2/18/09: Angola 3 Louisiana Prison Case

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the late notice this week. We're doing an action on the Angola 3 (referring to Angola Prison in Louisiana) prisoners. Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox, who were convicted of a stabbing murder in Louisiana's Angola Prison while incarcerated there, have been held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day for at least 28 years. The two inmates also helped organize a prison chapter of the Black Panther Party. Since their convictions, additional restrictions have been imposed on their personal property, reading materials, access to legal resources, work and visits.

As the Troy Davis case has also illustrated to us, the criminal justice system in the United States suffers from some serious flaws and unwarranted or cruel and unusual punishments. Please join us to help end this injustice, and for more info on the Angola 3 case, please see this Amnesty USA press release (a bit outdated from 2007, but helpful nonetheless): http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAMR511452007&lang=e.

Also, for those interested, we'll be going to see Milk following the movie. It just opened at Cine downtown and its $5 student ticket night Wednesdays! Dinner beforehand perhaps, too :).

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Other announcements:

-- GFADP Lobby Day is tomorrow (actually today!). If you've got a last minute urge to go (if you hadn't already planned on attending), the program runs 9am-1pm at the State Capital in downtown Atlanta. MARTA would be easiest, as the Georgia State station is very close to the Golden Dome.

-- We continue to work on our film festival to be held at the end of April. This will be a major event held at Cine downtown, with sponsorship from the national Amnesty organization and several organizations on campus. If you'd like to be a part of the planning process let us know ASAP.

-- Elections for officer positions for the upcoming year are scheduled for February 25th. THIS DATE IS SET IN STONE. If you are interested in becoming more involved with Amnesty on campus, please consider inquiring about the positions available! :)

-- African Night 2009 is being held at the Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, February 21, 2009 at 7pm. Tickets may be purchased at the Tate Cashier office, $5 for UGA Students, $10 for Non-UGA Students. For more information contact Joseph Abdallah, President of the African Student Union at jfabdallah@gmail.com or visit www.uga.edu/asu.