Biography
Ruchell "Cinque" Magee (born Ruchell Lewis, 1939–2023) was one of the longest-held prisoners in U.S. history, incarcerated almost continuously from the 1960s. He was the sole surviving participant in the August 7, 1970 Marin County Civic Center courthouse incident — Jonathan Jackson's armed attempt to free the Soledad Brothers, in which Judge Harold Haley was killed — and pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping. A renowned jailhouse lawyer who took the name "Cinque," he became a symbol of the Black liberation and prison movements. He was released on July 28, 2023 under California's compassionate-release law and died that October, 81 days after his release.
Ruchell Magee is America's longest held political prisoner. In 1963 while driving with a casual acquaintance Magee was pulled over by police. When the officers attempted to search the car the acquaintance told police that they would find Marijuana in the glove compartment but it wasn't and belonged to Magee who he claimed had kidnapped him. The accusation was both ridiculous and false but that didn't stop Magee from being arrested and convicted of the crime and given an indeterminate sentence of seven years to life. While in jail Magee witnessed the murder of black inmates by guards on 3 separate occasions. After the guard responsible for the killings was murdered, 3 inmates were arrested and Magee was asked to testify. During the trial 17 year old Jonathan P. Jackson stormed the court room while armed and took the judge hostage in an attempt to secure the release of his older brother who was on trial for the guards killing. Despite having no knowledge of the planned attack, Magee was brought along with other hostages as Jackson tried to leave the courthouse and though it was unsuccessful, Magee was convicted in aiding with the escape attempt and given a life sentence.
In his prison statement, Ruchell Magee criticized appointed counsel and alleged beatings, solitary confinement and denial of medical care at San Quentin. These are his allegations as published by The Black Panther in February 1971, not new judicial findings. The Black Panther, February 13, 1971, original PDF page 8. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/black-panther/06%20no%203%201-20%20feb%2013%201971.pdf#page=8
Magee was transported from San Quentin to the Little/Remiro Los Angeles trial and appeared in chains, cuffs and shackles for a hearing on admissibility of testimony about threats to prisoner supporters. Judge Bigelow ruled his testimony relevant but denied a requested one-week delay; defendants withdrew prisoner subpoenas over confinement conditions and the prisoners returned to their state prisons. This is temporary court transfer within existing custody, not a fresh arrest or release. Pages12-13. Source: https://freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC514_scans/SLA%20Dragon/514.SLA.Dragon7.Febmarch1976.Periodical.pdf
The Militant of June 2, 1972 reported that on May 22 the venue for Magee's courthouse prosecution was changed from Marin County to San Francisco; his case had been severed from Angela Davis's in July 1971. It also reported a proposed $200,000 civil action concerning public ridicule against San Quentin and the San Francisco Chronicle, describing legal obstacles faced by life prisoners. The proposed lawsuit is not recorded as an adjudicated award or a new custody episode. The Militant, June 2, 1972, PDF pages 24. Source: https://www.themilitant.com/1972/3621/MIL3621.pdf
The Militant reported that on March 17, 1971, Magee succeeded in disqualifying Judge John McMurray from his pending Marin County case for prejudice. After a two-hour conference with court-appointed defense lawyers, McMurray withdrew. Magee was petitioning for federal jurisdiction and had previously been denied the right to represent himself with or without counsel of his own choosing. The anticipated delay before another judge was appointed is a forecast, not a custody endpoint. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/themilitant/1971/v35n12-apr-02-1971-mil.pdf#page=24
The June 29, 1971 Free Angela newsletter describes Magee correcting prosecution citations while fighting to represent himself and remove the case to federal court. It reports a recent Judge Conti order restricting further federal filings without a state judge approval and a peremptory challenge removing Judge Allan Lindsay three weeks earlier. The newsletter says Magee informed Fred Billingslea family after his reported February 1970 death in a San Quentin cell and filed a wrongful-death suit; its allegations of guard murder and official cover-up remain attributed claims. It also reports that inmate Larry West was transferred to Folsom two days after press coverage of his legal collaboration with Magee, presenting this as retaliation. The newsletter fifteen-year continuous-custody characterization is not substituted for independently documented custody chronology or converted to an exact total. Source: https://www.bibliotechecivichepadova.it/sites/default/files/opera/documenti/sezione-6-serie-10-273.pdf#page=1
The September 1972 Liberated Guardian reports that Magee remained in San Quentin’s Adjustment Center, and that Judge Morton Colvin reversed an earlier authorization for self-representation after the case moved to San Francisco. It reports attorney Robert Carrow seeking withdrawal, partly on medical grounds and partly because he had accepted the case on the understanding that Magee could represent himself. The article describes a bulletproof courtroom barrier and a holding cell where Magee could hear proceedings but could not participate. October 11 was a prospective trial-setting date, not proof that trial or release occurred that day. Source: https://freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC510_scans/Attica/510.liberated.guardian.September1972.pdf#page=10
Contemporary prison-support account and limits
The article and named roster describe Ruchell Magee still imprisoned after a jury deadlock in the Marin courthouse prosecution, with another trial expected. A hung jury and expected retrial are not release or acquittal endpoints. It reproduces his own objections to court-imposed gag rules, including a June 8, 1972 judicial action, as his attributed account; it does not establish new custody dates. The page 5 photograph is explicitly captioned Ruchell Magee and is preserved with its context; the existing identified portrait is retained.
The Anvil, United Prisoners Union, volume 1 number 1, April cover; original pages 5, 8.
The Supreme Court denied leave to file a petition for mandamus or prohibition in Magee v. Superior Court of San Francisco County, No. 72-5377, on December 4, 1972. On December 18 it denied certiorari in Magee v. Superior Court, No. 72-5555, and Magee v. Nelson, Warden, No. 72-5524. These orders document attempts to obtain judicial review and do not provide new custody endpoints.
The report says Judge Morton R. Colvin declared a mistrial April 3, 1973 after deadlock on kidnapping and murder charges from the Marin courthouse escape attempt. It identifies different holdouts on each count and Magee as the sole surviving inmate defendant. The reported eleven-to-one divisions are not verdicts, and this mistrial is neither an acquittal nor proof of physical release.
Washington Area Spark, Vol. 2 No. 9, April 13–May 11, 1973, PDF page 11.
The state report’s escape appendix individually names him among the Marin County prisoners and describes the courthouse confrontation. It incorrectly heads the event September 7, 1970; that date is not used to overwrite an independently established chronology. Jonathan Jackson’s presence in the same narrative does not establish that Jackson was already a prisoner. The appendix is a retrospective law-enforcement account.
Report of the New York State Policy Study Group on Terrorism, November 1985, PDF page 83.
