The Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal and the Hastings chapter of the National Lawyers Guild are co-hosting a public forum at the UC Hastings College of the Law on Friday examining current solitary confinement practices in light of recent hunger strikes in California prisons.
The event is organized by theInternational Coalition to Free the Angola Three, a human-rights activist group working to bring justice to men from Louisiana they claim were falsely accused of murdering a prison guard in 1972.
Amnesty International released an investigative report last year concluding that there was no physical evidence linking the men to murder, and that “potentially favorable DNA evidence was lost. The convictions were based on questionable inmate testimony…it seems prison officials bribed the main eyewitness into giving statements against the men. ” The Angola Three--Robert H. King, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace--were known members of the Black Panther Movement in the early 70s, which advocates believe led to their false convictions.
Tomorrow's event includes a keynote by King, who was released in 2001 when his conviction was overturned after 29 years of solitary confinement. Two short films will also be featured, including The Gray Box: A Multimedia Investigation and Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
Event information:
Friday, April 6, 2012, 6pm-8pm
UC Hastings College of the Law
Louis B. Mayer Lounge
198 McAllister Street, San Francisco