As a teenager, Albert Woodfox had his first encounter with the criminal justice system. After being sentenced to prison for robbery, he would go on to spend more than 40 years of his life in solitary confinement.
Woodfox is the recipient of the 2020 Stowe Prize, which is awarded to books that illuminate a critical social justice issue in our society.
We hear about his experience surviving solitary in the Louisiana State Penitentiary—known as Angola—one of the nation’s most notorious prisons.
The damaging psychological impacts of solitary confinement are well documented. Later we hear from State Senator Gary Winfield, who supports legislation to end solitary confinement in Connecticut’s prisons.
Learn more about the Stowe Prize In Place Part 2 Event on October 4, 2020.
GUESTS:
- Albert Woodfox - Recipient of the 2020 Stowe Prize from the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford. Woodfox spent more than 40 years in solitary confinement at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. He wrote about the experience in the memoir Solitary.
- Briann Greenfield - Executive director of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
- Senator Gary Winfield - Represents New Haven and West Haven, and Co-Chair of the Judiciary Committee in Connecticut General Assembly
Cat Pastor contributed to this show.
