Biography
Harold Walker was an Attica prisoner, jailhouse lawyer and vice-president of the Attica Survivors Committee. He survived the September 1971 uprising and state retaking of the prison and challenged the restrictive segregation that followed. In a contemporary interview, he said that he joined the National Lawyers Guild, helped prepare a class-action writ in October 1971 and was released on June 2, 1972. After release he helped other former prisoners find work, obtain permits and secure legal assistance. His original conviction and initial imprisonment date remain unidentified.
The Second Circuit’s September 20, 1972 decision affirmed denial of an order returning the Attica segregation class to general population. It identifies Walker as the pro se appellant and describes A Block, 6 Company confinement: cells except brief daily exercise, with reading material, showers, packages, normal meals, wages and no loss of good time. The court upheld individualized adjustment-committee review following the December 21, 1971 district decision, while acknowledging substantial deprivation of general-population privileges. Four unnamed inmates had been returned to general population; the class fell from about thirty to fourteen through releases or transfers. Those collective changes do not identify Walker’s discharge day or establish a new conviction or custody interval. The judicial rejection of constitutional claims is distinguished from the prisoners’ allegations. Source: https://clearinghouse-umich-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/doc/131091.pdf#page=1
In a September 1972 interview, Walker explicitly dates his physical release June 2, 1972. He dates the beginning of his class-action writ over Attica segregation October 2, 1971, describing forty men on the gallery. He discusses arguing the appeal himself before the Second Circuit and helping organize the Attica Survivors Committee. The appeal and prison litigation are distinct from his actual release. Source: https://freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC510_scans/Attica/510.liberated.guardian.September1972.pdf#page=7
Harold Walker was an Attica prisoner, jailhouse lawyer and vice-president of the Attica Survivors Committee. He survived the September 1971 uprising and state retaking of the prison and challenged the restrictive segregation that followed. In a contemporary interview, he said that he joined the National Lawyers Guild, helped prepare a class-action writ in October 1971 and was released on June 2, 1972. After release he helped other former prisoners find work, obtain permits and secure legal assistance. His original conviction and initial imprisonment date remain unidentified.
The Black Panther, October21,1972, PDF page 3; The Black Panther, October21,1972, PDF page 13; Supplemental Liberated Guardian, September1972, PDF page 7; Supplemental Second Circuit opinion 467 F.2d 51, Walker v. Mancusi, PDF page 1; Supplemental Second Circuit opinion 467 F.2d 51, Walker v. Mancusi, PDF page 2; Supplemental Second Circuit opinion 467 F.2d 51, Walker v. Mancusi, PDF page 3.
Source-reported institution: Attica Correctional Facility.
