Miscellaneous

"Earlier [this month] our son Kendall, a student at South Alexandria Sixth Grade Center, won first place in the Division I political science category at the Louisiana State Social Fair in Baton Rouge. The title of his project was 'Righting the Wrong: A Profile of Wilbert Rideau.' ... After much reading and research, our son came to us asking why Rideau was still in prison when the other 12 inmates who were on death row [when he arrived] have all been released. It was a question we could not answer. How do we say to a 12-year-old that the 'justice for all' in our Pledge of Allegiance really means 'justice for some?'"
- Karen E. From, letter to the editor, Alexandria Daily Town Talk, April 25, 1989

"America makes only one promise to its people, but it's a promise that distinguishes us from lesser nations and lets us speak with the moral authority of a true democracy: America promises to treat all its people equally. This promise is the cornerstone of our criminal justice system, and it is the gross and flagrant violation of this promise in Rideau's case that offends so many people."
- Maureen Hawkins, letter to the editor, Times-Picayune, May 30, 1989

"When the death sentencing rate for [Calcasieu Parish] black men convicted of murdering whites is 100 percent and the clemency rate is zero, we don't have a justice system but rather a legalized mechanism of injustice with death by execution or by incarceration for this one group of offenders."
- Ted Quant, Director, Rideau Project, Twomey Center for Peace Through Justice, Loyola University of New Orleans, press release, April 18, 1990.

"How the state of Louisiana ultimately decides his case will tell a lot about the morality of our judicial system. . . . Mr. Rideau has become a walking testament of the human spirit's ability to renew itself and even prosper in a system designed to rob men of their dignity."
- Larry English, former president of Shreveport NAACP, Shreveport Journal, April 26, 1990.

"As a general practice I do not intervene on behalf on inmates, since the NAACP has a separate department that deals with prisoners. On rare occasions, however, exceptional inmates and their accomplishments are brought to my attention. If the prisoner, in my opinion, is clearly deserving of another chance, I respond. By any standard of measurement, Wilbert Rideau is such a prisoner. The fact that this prisoner has served almost thirty years causes me grave concern."
- Benjamin L. Hooks, Executive Director, NAACP, letter to Governor Roemer, June 6, 1990.

"It's politics as usual. The state of Louisiana refuses to release Wilbert Rideau and will retry him instead. . . . Could the fact that Rideau is black and from Calcasieu Parish have a negative effect on his release? The state's refusal to release him confirms my belief that justice plays no part in our system. It's all about convictions, vengeance, money and the color of your skin, not to mention politics."
- Dot Brown, letter to the editor, The News-Star (Monroe, La.) January 3, 2001.

"I've known Wilbert for more than 12 years as a colleague and a friend. He is one of the finest journalists I've ever had the honor to work with, and a remarkable human being. Wilbert's is one of the great stories of redemption in American criminal justice history. If rehabilitation remains even a sliver of consideration in Louisiana's justice system, Wilbert Rideau must see freedom. It's long overdue."
- Dave Isay, 2000 MacArthur "genius" Fellow and co-producer with Rideau and Ron Wikberg of the NPR documentary "Tossing Away the Keys," quote submitted for the website, March 11, 2001

"Wilbert Rideau has been a creative inspiration, a teacher, a colleague, and a friend for five years. What he has accomplished behind bars is phenomenal. What he could contribute to the field of criminal justice as a free man would be astonishing. I cannot believe that we, as a society, have given up on forgiveness and on rehabilitation---the possibility that humans can change. If these are values we still hold dear, then Wilbert must go free."
- Liz Garbus, co-director of The Farm, quote submitted for the website March 14, 2001

"The Wilbert Rideau I have known for more than a decade is a fine writer and a person of character and integrity, someone I'd trust with my life and am proud to call my friend. Having myself been the target of an attempted murder, I understand a victim's anguish. But I also understand there comes a time to let go of the past and let the healing begin. Forty years in prison is a long time. It is time for Wilbert to be released so he can make as positive a contribution to the outside world as he has made to the world behind bars."
- Anne Butler, author, Weep for the Living; co-author, Angola: A Half-Century of Rage and Reform, quote submitted for the website March 15, 2001.

"Wilbert is one of the most important and most distinguished journalists in America. I hope the State of Louisiana sees fit to release him instead of retrying him after 40 years. One of the highlights of my year as American Society of Newspaper Editors' president was a moving and eye-opening speech to ASNE by Wilbert. He would be a great teacher about journalism, its strengths and weaknesses, as well as a great journalist. Twelve years ago I offered him a job as a reporter on my newspaper, and today I stand ready to take him into my home if he is released."
- Loren Ghiglione, Director, School of Journalism, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California. Quote submitted for the website April 16, 2001.

"Wilbert Rideau is the most significant inmate journalist in the two-hundred-year long history of prison journalism. His work is a model that inspires journalists both inside and outside of prison. The unfair irony is that the more famous and visible Rideau has become as a successful journalist, the more his opponents work to keep him confined. Had he not assumed his responsible and historically significant role, he might today be free. To continue to deny him freedom after he has proved his rehabilitation time and time again is an injustice."
- James McGrath Morris, author of Jailhouse Journalism: The Fourth Estate Behind Bars, quote submitted for the website May 9, 2001.