Robert King, Albert Woodfox, and Herman Wallace are three black men who have served time at Angola. Robert King has been in solitary confinement for over twenty-nine years because he allegedly stabbed and killed a white prison guard in the 1970’s. All evidence in the case, however, reveals that King likely had nothing to do with the attack. King started a chapter of the Black Panthers at Angola shortly before the stabbing, and he claims that the prison administration pinned the murder on him in order to get him away from other prisoners who may have been interested in joining the chapter. A bloody fingerprint was found on scene that the prison refused to run through their fingerprint database, which includes fingerprints of all the prisoners. The widow of the prison guard even questions if King is the culprit. The only “witness” to the incident was a serial rapist who was given a carton of cigarettes a week after he told the prison that King stabbed the guard. Overall, King and his supporters claim that the prison is racist, discriminatory against blacks, and quick to deal out cruel and unusual punishments.
Sources:
“The Angola Three: Torture in Our Own Backyard.” http://www.alternet.org/rights/139222/the_angola_three:_torture_in_our_own_backyard/
“The Angola Three: Guilty of Practicing ‘Black Pantherism’ Cruel and unusual punishment at a modern-day slave plantation.” http://defenestrator.org/angola_3
Student Researchers: Shannon Cree, Anna Kung, Delana Colvin
Faculty Instructor: Kevin Howley, Associate Professor of Media Studies, DePauw University
Evaluator: Jo MacPhail, Part-time Instruction and Reference Librarian, DePauw University