Today the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the unanimous decision of their own three judge panel and denied Attorney General Buddy Caldwell's request for an "en banc" rehearing of Albert's case. This was the State's last shot to reinstate Albert's third overturned conviction through the US Court of Appeals.
Though we expect they may continue to delay justice with a vain attempt to convince the US Supreme Court to undo decades of solidly established Constitutional law, Judge Brady's original February 2013 decision throwing out Albert's murder conviction stands stronger than ever before and it is now only a matter of time until the State is forced to either release or retry him.
In just over two weeks, on Thursday, February 19th, Albert will turn 68 years old. Though there are still weeks and months yet to go before he is released, he has never been closer to freedom.
Please take a moment to send him a note letting him know that we will continue to fight every day until he is freed--this will be the last birthday he will spend in a solitary cell!
Write Albert:
Albert Woodfox #72148
David Wade Correctional Center
670 Bell Hill Road
Homer, LA 71040
Two local articles in Louisiana were published today about the ruling.
The Times-Picayune wrote:
Attorney General Buddy Caldwell had asked for all of the active judges on the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review the three-judge panel's decision, but the court denied the state's request. Woodfox's attorney George Kendall said of the up to 15 judges, none of them even requested to take a poll to consider if the full panel should review the decision...
Jasmine Heiss, a senior campaigner with Amnesty International USA, said Wednesday with another court decision in favor of Woodfox, she was "distressed to think that the authorities in Louisiana would take any more steps to keep (Woodfox) behind bars. She added, though, that she wouldn't be surprised if the attorney general blocked his release for as long as possible.
"It's time for the state of Louisiana to stop ... ignoring the wisdom of the courts and standing in the way of justice," she said.
The Advocate / Associated Press wrote:
Jasmine Heiss, of Amnesty International USA, said Wednesday the state should give up prosecution of Woodfox, who turns 68 on Feb. 19.
She said Caldwell should stop pursuing expensive appeals in the case. She also called on Gov. Bobby Jindal to get involved.
“We’d like him to ask the attorney general to stop wasting the state’s resources,” Heiss said. Jindal’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Woodfox is being held at Louisiana’s Wade Correctional Center, where, his lawyers say, officials have begun carrying out body cavity searches up to six times a day, despite his being in isolation most of the time. His attorneys are working in state court to end the searches.