Mobilizations needed to free Mumia!
2009Christopher Towne 2009-12Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 9 →
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WASHINGTON—Mumia Abu-Jamal has spent 28 years on death row. His work as a reporter, known as the “voice of the voiceless,” gave him a reputation with the Philadelphia police and resulted in his trial and imprisonment on frame-up charges of killing a cop.
Recently, the Supreme Court delayed ruling on an appeal seeking Mumia’s execution, for the likely reason that it is waiting to rule on Smith v. Spisak first. While unanimity is often required from jurors for the death penalty, a “state’s rights” ruling in Smith v. Spisak would let states determine their own requirements. This would make it possible for the state of Pennsylvania to put Mumia to death based on his 1982 trial.
Does a court exist to apply justice? The highest court of the land doesn’t think so. In 1993 the Supreme Court allowed for the execution of an innocent man, Leonel Herrera. The chief justice stated that “actual innocence” could not be the deciding issue in an execution. The Court, in his words, exists to determine constitutionality, “not to correct errors of fact.”
The state, including the courts, is the product of class irreconcilability. The capitalist state intervenes in conflicts on behalf of the capitalist class—unless it is forced to make concessions to the working class or oppressed. In the words of Frederick Douglass, “power concedes nothing without demand.” Faith in the courts is a pipe dream; a struggle is necessary for justice.
It was in this spirit that 150 activists braved rainy weather in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 12 to demonstrate for Mumia’s release. We marched to the Justice Department, where, in a scene reminiscent of “Miracle on 34th Street,” we delivered thousands of signatures from all over the world in support of Mumia.
A press conference preceded the march and brought together such figures as Marvin Cheatham, president of the Baltimore NAACP, and Laura Moye, head of the Amnesty International Death Penalty Project. Fignole Saint-Cyr came from Haiti, where he leads a lively campaign of people who add their voices to ence was undoubtedly the speech by 13-year-old Lejla Duka. Young Lejla is an unlikely candidate for a movement leader, except for the fact that her father and two uncles are victims of the “War on Terror” hysteria.
Her relatives make up three of the “Fort Dix Five,” whose convictions rest on taped conversations in which the men used the word “jihad,” on their purchase of weapons, and on the testimony of paid FBI informants. According to the government, this translated into a “plot” to attack Fort Dix.
Lejla’s presence at the Mumia rally showed real solidarity; defense campaigns are greatly strengthened when victims of the system are united, and can see the connections between their struggles. Her speech earned her a long and heartfelt standing ovation.
Pam Africa of MOVE and the International Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal was the last to speak. MOVE has been committed to freeing Mumia since the very beginning. This is fitting, considering that Mumia’s reporting on the police attacks on MOVE (including