The Struggle Continues: Free Mumia Abu-jamal!
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 11 rejected the fourth effort in 30 years by Philadelphia prosecu tors to execute innocent death-row political prisoner, award-winning journalist, and murder frame-up vic tim Mumia Abu-Jamal.
In refusing to hear an appeal by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, the High Court essentially affirmed that the sentencing instructions given to the jury at Mumia’s 1982 trial, presided over by “hanging judge” Albert Sabo, violated the U.S. Constitution and its own decisions rendered in the 1988 case of Mills v. Maryland. In essence, the Court upheld the same rul ings twice decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and once by the Federal District Court.
In all of these matters, prosecutors sought to sub stantiate Judge Sabo’s flawed and contorted instruc tions to the jury, in which he stated that they had to be unanimous with regard to each and every mitigat ing circumstance in order to consider any that would be sufficient to overcome the imposition of the death penalty. The Supreme Court’s 1988 Mills decision had held that a jury could discuss any mitigating circum stance as being sufficient to negate the death penalty, even if only a single juror had raised it for consider ation.
Mumia was represented in the proceedings by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and by professor and attorney Judith Ritter of Widener Law School.
While the decision ends the immediate threat of ex ecution, the door is still open for Mumia’s murder. But to pursue the death penalty for the fifth time, the state of Pennsylvania must now conduct a new sentencing hearing with a new jury that is limited to determining whether to impose a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole or execution by lethal injection. Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams and the Fraternal Order of Police, despite massive evidence to the contrary, continue to insist that Mumia shot Police Officer Daniel Faulkner on Dec. 9, 1981.
As we go to press, however, it appears that Philadel phia and state officials, and the slain police officer’s widow, Maureen Faulkner, are not prone to continue their efforts to execute Mumia. But this is less due to any deference to Mumia’s innocence than it is to their well-merited fear that the sentencing hearing allows for the introduction of massive evidence of innocence originally barred from consideration by Judge Sabo.
According to sworn testimony by a court stenogra pher, Sabo was overheard saying in the presence of another judge before entering the courtroom, “Yeah, and I’m going to help ’em fry the n****r.”
Should a new sentencing jury be selected, it would technically be barred from reversing the original jury’s 1982 guilty verdict. But the presentation of evidence of innocence previously barred might be of such mag nitude as to compel a new judge to revisit the case and consider a new trial. Similarly, an incensed jury, in ad dition to rejecting a prosecution demand for Mumia’s execution, might itself, and contrary to its limited mis sion, indicate its contempt for the original verdict and Los Angeles, and beyond. Demonstrations springing up like mushrooms after a storm, in protest to the cro ny capitalism brought to us by the professional sell outs called politicians.
And (speaking of), like vampires at a blood bank, politicians are descending on Wall St., to try to suck the life out of a movement that could threaten their monopoly on power. For, the politicians’ only inter