Louisiana bad justice revealed in man's solitary confinement of 41 years

 

[caption id="attachment_20523" align="alignleft" width="300"] Inmates in Orleans Parish prison, among the many that house inmates in bad conditions[/caption]

Carol Forsloff----“The case of Herman Wallace is a tragic example of ‘justice’ gone wrong in the USA, and finally a federal court has acknowledged some of the unfairness surrounding this case. However this sadly comes too late for lasting benefit as he is at death’s door with terminal cancer,” said Tessa Murphy, USA Campaigner at Amnesty International, about one of the worst travesties of justice in a Louisiana prison.

A decision has been made to overturn the conviction of a terminally ill man who had been held in a Louisiana jail in isolation for 41 years after a flawed trial.

Murphy further declared, “The state must not now try to block his release.”

Herman Wallace, 71, was placed in solitary confinement in Louisiana State prison following a conviction in 1974 of murdering a prison guard, Brent Miller.

State courts had rejected many of the pleas for justice in the Wallace case, however a technicality of having no women on the jury allowed for the newest decision.

There had been no physical evidence that had linked Wallace to the crime. Furthermore it was learned that the prosecution's key witness received favors that included a pardon for his testimony against Wallace.

Right after the murder conviction, Wallace was placed in a very small cell in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day for more than four decades. During that time he was not allowed access to social interaction, work, education or rehabilitation and was only allowed out of his cell for a total of seven hours weekly.

Only one other person, according to Amnesty International, has been held under such inhumane conditions in the United States. 

Since 1972 the prison appeals board had turned down Wallace's appeals more than 160 times. This was found to have failed due process standards requiring his behavior to be re-evaluated at regular times to determine if he still needed to be in prison.

Louisiana, according to crime and justice statistics, has the highest rate of imprisonment per capita than any other state in the nation.

Update:  Henry Wallace died three days after he was released from prison and 41 years of confinement.