BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Two former Black Panthers imprisoned in Louisiana are out of solitary confinement for the first time since the 1970s.

They've been transferred into quarters with other inmates. State corrections officials say Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox were moved into a "maximum security dormitory" Monday. They had been in solitary since 1972, after their convictions in the death of a guard.

The men have said their 36 years of solitary confinement at the prison amount to cruel and unusual punishment. Both are appealing their convictions.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers visited the men recently and says he has learned of evidence proving they were wrongly convicted.

Louisiana prison officials say the men's transfers were unrelated to Conyers' visit.

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