A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of Lousiana prisoner and former Black Panther Albert Woodfox, the longest-serving U.S. prisoner in solitary confinement. Earlier this year a Lousiana grand jury re-indicted Woodfox for the 1972 murder of a prison guard, a crime for which he and his late, fellow Angola 3 member Herman Wallace maintained they were framed for their political activism. Wallace died on October 1, 2013 just three days after he was released from prison. On Monday, Federal Judge James Brady not only called for Woodfox’s release, but also barred a retrial. Woodfox’s two previous convictions in the case were both overturned. But on Tuesday, Louisiana filed an appeal to the Fifth Circuit, and that court issued a stay on Judge Brady’s order. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals extended a stay on the judge’s order for his release, meaning it could be weeks or months until Woodfox is potentially freed.