them.

They knew I wasn't down there to
get a front seat for the rodeo.

Scott Fleming: Well, on
September 11, 2008, judge Brady

of the federal
court in Baton Rouge

overturned Albert's conviction.

Reporter: This is just
the latest in the saga

concerning the Angola 3.

A federal judge,
James Brady, says

Louisiana must release
Albert woodfox on bail

or drop the charges.

Reporter: Woodfox's attorneys
say he'll leave Angola once he

finds a suitable place to live.

Many supporters believe
the Angola 3 were framed

for their political activism.

Narrator: A few weeks later,
Albert was taken out of Angola,

but he wasn't being released.

He was sent 250 miles
north to a new prison

while Herman was sent 100
miles south to the hunt

correctional
facility, both thrown

back into solitary confinement.

The man responsible for the
fate of the Angola 3 and the man

convinced they should stay
in jail for the 1972 murder

is Louisiana attorney
general buddy Caldwell.

Buddy Caldwell:
The real issue is

was Hezekiah brown and
the other witnesses,

were they telling the truth
and did a jury believe them?

And that is where the
rubber meets the road.

So that's why I stress we're
looking at a technical argument

as to whether you want to
technically get somebody

off and exclude Hezekiah
brown's testimony,

which is important eyewitness
testimony, some 30 years later.

That's the remaining
issue that we have.

You have a federal court
here that said Albert's right

to counsel was violated, that
his right to due process was

violated, that his right to
cross-examine the witnesses

against him was
violated, and those

aren't mere technicalities.

Those are core
constitutional rights.

I would say the jury
is charged in every case

to look at the credibility.

They can take all or some or
part of what a witness says

and judge that to be a truth
and put it in perspective.

Well, the jury system
is a great system,

but it only works
when the jury has

all of the relevant
evidence in front of them.

And in a case like this, when
the state has a continuing

pattern of hiding
important evidence,

it's impossible for the jury
to render a meaningful decision

because they don't know that
withesses have been bribed.

They don't know that witnesses
have changed their stories.

I feel good about this record
and that it is a good record.

We'll have to address the
legal issues in court.

Narrator: But while the
state prepared to appeal,

Caldwell faced the prospect of
Albert leaving prison on bail.

The judge was quite impressed,
I think, with our evidence.

I think he's inclined
to release Albert.

The state wants to say Albert
is a danger to society.

I don't think it's going to
impress the judge one bit.

Reporter: A former black panther
could be spending even more

time in jail thanks
to aggravated rape

and armed robbery charges
dating back four decades.

Now Attorney General
buddy Caldwell

says he will pursue six
aggravated rape cases and six

counts of armed
robbery if woodfox

is released before a retrial
on the murder charge.

The prosecution never
charged Albert with a rape

because the women who
were raped did not

identify Albert as the rapist.

But of course attorney
general Caldwell

didn't explain that to people.

The fact that Albert was
a black panther at Angola

in 1972, the fact that he was
trying to reform the prison...

What Albert was
doing at that time

was messing with the status quo.

And we don't let our black
men do that in this country.

Narrator: Albert's bail
application was abandoned

in a climate of racial tension.

When a white man
stands up and says

this black man is a rapist,
these are words that

go back for hundreds of years.

This has always been a
tactic used by racist

to discredit black men.

Narrator: While Herman
and Albert attempted

to get their
convictions overturned,

the Angola 3 began
a civil lawsuit

to challenge the
legality of their

prolonged solitary confinement.

They see their fight as being
something that of course they

had to fight and that
they weren't doing

on their own behalf,
that they are

fighting for all of the people
in solitary confinement.

Buddy Caldwell: The
danger in a case like this

is after 30 years, all
the witnesses start dying.

So if you can outlast them,
maybe you can go free.

They are playing for
time hoping each man dies,

and they will not have
to face these charges.

And that's what this lawsuit is.

It is charging the government
with illegal conduct.

Narrator: The state was adamant
that regardless of Herman

and Albert's
treatment in prison,

they were still guilty of
the murder of Brent Miller.

And so despite the
federal judge's ruling,

buddy Caldwell refused
to release Albert.

He was determined to get
the conviction reinstated.

The only place in
Louisiana which

could empower him to do
so was the 5th circuit

court of appeals.

It's very easy to
say I'm tough on crime

and if it's the last thing
I do, I'm going to make sure

that that prison guard killer,
that cop killer essentially,

stays locked up for the rest of
his life, that gets you votes.

It's wrong.

It's not at all accurate.

It doesn't reflect
what he's doing

or who he's
supposedly protecting

the state of Louisiana from,
but it makes for good politics.

Narrator: The attorney
general persuaded

the appeals court to
reinstate Albert's conviction.

Once again, the criminal
justice system closed its doors

and Albert was sent back
into solitary confinement.

Even if for a
second we assume that

Albert did what he was convicted
of... and that's a big if...

But if for a minute we assume he
did that, our experts have told

the state over and over
again what you're doing

doesn't make sense even then
because it's been decades

since the alleged crime.

And it's been decades of good
behavior, decades of no problem

within the prison system.

And so at this
point, it really is

just cruel and unusual treatment
that doesn't make sense.

The prison is no safer because
we keep Albert woodfox locked

in a cell 23 hours a day.

If anything, we're
diverting resources

to somebody who doesn't need
that level of supervision

away from some folks who maybe
need it a little bit more.

Congressman John conyers: Their
cases are the classic example

of why we must reduce
or end the overuse

of solitary confinement.

But no question about it
that they are very important.

Scott Fleming: Long-term
solitary confinement

has become a regularized
practice in American prisons.

And Albert and Herman may be the
leading edge of this practice,

but there are
thousands of prisoners

now in every state who've
been in solitary confinement

for five, 10, 15, or more years.

It could be as high as
over 100,000 people a day

in solitary confinement,
and that's just

a number that's far too high.

But this is just
something we ought not do.

Narrator: The campaign against
Louisiana's treatment of Herman

and Albert had brought the wider
issue of solitary confinement

into the limelight, both
in Washington and abroad.

By 2013, the case
of the Angola 3

was becoming an
international scandal.

For amnesty international,
it is deeply shocking

to know that there are two men
who have spent almost 40 years,

practically every day of that 40
years, in solitary confinement.

And I think that when the us
behaves like this, when it

treats people in its
prison system in this way,

it demeans itself in front
of the rest of the world.

Mr. woodfox is being
held in conditions

that amount to cruel, inhuman,
and degrading treatment

at least, if not torture.

There's no question that his
conditions inflict on him

the kind of pain and
suffering of a mental nature

that is associated with torture,
and I think that should stop.

Automated phone
operator: You have

15 seconds left on this call.

Man: In early 2013, Herman
began losing weight.

And I was visiting with
him, and I couldn't

believe who I was seeing.

It was clear to all of
us working on his case

that Herman has some
serious illness here,

and it's not being
treated properly.

When we got his medical
records and we intervened

with the doctors
at the prison, they

sent him to lsu medical
school where he was

diagnosed with liver cancer.

And the tumor on his liver was
the size of a small baguette.

What was happening is the
doctor was completely neglecting

Herman and his health issues.

Cedric Richmond: In
between hospital visits,

they send you back to solitary.

When you're that old,
you're that sick,

you really don't pose
a threat to anybody.

So there was no purpose
behind him being

in solitary confinement except
that it's something personal

with the department and him.

Narrator: And it was
precisely treatment like this

that made the
Angola 3 determined

to bring their civil case
against the state to court even

with Herman now gravely ill.

Katherine kimpel: Because
Herman and Robert and Albert

all are plaintiffs
together in the case,

they have a right
to meet together

to plan their litigation.

And the court had granted
that right over the objections

of the state, of course.

On October 1st, we were
on our way to the prison

when we got word
that he had won.

The federal judge
reversed Herman's conviction

and ordered his immediate
release from the prison.

Katherine kimpel.:
It was Carine driving.

She was so excited, she
almost drove us off the road.

I was sitting in the front seat.

Robert was sitting
in the back seat.

Robert king: We
went on in to visit,

and we had the pleasure
of telling him.

He thought when Albert
said that, going home.

He said, what?

You going home?

Because he pointed at Albert.

And Albert said, no.

You're going home.

Katherine kimpel: It was a
beautiful time to be there

with Robert and with Albert.

Herman was very, very weak,
but he came sort of in and out

of being fully present with us.

He definitely knew
what was happening.

Yeah.

We have a court order
that says he needs

to be released immediately.

And the prison would not release

Herman although the
federal court said

you shall release him today.

Katherine kimpel: We had an
ambulance come at one point,

and the state turned it away.

We told Herman to
hang on because we

were going to get him out.

We petitioned the
federal judge again.

And Carine and I immediately
went to the courthouse

to let them know that the
prison wasn't complying

and wasn't letting him go.

We actually got
to the courthouse

just before it was closing.

And the security guard said,
what are you guys doing here?

Don't you know
everybody's leaving?

It's time to close
up for the night.

And we said, no. No.

No.

You have to let
us because we want

to be able to argue directly
to the judge in person

if we need to.

At 3 or 4 o'clock in
the day, the federal judge

issued another ruling and
said if he's not released now,

I will hold all of the prison
officials in contempt of court

with possible jail sentences.

And the judge told us he wasn't

going to leave his chambers.

He was going to
stay in his chambers

and wait until he knew
Herman was a free man.

So we got back in the car,
started racing back to hunt.

Carine was calling the
ambulance on her phone.

I was calling the lawyers who
represent the warden at hunt

to let them know it would be a
really bad idea to not follow

the court's instructions.

Then she and I are
handing to the warden the

printed out order that
they were to let Herman go.

And finally just as
the sun was setting,

the warden came and told us, ok.

He's going to be able to go.

The sunset was this beautiful
purple and pink and orange sky,

and it was just like heaven
was putting on a show.

It was a great night.

Mr. Wallace is gravely ill.

I've been told he hadn't
spoken more than two

words in the last three days.

He had quite a few words for
us this morning, including

wow, including this is good.

He asked us what are the
chances he would be released

in time before he passed away.

We didn't know.

So it will be great to see
him come out of those gates

right there.

It's bittersweet
knowing that he's

been incarcerated this long, but
there is some comfort in that.

It was very important
to Mr. Wallace

that he die on free soil.

After 41 years of being told you

committed a crime of which we
know he didn't and 41 years

solitary confinement,
Herman Wallace

is going to roll down
the highway a free man.

There is nothing that
compares to that,

but I knew his days were short.

And so it wasn't all joy.

We'll take good
care of you, buddy.

Everybody's smiling.

Everybody is smiling, yes.

And you're smiling.

Both of you guys with a smile.

I'm going to see you
soon in New Orleans.

Reporter: Supporters in new
Orleans cheer the release

of Herman Wallace
of the Angola 3,

freed after serving nearly 42
years in solitary confinement,

longer than any other
prisoner in the United States.

Supporters say he is near death.

It wasn't in vain.

It wasn't... the
sacrifices that he made,

the travails that
he went through,

the disappointments
that he probably got,

him not getting out.

And I really was looking
forward to him getting out.

Yeah.

But... anyway...

Cedric Richmond: It was
a long, long effort.

And I think that once Herman
was released a free man,

I think that's what he was
fighting for all that time.

And he was at
peace with himself.

And he maintains his
innocence to the end.

And I think that, for him,
he had won that fight.

Malik rahim: What happened
to Herman is a tragedy.

It's a tragedy that this state
after viewing all the evidence,

after seeing the support
that this man had been

able to acquire globally,
after reading amnesty's report

for their release,
it was a tragedy

that this man be released just
three days before he died.

They done sucked all
the life out of him.

That was the worst
part of his death.

That was the tragedy
of his death.

The greatness of his death...

Herman died one block
from where he was raised.

He was able to,
upon his release, go

back to his old neighborhood.

Go back to one block
from the church

where he got baptized in, a
half a block from my house

that he was raised in.

He was back in his
neighborhood when he died.

And he died in a way that they
cannot ever again say that he

was a racist because he
died in a home of a white

couple that stood for justice.

Ashley wennerstrom:
Some of the physicians

encouraged us to go
ahead and just check him

into a hospice facility because
they knew he wasn't going

to last much longer,
but ultimately we

decided he'd spent his
entire life in a facility,

in an institution.

And we thought let's
let him die in a home.

So we brought him back here.

And it was funny.

In the many times that
I had always told him

that he was welcome in
my home and he could

stay in the guest bedroom.

He would always just give me
a really hard time about it.

Woman, you ain't putting me
in no damn guest bedroom...

Because he just wanted
the best for himself.

So when we got him set
up, I said, all right.

You know where you are now.

And he just kind of
grumbled, damn guest bedroom.

And just throughout
the next couple days

we had so many
friends and family,

you know, nieces and nephews
that Herman had never

had a chance to meet since
he'd been incarcerated

for so long and friends
that he had been

incarcerated with formerly.

My home has never felt
so filled with love

as it did in those few days.

And, you know, we tried
to make it as pleasant

as we possibly could.

We showed him little
bits of films.

We played music for him.

We read to him.

I had gone out
just before he got

here and got him some flowers.

And so I took out different
individual flowers

and held them up to his nose.

I said, you know, here's a
Lily and you can smell that.

Take some deep breaths.

When my husband woke up
probably about six that morning

and went down to check on him,
and then he came and woke me

up and said, he's gone.

And that was it.

So it was... it was
hard, obviously,

but it was also really, really
lovely and really beautiful.

I never imagined that I
could feel so much joy

while watching your friend die.

It sounds very
strange, but, you know,

I was just so, so relieved
that he was finally free

and in a place
where he was loved

and with people who
cared about him so much.

So we definitely gave
him a good send off.

He has been very instrumental
in shining a light on injustice

in American courts, put a
bright light on the fact

that thousands of
prisoners in this country

are sitting in
solitary confinement.

He let the world know what is
going on in American prisons

today.

Narrator: Herman's passing
was noted in congress

as a fighter against
the injustice of

long-term solitary confinement.

You know, they killed
the man through neglect.

The prison didn't have any
kind of scanning equipment.

A month before Herman left
prison, one of those scanners

was being put into the
hospital at the prison

so they can possibly diagnose
other prisoners properly.

That's a legacy.

Narrator: Herman Wallace died
a free man after 41 years

in solitary confinement.

Narrator: With Robert king
released and Herman Wallace

dead, Albert woodfox was
the last surviving member

of the Angola 3 behind bars.

In 2013, the federal
court in Louisiana

once again judged Albert's
conviction to be unsound,

and again the state
refused to release him.

Forced to wait for yet another
appeal at the fifth circuit

court, Albert was still deemed
a risk to other prisoners

and so was kept in
solitary confinement

where he was subject
to daily humiliations.

Cedric Richmond:
Every time you think

that you're moving forward and
we're making some progress,

they go do something
that's just dumb.

And I think the strip searches
is the best example of how they

just resort to whatever
tactics they want,

even though the court
has ruled almost 30 years

earlier that you can't do that.

This is personal
between the department

of corrections and Albert.

They are going above and
beyond to do outrageous things

to one, humiliate, two, to make
their life just a living hell.

Malik rahim: My biggest fear
is that Albert's released,

everybody's happy,
everybody go away happy,

and then there's
the continuation

of this injustice that
was inflicted on him

is inflicted upon someone else.

And then it take them 40 years.

And then a next one 40 years.

Robert king: We are hoping
that the judge will use

the moral, you know, equation as
well because this case is just,

you know, not just
about legal precept,

and this is what we are
hoping that the judge just

do the right thing.

Narrator: In 2014, despite all
the appeals from the state,

the fifth circuit upheld
the judge's ruling

and unanimously
agreed that Albert's

conviction was unsound.

But buddy Caldwell
was determined

to keep Albert in jail.

He moved him to the prison
in the shadow of the St.

Francisville courthouse
where he was going

to try him for the third time.

Both sides prepared for
another grueling struggle

through the courts.

But in an unprecedented
declaration,

the federal judge
insisted that Albert

had no prospect of a
fair trial and ordered

his immediate release.

Robert king: So, you
know, when you ask why...

What obsession, you know, that
the state has in continuing

this persecution of Albert...

I call it persecution,
not prosecution...

It's because they're trying
to validate their careers.

In order to do that,
they have to make sure

their conviction is secured.

Buddy Caldwell, exactly what

motivates this enemy.

But anyway, I guess I'm
hopeful for Albert's sake.

It could happen.

I feel like it's close...

Or it's getting closer.

How's that?

Narrator: On the
12th of June 2015,

the media gathered
in St. francisville

in expectation of
Albert's release.

Reporter: In a third trial
in connection to the 1972

stabbing death, a brutal
death, of a prison guard,

Brent Miller...

The only outcome that can serve

the interests of law
and justice would be Mr.

Woodfox's immediate release.

Thank you.

Narrator: Although the
fifth circuit had agreed

that Albert's
conviction was unsound,

it decided that
the judge had gone

too far in dismissing the
state's demands to retry him.

Robert king: This says
a lot about America.

America is not just a country.

It is a country that
prides itself, you know,

with evenhanded democracy,
and it has failed.

It's failed in this
particular case.

Albert remains in prison.

Cedric Richmond: Albert's
case highlights all of the bad

that's involved in our system.

It's still my cause.

I'm still going to work every
day to make sure that people

who are wrongly
convicted get out,

that people who are solitary
arbitrarily are out.

And it's bipartisan.

Senator mccain believes that.

I believe that.

President Obama believes that.

Narrator: Then there was
an election for the office

of Louisiana Attorney General.

After a campaign dogged by
accusations of cronyism,

buddy Caldwell's
eight year reign

seemed to be coming to an end.

It doesn't look good now.

I can't say that it looks great,
you know, but at the same time,

I'm not going to concede
something that I haven't lost.

I've had too many juries
stay out for too long.

Cedric Richmond: It
is ironic that he

said that as long as he
was Attorney General,

he would stay in.

Well, Albert outlived that.

Thank you ladies and gentleman.

And the voters of the
state of Louisiana

have made their choice in
the Attorney General's race.

Albert woodfox: Every once
in a while you get lucky,

and I think that's
what happened with me.

Reporter: Now to
some breaking news.

A plea deal will
mean the release

of a man who has been locked
up for more than 40 years.

Albert woodfox, one of the
prisoners known as the Angola

3, celebrated his 69th
birthday by walking out

a Louisiana jail.

Reporter: Albert woodfox
pleaded no contest

this morning to the death
of an Angola prison guard.

Today's plea deal
to a lesser charge

means that woodfox
will be released.

And woodfox has
maintained his innocence

and says he only took the
plea deal because of concerns

about his age and health.

Albert woodfox: It
didn't become real to me

until my brother walked
me through the door,

and I couldn't believe it
because one thing I kept

telling myself, stand tall.

Be proud.

You earned this.

Albert woodfox: First thing
that happened when I took

my first step is one
of my knees buckled,

and my brother grabbed me.

And thankfully, the
car was in the way.

And I was able to sit in
the car with some dignity

rather than just getting
up off the ground.

Reporter: How are you feeling?
Woman: Happy birthday!

We love youl!

Reporter: How do you feel?

Right now, just resigned to
trying to adjust being free.

I'm not allowing myself to
go beyond those thoughts.

It's strange because I
consider myself to be free.

My body may have been held in
captivity, but from the time

I joined the black panther
party, my mind has grown.

You know, I didn't just
survive ccr, I became strong.

Man: Ladies and gentlemen,
Mr. Albert woodfox.

Narrator: Within hours
of being released,

Albert was together again with
his black panther comrades.

Man: Another from Angola 3,

brother Robert.

Narrator: For the first time
in 43 years outside of jail,

Albert was reunited
with Robert king.

What do you plan on
doing now that you're free.

Because of the hard work that
my comrade and best friend king

and all of my comrades on this
stage and my brother have done,

it gives me maybe a
couple of weeks just

to adjust to a cell that's
bigger than six by nine.

But I do promise you this,
as soon as I get my legs,

you will hear from me.

It's difficult to explain how
living with the dreaded debt

for over 40 years,
of what it feels

like, what it smells
like, what it taste like.

But somewhere inside of me, I
knew and I felt that, you know,

they may bend me some.

They may bruise me.

You know, but, they
will never break me.

I've seen it... looked
in too many eyes

and saw what it felt like
to have the spirit broken.

I mean, you break the
spirit, that's the foundation

personal, philosophical.

Once you break that spirit,
you can't get it back.

So, you know, I made a pledge...

All of us did...

That we would
literally die in a cell

if that's what it
took to not be broken.

And that's how we lived
our lives, you know.

If you fight, you might win.

If you give up, there
is sure that you're

going to be defeated.

I don't think any of
us could have made

it without the three of us.

Now, I don't want to
give this Hollywood

illusion of our friendship.

I mean, there were times when
we fought like cats and dogs

over political issues,
personal issues, or whatever.

But it was something
about being able to look

in their eyes and...

And knowing that they

would never break the faith.

And... and my entire lifetime,
both Herman and king

has never broken the faith.

And I think more than
anything, you know,

that we accomplished...

To accomplish a friend
like... friendship like that

is a rarity.

Congressman John
conyers: Well, I

don't know of any
place in the world

where people are held
in solitary confinement

for decades.

China, Russia, the eastern
bloc, dictatorships, nowhere.

The Angola 3 led the
way toward the reduction

and eventual end of the overuse
of solitary confinement.

And the struggle goes on.

It's not over yet.

Albert woodfox: My
life is not going

to be defined by 47 years
of solitary confinement

and cruel, unusual,
inhumane, unconstitutional,

on any -tutional you
can think of treatment.

I don't know exactly
what a 69-year-old man

has to offer society.

But I know what this
69-year-old man has to offer,

and that is a determination
to help those who

can't help themselves
and to protect those

who are too weak to fight.

[Music - man singing Nina
Simone's "I wish I knew

I wish I knew how it
would feel to be free.

I wish I could break all
the chains holding me.

I wish I could say all the
things that I should say.

I'd say them loud,
say them clear,

for the whole round
world to hear.

I wish I could share all
the love that's in my heart.

Remove all the bars
that keep us apart.

I wish you could know
what it means to be me.

Then you'd see and agree that
every man should be free.

Well, I wish I could be
like a bird in the sky.

How sweet it would be if
I found that I could fly.

Oh, I'd soar to the sun
and look down on the sea.

Then I'd sing 'cause I know.

Yes, I'd sing 'cause I know
how it feels to be free.

I wish I knew how it
would feel to be free.

I wish I could break all
the chains holding me.

I wish I could say all the
things that I should say.

Say them loud, say them clear
for the whole damn world

to hear that I know how
it feels to be free.