Wilbert Rideau

After killing a woman in a moment of panic following a botched bank robbery, 19-year-old Wilbert Rideau, denied a fair trial, was sentenced to death. He served 44 years in Louisiana prisons, mainly in the notorious institution, Angola. He was on death row for 12 years, in solitary confinement for over 11 years, and had four trials—and yet, he maintained a strength of body and spirit, fighting to reform the state’s corrupt penal system.

While in prison, Rideau became editor of the prison newsmagazine The Angolite, which under his leadership became an uncensored, daring, and crusading journal that won accolades, including a George Polk journalism award for Rideau himself. Still in prison, Rideau corresponded for National Public Radio, collaborated on “In for Life” for ABC-TV’s Day One, and even co-directed the Academy Award-nominated documentary film, The Farm: Angola, USA. In 1993, Rideau was described by Life magazine as “the most rehabilitated prisoner in America”. A jury acquitted Rideau of murder and convicted him of the lesser crime of manslaughter, which was punishable by twenty-one years in prison. Since he had served forty-four, he was immediately freed. He was awarded a Soros Justice Fellowship in 2007.

Rideau lectures around the country at journalism schools, law institutions, and conferences for defense attorneys. He recently spoke at Zócalo Public Square in Los Angeles, where he discussed the importance of prison reform. In addition to writing and speaking, Rideau currently works as a consultant to capital defense teams in both federal and state cases around the country. He lives with his wife in Louisiana, where he treasures his freedom to tend his garden and train for a marathon.