http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/ Political Prisioner, Writer, MOVE supporter, Black Panther, Organizer, REVOLUTIONARY!!!!! en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:04:32 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/images/misc_2/rss.jpg http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/ http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40435-report-11-12-dc-mumia-civil-rights-rally.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:58:57 GMT Article w/photos at Washington DC Protest Demands ?Justice for Mumia? | Philadelphia Independent Media Center (http://www.phillyimc.org/en/washington-dc-protest-demands-%E2%80%9Cjustice-mumia%E2%80%9D) Washington Protest Demands “Justice for Mumia” Written Article by Betsey Piette Photos by... Article w/photos at Washington DC Protest Demands ?Justice for Mumia? | Philadelphia Independent Media Center

Washington Protest Demands “Justice for Mumia”
Written Article by Betsey Piette
Photos by Joe Piette

Over 25,000 letters calling on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct a civil rights investigation of the 28 year conspiracy to execute death row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal were delivered to the doors of the Department of Justice in Washington at the end of a spirited march and rally on Nov. 12.

The letter campaign took on world-wide momentum earlier this year after Holder called for the dismissal of charges against Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska on the basis that prosecutors in that case withheld evidence favorable to the defense.

The letters to Holder on Mumia’s behalf make it clear that in addition to a similar pattern of evidence being withheld in his case, courts on local, state and federal levels have all violated their own rules to keep Abu-Jamal on death row. The letters make a point that rules that apply for a powerful, wealthy U.S. senator like Stevens should apply as well to an African-American political activist.

Despite a December 2001 ruling by Federal District Court Judge William Yohn that converted the death sentence in Abu-Jamal’s case to life in prison, he remains on death row and his life in jeopardy because of efforts by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office to appeal Yohn’s decision. Abu-Jamal has exhausted other federal appeals seeking a new trial in his case.

Meanwhile Seth Williams, who was elected earlier in November as the first African-American to hold the position of Philadelphia District Attorney, campaigned on the basis of support for reinstating the death sentence in Abu-Jamal’s case.

EVIDENCE WITHHELD

Dr. Suzanne Ross from the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, who chaired the press conference and indoor rally at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, told how for 13 years the prosecution withheld evidence that a driver’s license belonging to a passenger in the car driven by Mumia’s brother William Cook was found in the pocket of slain police officer Daniel Faulkner.

Attorney Thomas Ruffin who outlined the legal issues in Abu-Jamal’s case told of photos taken by independent photographer Pedro Polakoff who arrived at the scene of the Dec. 9, 1981 shooting before the police forensics team. These pictures exposed the lies told by key prosecution witnesses during the trial. The prosecution, who had access to these pictures, never shared information of their existence with the defense.

Ruffin noted that there was no proof that Abu-Jamal had his gun in hand when he arrived on the scene or that he had fired it. The prosecution never presented paraffin tests for gunshot residue. The prosecution claimed that this standard test administered to a defendant’s hands in cases when a gun was the murder weapon, had not been performed in Abu-Jamal’s case.

SOLIDARITY WITH MUSLIM POLITICAL PRISONERS

One of the significant aspects of the press conference and protest was the open solidarity with victims of the state’s COINTELPRO like campaign that has targeted over 400 Muslims and recently resulted in FBI agents gunning down and murdering Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah in Detroit on Oct. 31.

Several family members and supporters of the Fort Dix Five from N.J. attended the events. Leila Duka, the eleven year old daughter and niece of three of these Muslim political prisoners, spoke at the press conference. Two members of another Muslim prisoner, Shifa , came from Atlanta to take part, and organizers with Project Salam, an organization that works to draw attention to these and others cases, attended from Albany.

In an important act of solidarity plans for a separate protest at the Justice Dept. on Nov.21 to demand that Holder investigate the growing human rights violation of Muslims in the U.S.were changed in order to join forces on Nov 12. At the press conference several speakers made reference to the dangerous campaign growing against Muslims.

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

The array of support for Mumia Abu-Jamal was impressive. Fignole Saint-Cyr, President of the Autonomous Unions of Haiti delivered 986 signed letters collected on Abu-Jamal’s behalf and flew into Washington to attend a press conference earlier in the day. Saint-Cyr stated “Right now the world should observe American justice because the U.S. is supposed to stand for democracy. Justice should not be two-faced. Justice for Black people and for white people should be equal.”

Thousands of signed letters were also gathered in Germany where the city council in Munich passed a resolution demanding justice and a new trial for Mumia and the abolition of the death penalty in the U.S.

Letters were sent from S. African labor and political groups who had engaged in their own fight to overturn the racist apartheid system and recognized Abu-Jamal as a victim of racist injustice in the U.S. Other letters came from Japan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Spain, and throughout Latin America.

From the U.S. there were letters and resolutions from unions, churches, and national organizations including the NAACP and the National Lawyers Guild, as well as progressive politicians like Cynthia McKinney and Charles Rangel. Representatives of the NAACP, Amnesty International, the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, International Action Center, National Congress of Puerto Rican Rights, and the Riverside Church Prison Ministry spoke at the press conference.

In closing the indoor event Pam Africa, with the MOVE organization and International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, stated “Mumia was railroaded and the evidence is there. Mumia is not on trial here –the movement is. It’s up to us to stand up for what’s right.”


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Freedom Archives Home ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Moorbey http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40435-report-11-12-dc-mumia-civil-rights-rally.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40369-mumia-abu-jamal-faces-new-execution-threat-but-his-freedom-still-within-reach.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:08:06 GMT Mumia Abu-Jamal faces new execution threat but his freedom is still within reach
BY JEFF MACKLER

After almost 28 years on Pennsylvania’s death row and innumerable battles in the U.S. criminal injustice system, innocent political prisoner, journalist and world renowned “Voice of the Voiceless” Mumia Abu-Jamal lost his final appeal on April 6, 2009. Ignoring it’s own historic decision in the 1986 case of Batson v. Kentucky that the systematic and racist exclusion of Blacks from juries voids all guilty verdicts and mandates a new trial, the Court nevertheless refused to hear Mumia’s appeal.

In Mumia’s 1982 trial presided over by the notorious “hanging judge” Albert Sabo, the prosecutor, Joseph McGill, used 10 or perhaps 11 of his 15 peremptory strikes against Black jurors. But as with virtually all court decisions over the past decades in Mumia’s case, the “Mumia Exception,” the contorted interpretation of the “law” to reach a predetermined result, was once again applied, with the high court refusing to review the twisted logic of its subordinate bodies thereby allowing Mumia’s frame-up murder conviction to stand.
But what has caught the attention of both legal observers and human rights activists even more is the fact that the same court, while refusing to hear Mumia’s appeal, chose to delay a ruling on a cross appeal filed by the State of Pennsylvania that seeks Mumia’s execution. Pennsylvania prosecutors, twice rejected in their efforts to impose the death penalty on Mumia (in 2001 and 2008), may have found new support in the U.S. Supreme Court.
It appears that the court’s delay in ruling on the validity of Mumia’s original execution sentence was due to its decision to grant oral arguments in the Ohio case of Smith v. Spisak, a case that might re-write or reinterpret the nation’s laws to make it easier to obtain jury verdicts calling for execution. The Court heard Ohio prosecutor’s arguments for Spisak’s execution on October 13, 2009. A ruling is expected in the year ahead.

Frank Spisak, a neo-Nazis who wore a Hitler mustache to his trial, denounced Jews, and Blacks and confessed in court to three hate crime murders in Ohio, saw his jury-imposed death sentence reversed in the federal courts when his attorney’s successfully invoked a 1988 Supreme Court decision in the famous Mills v. Maryland case. Mills requires that in order to find mitigating circumstances sufficient to impose a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, as opposed to the death penalty, the jury’s majority decision (as opposed to unanimous decision) on each mitigating circumstance is sufficient. In both Spisak and Mumia’s case the presiding trial court judge violated Mills and in essence instructed the juries that unanimity, not a majority vote on each mitigating circumstance was required. As a consequence, federal district courts in both Ohio and in Pennsylvania (in the case of Mumia) overruled the jury’s death sentence and ordered a new sentencing hearing and trial where evidence of innocence could be presented but where the jury was bound by the previous jury’s guilty finding.

In both cases the prosecution took the cases to U.S. Courts of Appeal and were again rejected. Mills was upheld, thus continuing the staying of the imposed death sentences. In both cases the prosecution, seeking to avoid a new trial in any form, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court demanding execution. An April 7, 2009 article in the Legal Intelligencer, the oldest law journal in the country, had this to say about the Supreme Court’s decision to delay a ruling on Pennsylvania’s request to re-impose the death penalty on Mumia.

“In both cases, [Spisak and Abu-Jamal] the federal courts' decisions to overturn the death sentences hinged on Mills v. Maryland -- a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision that governs how juries should deliberate during the penalty phase of a capital trial.
“The Mills ruling struck down a Maryland statute that said juries in capital cases must be unanimous on any aggravating or mitigating factor. [Emphasis added].

“The justices declared that unanimity was properly required for any aggravating factor, but that mitigating factors -- those that weigh against imposing a death sentence -- must be handled more liberally, with each juror free to find on his or her own.”
The effect of Mills was to make it harder for prosecutors to obtain death sentences in capital cases. The Intelligencer concludes, “The question now before the courts is whether Mills requires that death sentences in other states be overturned if the juries in those states are misled by faulty instructions or sufficiently vague verdict forms to believe that mitigating factors require unanimity.” [Emphasis added].

I emphasize the words “other states” because prior to this unexpected turn of events the legal community appeared to agree that Mills applied to all states. That is, if a jury was orally mis-instructed and/or received faulty or unclear verdict forms that implied it needed to be unanimous with regard to mitigating circumstances sufficient to not impose the death penalty, the death penalty was set aside and a new sentencing hearing was ordered.
This is what happened in Mumia’s case when Federal District Court Judge William H. Yohn in 2001 employed Mills to set aside the jury’s death penalty decision. Yohn gave the State of Pennsylvania 180 days to decide whether or not to retry Mumia at a new sentencing hearing where new evidence of innocence can be presented by Mumia, but where the jury can only decide between execution and life in prison without parole. At this hearing, the jury cannot make a decision regarding guilt. Since then, Pennsylvania officials have effectively stayed Yohn’s order by appealing to the higher federal courts.

In deciding to hear Ohio prosecutors’ arguments in the Spisak case with regard to Mills the Supreme Court has implied that one of the key issues they will consider centers on the interpretation of the concept of federalism, that is, that the exercise of power in the U.S. is shared in some measure between the federal government and the states. The political pendulum has swung back and forth on this issue. In past decades, the “states’ rights” interpretation was employed to justify racist state laws that denied Blacks access to public institutions and facilities. With the rise of the Civil Rights movement federal power was used to compel the elimination of the same racist laws. Justice has been far from blind in racist America. It is applied to the advantage of the working class and the oppressed only to the extent that the relationship of forces, that is, the struggles of the masses, demand it.

Since Mills was decided in the State of Maryland, the would-be Ohio and Pennsylvania executioners argue that based on the laws of their states, Mills cannot be automatically applied to the situation in Ohio where a different set of jury instructions and therefore jury deliberations were involved. Indeed, Ohio prosecutors argued before the Supreme Court on October 13 that Ohio and Pennsylvania were the exception and not the rule and that the norm in other states was to essentially reject a strict interpretation of Mills in favor of various state guidelines regarding jury instructions.

Should this “states’ rights” argument be accepted and Mills be effectively constricted, the Supreme Court could then uphold Spisak’s death sentence and, with a mere citation to Spisak and the new interpretation of Mills, uphold the Pennsylvania’s appeal seeking Mumia’s execution.
While most legal observers previously considered a Supreme Court Mills re-interpretation a virtual impossibility, the stage has now been set for such an outcome. The state’s longstanding effort to execute Mumia has been given new legal avenues for success with the top court’s decision to re-consider the Spisak case.

What the Supreme Court will do, however, is far from clear. It will also consider Spisak’s new attorney’s argument that his jury trial lawyers were incompetent in essentially arguing during their trial summation that Spisak was essentially an extreme and horrific nut case who barely understood what he was doing. Should the Supreme Court choose to ignore or side-step Pennsylvania’s Mills arguments and rule only on the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel, the chances of Mumia’s execution recede considerably. The court could also chose to remand the case back to the lower courts to reconsider their previous Mills interpretation in light of the Supreme Court’s possible new instructions on this issue. Second guessing the courts in Mumia’s 28-year legal sojourn has stumped virtually the entire legal community, or at least those who believe that the laws of the land should be implemented without prejudice to the individual concerned. In virtually every instance, however, this has not been the case; an unending series of legal atrocities have been perpetrated against Mumia that expose the criminal “justice” system for the fraud it is in racist and classist America.

In every sense Mumia’s life is on the line as never before. Pennsylvania’s Governor Ed Rendell is pledged to sign what could be the third and final warrant for Mumia’s execution, a warrant that would likely order that his life be taken by lethal injection. Mumia's supporters around the world and Mumia himself have long known that the battle for his life and freedom would be qualitatively more advanced by the construction of a powerful mass movement in the streets that won the hearts and minds of millions and more than reliance on a court system permeated by its very nature with class and race bias.

The state power's march for Mumia’s execution has not been limited to the courts. The 2007 “Murdered by Mumia” book co-authored by Maureen Faulkner, the wife of police officer Daniel Faulkner, who Mumia was falsely convicted of murdering, and rightwing talk radio host, Michael Smerconish, presents an outrageous account of Faulkner’s murder. While having little or no basis in the facts of the case the book has nevertheless been used to advance the Fraternal Order of Police’s longstanding campaign to execute the “cop killer.”

More recently, filmmaker Tigre Hill, with the help of rightwing sponsors, has produced a work scheduled for a debut in Philadelphia in December and later international distribution entitled, “The Barrel of a Gun,” wherein ex-Black Panther leader Bobby Seal’s rhetoric about “offing the pig,” is coupled with rightwinger David Horowitz’s assertions that Mumia was merely carrying out Panther policy. The three-minute preview or trailer to “The Barrel of a Gun” theorizes, without a shred of evidence, that Mumia and his brother Billy Cook, literally planned the Faulkner murder, ambush style.

Those unfamiliar with Mumia’s background and the facts of the case could only conclude that Mumia was guilty without question. That Mumia had left the disintegrating Panthers more than a decade before his frame-up trial, that he was an award-winning journalist and president of the Association of Black Journalists, a leading reporter/critic of the Philadelphia Police Department, dozens of whose officers were indicted and convicted on Justice Department charges of involvement in drug-running, prostitution, planting and falsification evidence and intimidation of witnesses, was not mentioned.

Today, having exhausted most all legal remedies, Mumia’s supporters are engaged in an important campaign to demand a Justice Department civil rights investigation into charges presented by his supporters that demonstrate illegal collusion between Pennsylvania prosecutors and the judiciary. A delegation of Mumia’s defenders across the country has planned a November 12 visit to Washington, D.C. where a meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder will be sought for this purpose. Thousands of petitions demanding Mumia’s freedom obtained across the world will also be presented Holder and to officials of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Similarly, a mass antiwar protest in Washington, D.C.’s Malcolm X Park is set for Saturday, November 7. In addition to the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from the Middle East the sponsoring Black is Back Coalition is demanding Mumia’s freedom.
In the San Francisco Bay Area the Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal is sponsoring a tour with Amnesty International’s Death Penalty Abolition Campaign leader Laura Moye. Entitled “Innocent but Facing Execution,” the tour will focus on the cases of Mumia, Troy Davis and Kevin Cooper, three innocent frame-up victims of America's racist criminal “justice” system.

These efforts, and more to come, are aimed at winning Mumia’s freedom and stopping the State of Pennsylvania’s drive to execution. Pennsylvania prosecutors seek to use the Supreme Court to clear the way for a final execution order. They were present while the Supreme Court heard the Ohio arguments in Spisak to reverse Mills.

In this writer’s view the last thing Pennsylvania officials desire is to be bound by Judge Yohn’s decision that Mumia must be granted a new trial where for the first time in 28 years all the evidence of his innocence and frame-up can be presented. If such a trial were to take place, it is clear that while the jury’s decision would be restricted to imposing a sentence of execution or life in prison without possibility of parole, much more would be at stake.

The mere thought of a massive exposure of this frame-up during a new trial strikes fear in the minds of those who have labored so long to keep the truth of Mumia’s frame-up from public view. The base corruption of the criminal justice system and its various components would be exposed as never before with unpredictable consequences. “Law and order aside,” murdering innocent people does not sit well with the American people. In the capitalist courts as in life itself nothing is written in stone. The “law” has more than once been “adjusted” in the interests of the oppressed when the price to pay by insisting on its immutability is too costly in terms of doing greater damage to the system as a whole.

Anticipating such a result, Judge Yohn’s ruling left Pennsylvania officials a way out. If their effort to have the Supreme Court pave the way for Mumia execution fails, they have a ready-made alternative. They can let the 180-day clock run out on Yohn’s order for a new sentencing trial and allow Yohn’s other choice to prevail by default, that is, to change the jury’s verdict from execution to life without parole.

While the fanatics who seek Mumia’s life at any cost might rage for one more chance at his head, those who understand the price to be paid in a new trial’s fundamentally undermining the corruption of the system as a whole might choose to avoid awakening additional millions to the nature of the racist and classist criminal injustice system beast.

The fight for Mumia’s life and freedom is far from over. ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Jalili http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40369-mumia-abu-jamal-faces-new-execution-threat-but-his-freedom-still-within-reach.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40360-mumia-legal-update.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:41:24 GMT Mumia Abu-Jamal
November 11, 2009 By Robert R. Bryan
ZNet - Mumia Abu-Jamal

In nearly three decades of being on Pennsylvania's death row, Mumia Abu-Jamal has become a global symbol in the campaign against the death penalty and human rights abuses. There is an escalated effort by the authorities to see him die at the hands of the executioner. This is the most dangerous time for Mumia since his 1981 arrest. I am fighting for his life. Public support is crucial to this campaign to save and free him. There follows an overview of recent significant developments.

United State Supreme Court We continue to litigate on behalf of Mumia in the U.S. Supreme Court. Last year the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, ruled that he was entitled to a new jury trial on the issue of the death penalty. That victory never took effect because the state petitioned the Supreme Court for review. The matter is pending. Thus Mumia remains on death row and under a death sentence.

Even though the major briefing has been completed, the Supreme Court has withheld rendering a decision due to the pendency of a case from Ohio, Smith v. Spisak, which has a similar issue regarding instructional errors at the penalty phase. In Mumia's case the jurors were instructed that they were precluded from considering any mitigating evidence unless all 12 agreed on the particular circumstance. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Spisak on October 13. Mumia and I are anxious about the effect of that case because it is one of the worst imaginable. As Shannon P. Duffy of The Legal Intelligencer wrote the next day: "In a bizarre twist of fate, Mumia Abu-Jamal . . . may find that his very life hinges on the outcome of the case of a neo-Nazi triple murderer who wore a Hitler mustache at trial as he testified proudly about his desire to kill blacks, Jews and gays." That is ironic, for Mumia's life as a journalist and author has been committed to speaking out against racism, discrimination of any sort, inequality, injustice, and human rights abuses.

My office has received many inquiries as to when the Supreme Court will rule, my analysis of what occurred in Spisak, and what will the court decide. First, I anticipate a decision within two months even though it is always difficult to accurately make such predictions. Secondly, there are significant differences between the Spisak case and that of Mumia. Most importantly, the controlling decision of Mills v. Maryland applies to Mumia's case but not to Spisak. Mills was decided in 1988, a year before the Pennsylvania state proceedings became final in our case. However, Spisak had already been decided when Mills came down; Mills is not retroactive. The Spisak case actually concerns both the instructional issue and another on the ineffectiveness of the defense attorney due to his penalty phase argument. Only the former has any relevance to Mumia.

The hearing was lively with Justice Sonia Sotomayor at the outset questioning the Ohio attorney general about the applicability of the Mills decision since it was decided after Spisak became final. It seems that all the justices, with the exception of Clarence Thomas, had questions. Finally, my impression at the end of the day was that clearly some of the justices were poised to reverse and rule for Ohio on the legal incompetence issue. Whether there are enough votes for such a decision remains to be seen. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Samuel A, Alito, Jr. were clearly bothered by the trial lawyer's poor penalty-phase jury argument, while Anthony Scalia thought it was "brilliant." As to the instructional issue that affects Mumia, it does not seem so clear for there are different ways the court could go. On the one hand it might not reach the issue since Mills does not apply, or because the court finds that the death penalty cannot stand in view of the lawyer's ineffectiveness. On the other hand, the court could address the Mills issue which might affect my client's situation in different ways.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court We are also litigating an issue concerning the reliability of the ballistics evidence presented at trial. On April 20, 2009, we filed a Petition for Habeas Corpus Relief in the trial court, the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia. The petition, based upon newly discovered evidence, was denied without a hearing on May 27, 2009. The matter is being appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Recent activities In recent months there have been many events regarding Mumia. A few of the more interesting, were:

The Netherlands and World Day Against the Death Penalty October 10 was World Day Against the Death Penalty. I was in the Netherlands at the invitation of Amnesty International to speak on behalf of Mumia. That included a lecture at the prestigious Utrecht University school of law, sponsored by Ad Informandum. My topic: Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Death Penalty: A Global Human Rights Crisis. It was a great experience, for I have not encountered more bright and inquisitive students. They were interested in why the United States, in company with countries such as Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia, is still in the business of executing people. I also spoke at the showing of the extraordinary movie, In Prison My Whole Life, concerning my client and the death penalty. Mumia and I are particularly indebted to Amnesty's Stef Arens, who was responsible for organizing these events. Another highlight was seeing Arlette Stuip, who attended Goddard College with Mumia. She and her husband Tom have remained his good friends.

Reporters Without Borders, Paris Recently Reporters Without Borders published a video interview regarding Mumia and the latest case developments. It is in English, French and German, and can be found at: Reporters Sans Frontières.

Germany There are various groups and individuals in Germany who are doing incredible work to save Mumia. Last spring the Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts), Berlin, hosted a panel discussion on Mumia to a capacity crowd. It began with an except from In Prison My Whole Life. Participating on the panel, was: Madame Danielle Mitterrand, former First Lady of France; Klaus Staeck, President of the Akademie; Johano Strasser, President of PEN Germany; Günter Wallraff, a well known author; Gerhart Rudolf Baum, member of the Bundestag (parliament), former Minister of the Interior, and United Nations representative; and me. The work of supporters in Germany is a model of positive activism. A video of the event is available, at: ADK .

France The movement for Mumia in France is strong, led by the Ensemble Sauvons Mumia Abu-Jamal which is composed of approximately 80 organizations. Come rain, sleet or snow, supporters continue to demonstrate each week at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. The film In Prison My Whole Life is being shown in theaters around France. In September, Nicole and I joined Claudine Cordillot, Mayor of Villejuif, a Paris suburb, for a showing of the movie and a presentation afterwards. One of Mme. Cordillot's first acts upon taking office in 1999 was to come out in support of Mumia. The Council of Villejuif unanimously declared both him and Nelson Mandela citizens of honor.

Tax-deductible Donations for Mumia's Legal Defense We continue to receive e-mail from people unsure as to how and where they may send donations for Mumia's legal defense, because a few websites are falsely soliciting for legal donations. The only way to guarantee that donations go only to the legal defense, is to make checks payable to the National Lawyers Guild Foundation (indicate Mumia on the bottom left). The U.S. donations are tax deductible under the Internal Revenue Code Code, section 501(c)(3), and should be mailed to:

Committee To Save Mumia Abu-Jamal
P.O. Box 2012
New York, NY 10159-2012


Conclusion Mumia's life remains in great danger. My career has been marked by successfully representing people facing death in murder cases. Our goal is to save Mumia's life and win his freedom.



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San Francisco, CA 94110

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Freedom Archives Home ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Moorbey http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40360-mumia-legal-update.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40336-mumia-fox-finds-new-black-boogeyman.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:52:16 GMT CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

November 9, 2009

Glen Beck's Mumia Obsession


Fox Finds a New Black Boogeyman
By LINN WASHINGTON, Jr.

R elax Rev Jeremiah Wright.

The Fox News cable channel crew has discovered a new all-purpose black boogey-man to rile latent racial animosity in America: Mumia Abu-Jamal, the internationally acclaimed death row journalist.

Abu-Jamal is now a regular reference in the weapons of mass deception arsenal employed by Fox and its friends to demonize their enemies de jour.

A few weeks ago, the campaign mounted by two Fox ideological allies that successfully sacked Fox liberal commentator Dr. Marc Lamont Hill highlighted Hill’s backing of a fair trial for Abu-Jamal as an objectionable offense.

Far-right agitators David Horowitz and Cliff Kincaid saw sinful scandal in FOX simply employing Columbia University Professor Hill for what the scholar was: a liberal hired by Fox to question postures conservatives proclaim sacrosanct.

Kincaid, in an October 19th posting on his Accuracy in Media site, scored Hill for calling Abu-Jamal a “freedom fighter and political prisoner.”

Earlier this summer Fox’s onslaught against now former White House ‘Green Jobs Czar’ Van Jones frequently cited Jones’ support for Abu-Jamal who is on Pennsylvania’s death row due to a controversy mired conviction for killing a Philadelphia policeman.

For weeks, Fox’s popular Glenn Beck bashed Jones for supporting efforts to free “a communist cop killer” – irrespective of the fact that Abu-Jamal is not a communist and card carrying communists never reference Abu-Jamal as a member of their movement.

Frequent emphasis by advocates of Abu-Jamal’s execution, including Fox hosts, that courts have repeatedly held-up Abu-Jamal’s conviction ignore an improbability embedded in that accurate statement about this case.

The same Philadelphia and Pennsylvania courts that have found major flaws in 86 Philadelphia death penalty convictions between Abu-Jamal’s December 1981 arrest and October 2009 declare that not a single error exists in America’s most publicly contentious murder case.

Pa courts, for example, find no foul in prosecutors improperly excluding blacks from Abu-Jamal’s trial jury, manipulating evidence and making secret deals with alleged eyewitnesses – all fundamental fair trial violations producing favorable actions by those courts for defendants in numerous cases.

Another example is Pa State and federal courts voiding 22 death penalties because of failures by defense lawyers to present any mitigating evidence for their clients during death penalty phase hearings following guilty verdicts.

However, those same courts found no fault in the failure of Abu-Jamal’s trial counsel to present any mitigating evidence during the penalty phase hearing.

A problem more troubling than the penchant of Fox and friends to fudge facts is the fact that too much of the mainstream media uncritically embraces rhetoric oozing from the far right, rarely subjecting that rhetoric to full and fair reporting that is supposed to be the cornerstone of journalism.

This lack of full and fair reportage polluted coverage of the onslaught against Van Jones and has long corrupted coverage of the controversial Abu-Jamal conviction.

A September 6, 2009 New York Times article on the resignation of Van Jones from his White House post listed Jones’ public support of Abu-Jamal as one of Jones’ alleged liabilities.

However, that Times article lacked any reference to the fact that Jones, as an Ivy League trained lawyer involved with social justice issues, could legitimately have concerns about the disturbing evidence of fair trial rights violations enmeshed in Abu-Jamal’s conviction.

“Human rights organizations have pointed to egregious procedural mistakes in Abu-Jamal’s original trial, which were obviously rooted in a background of prevalent racism,” stated a resolution approved on October 28th by the City Council of Munich, Germany. Elected leaders in over twenty-five cities from San Francisco to Copenhagen have approved resolutions demanding a new trial for Abu-Jamal.

The seminal February 2000 Amnesty International report on the Abu-Jamal case concluded that “numerous aspects of this case clearly failed to meet minimum international standards safeguarding the fairness of legal proceedings.”

Yet, the New York Times and other major American newspapers deemed Amnesty International’s Abu-Jamal report not worthy of coverage despite major papers carrying nearly thirty articles referencing other AI actions during a ten-day time period surrounding release of that Abu-Jamal report.

Philadelphia’s largest newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, ran a 53-word News Brief on page 2 of its B-section on that thirty-five page AI report.

Although the AI report was the first from a major organization to thoroughly document egregious shenanigans by the Pa Supreme Court in the Abu-Jamal case, – the Inquirer did not consider that report significant enough for full article coverage despite having published 67 articles mentioning Abu-Jamal in 1999 alone

The mainstream news media’s mile-wide-but-inch-thick coverage of Abu-Jamal aids the ability of Fox, its friends and others to exploit public misunderstandings about this case.

Fair trial proceedings are a fundamental tenant of American democracy.

Yet, the judge presiding during Abu-Jamal’s trial displayed unfair bias by proclaiming before jury selection that he was going to help prosecutors “fry the nigger.”

While such an overtly racist remark generally constitutes a judicial error requiring reversal of a conviction, a Philadelphia judge ruled no error existed because the jury not the judge convicted Abu-Jamal.

That ruling contradicts the reality that judges control what evidence a jury hears.

That Amnesty International report noted that “the jury was left unaware of much of the crucial information regarding” the policeman’s death due in part to “the overt hostility of the trial judge.”

Surprisingly, a mainstream media usually quick to prick racially inflammatory remarks exhibits little interest in numerous instances of racism infecting the Abu-Jamal case.

Evidence of outrageous errors underlying Abu-Jamal’s conviction literally hides in plain sight.

One glaring example is photos of the December 1981 crime scene taken by police investigators that do not show a critical element of the prosecution’s case against Abu-Jamal.

The eyewitness testimony of cab driver Robert Chobert was a central pillar of the prosecution’s case against Abu-Jamal but police crime scene photos do not show Chobert’s cab behind the slain officer’s patrol car where prosecutors claimed it was parked when Abu-Jamal killed Officer Daniel Faulkner.

Four police photos capturing different angles of the crime scene contained in the trailer for a forthcoming film about Abu-Jamal’s case do not show Chobert’s cab.

There are only two possible scenarios for the missing cab in those crime scene photos: either police tampered with the crime scene by removing the cab or the cab was never there. Either scenario is a major legal violation warranting a new trial.

Curiously, inconsistencies in crime scene evidence and irregularities in court rulings rarely elicit attention in mainstream media coverage of the Abu-Jamal case that takes a guilty-as-charged tact.

Yet these inconsistencies and irregularities are what fuel the vast international movement supporting a new trial for Abu-Jamal.

On Thursday, November 12th, Abu-Jamal supporters have scheduled a rally at the US Justice Department headquarters in Washington, DC urging Attorney General Eric Holder to launch a civil rights investigation into violations rampant in this contentious case.

One major civil rights violation often overlooked by Abu-Jamal supporters and ignored by his opponents occurred during a critical 1995 appeal hearing.

Pa’s then Governor Tom Ridge sabotaged that proceeding by improperly issuing a death warrant based on confidential information Ridge’s aides obtained from state prison personnel who were illegally intercepting mail sent to Abu-Jamal by his defense lawyers.

Ridge’s warrant enabled biased trial Judge Albert Sabo to rush that appeal hearing where Sabo denied defense lawyers standard opportunities to adequately gather and present evidence.

While a federal appeals court faulted prison personnel for illegally opening Abu-Jamal’s legal mail neither federal nor state courts have found any fault in the damage to fair trial proceedings done by Ridge’s malicious action.

One problem with mainstream media coverage of the Abu-Jamal case and other instances of racial related injustices from the criminal justice system to other sectors of society like education or employment is that coverage presents racial inequities as isolated instead of endemic.

Failure to present inequities in context deprives the public of proper understanding. The 1968 Kerner Commission Report on race relations in America faulted the news media for this failure.

As noted in the Kerner Report, “If what the white American reads in the newspapers or sees on television conditions his expectation of what is ordinary and normal in the larger society, he will neither understand nor accept the black American.”

Linn Washington Jr. is an Associate Professor of Journalism at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa. He writes regularly on the Abu-Jamal case, inequities in the justice system and racism in the news media.



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

Freedom Archives Home ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Moorbey http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40336-mumia-fox-finds-new-black-boogeyman.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40307-video-5-german-activists-speaking-about-mumia-nov-12-a.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:46:36 GMT http://de.sevenload.com/sendungen/Top-TV-im-OKB/folgen/P5HNk2d-FreeMumia02 Resolution on the Occasion of the Full Meeting of the Munich City Council - October 28, 2009 - As a municipality which considerately follows constitutional principles and is committed to just and sustainable... http://de.sevenload.com/sendungen/To...2d-FreeMumia02



Resolution on the Occasion of the Full Meeting of the Munich City Council

- October 28, 2009 -


As a municipality which considerately follows constitutional principles and is committed to just and sustainable ways of development, Munich regards it as its duty to be actively engaged in the worldwide protection of human rights and to not look the other way when governmental abuse infringes on human dignity. In accord with this, the Capital of the State of Bavaria, Munich, has repeatedly taken a stance for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty, particularly in the context of the initiative "Cities for Life - Cities against the Death Penalty," in which several hundred major cities on all continents have participated.

The death penalty is a barbaric act of state violence that constitutes an affront against human dignity. It becomes outright murder whenever the question of guilt has not been unequivocally resolved, such as in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. This African American journalist and civil rights activist has been on death row in the United States for 27 years, accused of having allegedly killed a white police officer. Ever since then, Abu-Jamal has insisted on his innocence, and human rights organizations have pointed to egregious procedural mistakes in Abu-Jamal's original trial, which were obviously rooted in a background of prevalent racism.

For these reasons, we join the world-wide solidarity campaign for Mumia Abu-Jamal and demand a new, fair trial for him. The United States of America are rightfully proud of the oldest democratic constitution of the world with its guarantee of equal rights for all. However, this role model function also obliges the state in question to an extremely careful and humane evaluation of each individual case. As a matter of course, the legal principle in dubio pro reo (or "the benefit of the doubt") is of particular, increased importance in all cases that involve the death penalty.

Beyond this particular case, the Munich City Council of course continues to demand the complete abolition of the death penalty. Particularly in friendly states such as the U.S.A., the decision to do away with it is long overdue. ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Moorbey http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40307-video-5-german-activists-speaking-about-mumia-nov-12-a.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40295-mumia-abu-jamal-faces-new-execution-threat-sf-event-nov-8-a.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:25:47 GMT Mumia Abu-Jamal faces new execution threat -- SF Event Nov. 8 Mumia Abu-Jamal faces new execution threat -- SF Event Nov. 8 : Indybay (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/11/05/18627908.php) by Jeff Mackler Thursday Nov 5th, 2009 12:03 PM Pennsylvania prosecutors, twice rejected in... Mumia Abu-Jamal faces new execution threat -- SF Event Nov. 8

Mumia Abu-Jamal faces new execution threat -- SF Event Nov. 8 : Indybay

by Jeff Mackler
Thursday Nov 5th, 2009 12:03 PM

Pennsylvania prosecutors, twice rejected in their efforts to impose the death penalty on Mumia (in 2001 and 2008), may have found new support in the U.S. Supreme Court.

SF EVENT FOR MUMIA, KEVIN COOPER, AND TROY DAVIS -- Sunday, NOVEMBER 8TH AT 2PM: Centro Del Pueblo, 474 Valencia Street (between 15th and 16th Streets) San Francisco (read more at bottom of article)

After almost 28 years on Pennsylvania’s death row and innumerable battles in the U.S. criminal injustice system, innocent political prisoner, journalist and world renowned “Voice of the Voiceless” Mumia Abu-Jamal lost his final appeal on April 6, 2009. Ignoring it’s own precedents and those of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals below it, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to affirm what had been the “law of the land” for decades, that the systematic and racist exclusion of Blacks from juries voids all guilty verdicts and mandates a new trial.

In Mumia’s 1982 trial presided over by the notorious “hanging judge” Albert Sabo, the prosecutor Joseph McGill used 10 or perhaps 11 of his 15 peremptory strikes against Black jurors. But as with virtually all court decisions over the past decades in Mumia’s case, the “Mumia Exception,” the contorted interpretation of the “law” to reach a predetermined result, was once again applied, with the high court refusing to review the twisted logic of its subordinate bodies thereby allowing Mumia’s frame-up murder conviction to stand.

But what has caught the attention of both legal observers and human rights activists even more is the fact that the same court, while refusing to hear Mumia’s appeal, chose to delay a ruling on a cross appeal filed by the State of Pennsylvania that seeks Mumia’s execution. Pennsylvania prosecutors, twice rejected in their efforts to impose the death penalty on Mumia (in 2001 and 2008), may have found new support in the U.S. Supreme Court.

It appears that the court’s delay in ruling on the validity of Mumia’s original execution sentence was due to its decision to grant oral arguments in the Ohio case of Smith v. Spisak, a case that might re-write or reinterpret the nation’s laws to make it easier to obtain jury verdicts calling for execution. The Court heard Ohio prosecutor’s arguments for Spisak’s execution on October 13, 2009. A ruling is expected in the year ahead.

Frank Spisak, a neo-Nazis who wore a Hitler mustache to his trial, denounced Jews, and Blacks and confessed in court to three hate crime murders in Ohio, saw his jury-imposed death sentence reversed in the federal courts when his attorney’s successfully invoked a 1988 Supreme Court decision in the famous Mills v. Maryland case. Mills requires that in order to find mitigating circumstances sufficient to impose a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, as opposed to the death penalty, the jury’s majority decision (as opposed to unanimous decision) on each mitigating circumstance is sufficient. In both Spisak and Mumia’s case the presiding trial court judge violated Mills and in essence instructed the juries that unanimity, not a majority vote on each mitigating circumstance was required. In both cases the prosecution’s appeal was rejected and Mills was upheld, thus staying the imposed death sentences and ordering a new trial or sentencing hearing with the proper jury instructions. In both cases the prosecution, seeking to avoid a new trial in any form, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court demanding execution.

An April 7, 2009 article in the Legal Intelligencer, the oldest law journal in the country, had this to say about the Supreme Court’s decision to delay a ruling on Pennsylvania’s request to re-impose the death penalty on Mumia.

“In both cases, [Spisak and Abu-Jamal] the federal courts' decisions to overturn the death sentences hinged on Mills v. Maryland -- a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision that governs how juries should deliberate during the penalty phase of a capital trial.

“The Mills ruling struck down a Maryland statute that said juries in capital cases must be unanimous on any aggravating or mitigating factor. [Emphasis added].

“The justices declared that unanimity was properly required for any aggravating factor, but that mitigating factors -- those that weigh against imposing a death sentence -- must be handled more liberally, with each juror free to find on his or her own.”

The effect of Mills was to make it harder for prosecutors to obtain death sentences in capital cases. The Intelligencer concludes, “The question now before the courts is whether Mills requires that death sentences in other states be overturned if the juries in those states are misled by faulty instructions or sufficiently vague verdict forms to believe that mitigating factors require unanimity.” [Emphasis added].

I emphasize the words “other states” because prior to this unexpected turn of events the legal community appeared to agree that Mills applied to all states. That is, if a jury was orally mis-instructed and/or received faulty or unclear verdict forms that implied it needed to be unanimous with regard to mitigating circumstances sufficient to not impose the death penalty, the death penalty was set aside and a new sentencing hearing was ordered.

This is what happened in Mumia’s case when Federal District Court Judge William H. Yohn in 2001 employed Mills to set aside the jury’s death penalty decision. Yohn gave the State of Pennsylvania 180 days to decide whether or not to retry Mumia at a new sentencing hearing where new evidence of innocence can be presented by Mumia, but where the jury can only decide between execution and life in prison without parole. At this hearing, the jury cannot make a decision regarding guilt. Since then, Pennsylvania officials have effectively stayed Yohn’s order by appealing to the higher federal courts.

In deciding to hear Ohio prosecutors’ arguments in the Spisak case with regard to Mills the Supreme Court has implied that one of the key issues they will consider centers on the interpretation of the concept of federalism, that is, that the exercise of power in the U.S. is shared in some measure between the federal government and the states. The political pendulum has swung back and forth on this issue. In past decades, the “states’ rights” interpretation was employed to justify racist state laws that denied Blacks access to public institutions and facilities. With the rise of the Civil Rights movement federal power was used to compel the elimination of the same racist laws. Justice has been far from blind in racist America. It is applied to the advantage of the working class and the oppressed only to the extent that the relationship of forces, that is, the struggles of the masses, demand it.

Since Mills was decided in the State of Maryland, the would-be Ohio and Pennsylvania executioners argue that based on the laws of their states, Mills cannot be automatically applied to the situation in Ohio where a different set of jury instructions and therefore jury deliberations were involved. Indeed, Ohio prosecutors argued before the Supreme Court on October 13 that Ohio and Pennsylvania were the exception and not the rule and that the norm in other states was to essentially reject a strict interpretation of Mills in favor of various state guidelines regarding jury instructions.

Should this “states’ rights” argument be accepted and Mills be effectively constricted, the Supreme Court could then uphold Spisak’s death sentence and, with a mere citation to Spisak and the new interpretation of Mills, uphold the Pennsylvania’s appeal seeking Mumia’s execution.

While most legal observers previously considered a Supreme Court Mills re-interpretation a virtual impossibility, the stage has now been set for such an outcome. The state’s longstanding effort o execute Mumia has been given new legal avenues for success with the top court’s decision to re-consider the Spisak case.

What the Supreme Court will do, however, is far from clear. It will also consider Spisak’s new attorney’s argument that his jury trial lawyers were incompetent in essentially arguing during their trial summation that Spisak was essentially an extreme and horrific nut case who barely understood what he was doing. Should the Supreme Court chose to ignore or side-step Pennsylvania’s Mills arguments and rule only on the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel, the chances of Mumia’s execution recede considerably. The court could also chose to remand the case back to the lower courts to reconsider their previous Mills interpretation in light of the Supreme Court’s possible new instructions on this issue. Second guessing the courts in Mumia’s 28-year legal sojourn has stumped virtually the entire legal community, or at least those who believe that the laws of the land should be implemented without prejudice to the individual concerned. In virtually every instance, however, this has not been the case; an unending series of legal atrocities have been perpetrated against Mumia that expose the criminal “justice” system for the fraud it is in racist and classist America.

Mumia is far from out of danger, especially when his very life, in legal terms, presently hinges on the whims of the Supreme Court, the institution that has already denied his request for a hearing before them on another issue, the systematic and racist exclusion of Black jurors. Such exclusion is explicitly prohibited in the historic 1986 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Batson v. Kentucky. But the court once again ignored its own rulings and even decisions that strengthened Batson claims to hasten Mumia's demise. In every sense Mumia’s life is on the line as never before. Pennsylvania’s Governor Ed Rendell is pledged to sign what could be the third and final warrant for Mumia’s execution, a warrant that would likely order that his life be taken by lethal injection.

Mumia's supporters around the world and Mumia himself have long known that the battle for his life and freedom would be qualitatively more advanced by the construction of a powerful mass movement in the streets that won the hearts and minds of millions and more than reliance on a court system permeated by its very nature with class and race bias.

The state power's march for Mumia’s execution has not been limited to the courts. The 2007 “Murdered by Mumia” book co-authored by Maureen Faulkner, the wife of police officer Daniel Faulkner, who Mumia was falsely convicted of murdering, and rightwing talk radio host, Michael Smerconish, presents an outrageous account of Faulkner’s murder. While having little or no basis in the facts of the case the book has nevertheless been used to advance the Fraternal Order of Police’s longstanding campaign to execute the “cop killer.”

More recently, filmmaker Tigre Hill has produced a work scheduled for a debut in Philadelphia in December and later international distribution entitled, “The Barrel of a Gun,” wherein ex-Black Panther leader Bobby Seal’s rhetoric about “offing the pig,” is coupled with rightwinger David Horowitz’s assertions that Mumia was merely carrying out Panther policy. The three-minute preview or trailer to “The Barrel of a Gun” theorizes, without a shred of evidence, that Mumia and his brother Billy Cook, literally planned the Faulkner murder, ambush style.

Those unfamiliar with Mumia’s background and the facts of the case could only conclude that Mumia was guilty without question. That Mumia had left the disintegrating Panthers more than a decade before his frame-up trial, that he was an award-winning journalist and president of the Association of Black Journalists, a leading reporter/critic of the Philadelphia Police Department, dozens of whose officers were indicted and convicted on Justice Department charges of involvement in drug-running, prostitution, planting and falsification evidence and intimidation of witnesses, was not mentioned.

Today, having exhausted most all legal remedies, Mumia’s supporters are engaged in an important campaign to demand a Justice Department civil rights investigation into charges presented by his supporters that demonstrate illegal collusion between Pennsylvania prosecutors and the judiciary. A delegation of Mumia’s defenders across the country has planned a November 12 visit to Washington, D.C. where a meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder will be sought for this purpose. Thousands of petitions demanding Mumia’s freedom obtained across the world will also be presented Holder and to officials of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Similarly, a mass antiwar protest in Washington, D.C.’s Malcolm X Park is set for Saturday, November 7. In addition to the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from the Middle East the sponsoring Black is Back Coalition is demanding Mumia’s freedom.

In the San Francisco Bay Area the Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal is sponsoring a tour with Amnesty International’s Death Penalty Abolition Campaign leader Laura Moye. Entitled “Innocent but Facing Execution,” the tour will focus on the cases of Mumia, Troy Davis and Kevin Cooper, three innocent frame-up victims of America's racist criminal “justice” system.

For information in Philadelphia call: 215-476-8812. In San Francisco: 510-268-9429.

BAY AREA EVENTS FOR MUMIA:

Sunday, NOVEMBER 8TH AT 2PM: Centro Del Pueblo, 474 Valencia Street (between 15th and 16th Streets) San Francisco

Admission: $5.00 - $20 sliding scale. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Hear:

Laura Moye, Director, Amnesty International’s Death Penalty Abolition Campaign; actively
working for several years with Troy Davis and his family in Georgia

Hans Bennett, Founder, Journalists for Mumia Abu-Jamal; Editor, Free Mumia News; Author,
The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal: Innocent Man on Death Row

Rebecca Doran, leading activist in Kevin Cooper’s defense
Sunday, November 8, 2009 2:00 pm

Sponsor: Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, 510-268-9429 freemumia.org [Note: If you can't attend send your check payable to: "Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal," P.O. Box 10328, Oakland, CA 94610.]

[Also in Palo Alto, Fri., Nov. 6, 7:30 pm, Fellowship Hall, First Baptist Church, 305 N. California
Ave, 650-326-8837, peaceandjustice.org] labor donated
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, NYC



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

Freedom Archives Home ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Moorbey http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40295-mumia-abu-jamal-faces-new-execution-threat-sf-event-nov-8-a.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40250-activists-mumia-abu-jamal-could-face-death-any-day-now.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:32:39 GMT By Saeed Shabazz -Staff Writer- Last updated: Oct 30, 2009 - 1:40:20 PM NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - Activists in New York City engaged in the free Mumia Abu Jamal movement gathered for a meeting in Harlem on Oct. 23, to discuss the mobilization for the Philadelphia journalist on death row,... By Saeed Shabazz -Staff Writer- Last updated: Oct 30, 2009 - 1:40:20 PM

NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - Activists in New York City engaged in the free Mumia Abu Jamal movement gathered for a meeting in Harlem on Oct. 23, to discuss the mobilization for the Philadelphia journalist on death row, convicted in 1982 of killing a police officer. Mr. Abu Jamal has always stated that he was innocent.

“Resistance is growing—preparations are in progress,” Dr. Suzanne Ross, a clinical psychologist and co-chairperson of the Free Mumia/NY Coalition explained to The Final Call. Ms. Ross said she attended the emergency meeting at the Abiding Truth Ministries church in Philadelphia on Oct. 17, where plans were laid out for the upcoming campaign to get Mr. Abu Jamal freed.

“The Philadelphia meeting was full of a high-level of consciousness and energy—all focused on saving Mumia Abu Jamal,” Dr. Ross said.

Rallies were held Oct. 24 in Philadelphia in front of the Fraternal Order of Police headquarters, a group that has been quite vocal concerning putting Abu Jamal to death; another rally is set for Washington, D.C., on Nov. 12 in front of the Dept. of Justice. Letters and petitions calling on U.S. Attorney Eric Holder to open up a civil rights investigation concerning Mr. Abu Jamal's case will be delivered to the federal agency.

Attorney Roger Wareham of the Brooklyn-based December 12th Movement explained to The Final Call why he wrote the attorney general. “At this point it is a question of trying to find any avenue to save Mumia's life and to win vindication for him, so that he may go free,” Mr. Wareham said.

“We have turned to the attorney general because we do not have faith that the decision from the U.S. Supreme Court will be favorable; even though there is enough undeniable proof that Mumia's rights were violated during his trial,” Mr. Wareham said. The high court is reviewing a case that may decide Mr. Abu Jamal's case because some of the elements to be considered are similar.

Supporters have also started an online petition at FreeMumia.com that asks the attorney general to open a civil rights probe.

In July, the NAACP passed an emergency resolution during its 100th anniversary convention in NYC, asking Mr. Holder to conduct a civil rights investigation. “We had a meeting with the attorney general, and the subject of Mumia Abu Jamal did surface. The attorney general said he was aware of the case and would look into it and get back to us,” Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington office and senior vice president for advocacy and policy told The Final Call.

Supporters for slain officer Daniel Faulkner hope the attorney general “won't intercede.” State and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have said they haven't found any wrongdoing in the handling of the Abu Jamal case in 1982, they argue.

Mr. Abu Jamal's attorney Robert Bryan, appearing in The Netherlands for the Oct. 10 World Day Against the Death Penalty commemoration sponsored by Amnesty International, told the gathering “Mumia is now a global symbol in the campaign against the death penalty. This is the most dangerous time for Mumia since his 1981 arrest.”

Mr. Bryan, a San Francisco-based death penalty attorney also explained that the U.S. Supreme Court would hear a case, with similarities to his client's case on Oct.13. He said that Smith v. Spisak may well determine if the court would re-instate Abu-Jamal's death sentence. The attorney's statements were e-mailed to journalists and supporters.

According to Cases - All terms | The Oyez Project, a Web site that tracks U.S. Supreme Court cases, neo Nazi Frank Spisak was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Ohio. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his contention that he received ineffective counsel and that at sentencing the jury instructions were unconstitutional, ignoring Ohio Supreme Court standards for prejudice.

In 2008, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Mr. Abu Jamal's death sentence should be overturned and he should serve life in prison without parole. The Supreme Court in April did not act on a petition filed by the Philadelphia district attorney Lynne Abraham demanding reinstatement of Mr. Abu Jamal's death sentence. Attorney Bryan had gone to Washington to argue that Mr. Abu Jamal's case was rampant with racism, starting with the fact that Blacks were excluded from the jury.

According to the Sheridan Texas Project in Austin, which advocates for a moratorium on executions, the Supreme Court may decide to side step Mr. Abu Jamal's prosecutor's petition while hearing Smith v. Spisak; and if those prosecutors are successful in having Spisak's death sentence restored—the justices won't bother to hear the Philadelphia activist's case.

The justices may only issue a one-page order for the Third Circuit Court to reconsider whether Mr. Abu Jamal should have his death sentence re-instated, the group said.

“We have had 28 years of struggling to free Mumia, and now our numbers are growing—not diminishing,” stated Pam Africa, co-chair of the International Committee of Friends and Family of Mumia Abu Jamal, in Philadelphia. “Our goal now is to get people organized and educated about the case, and how the people can save Mumia's life.

“Our faith is in the people, and their ability to put pressure on the people in power,” Ms. Africa said.

Mr. Bryan, during his Netherlands address, noted the importance of the movement in Germany to save Mr. Abu Jamal and the impact it would have on other nations. Organizers of the International Campaign to Save Mumia Abu Jamal reported that if the Supreme Court or the Third Circuit Court rules to re-instate his death sentence, three days after such ruling there will be demonstrations in Germany, Mexico and Greece in front of the U.S. embassies. ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Moorbey http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40250-activists-mumia-abu-jamal-could-face-death-any-day-now.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40233-germany-passes-resolution-demanding-new-trial-mumia.html Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:11:45 GMT CITY OF MUNICH, GERMANY PASSES A RESOLUTION DEMANDING A NEW TRIAL FOR MUMIA! INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT AT THIS KEY MOMENT PD (Social-Democratic Party) – Parliamentary Group Alliance 90/The Greens/Pink List – Parliamentary Group FDP (Liberal-Democratic Party) – Parliamentary Group Die LINKE (Left... CITY OF MUNICH, GERMANY PASSES A RESOLUTION DEMANDING A NEW TRIAL FOR MUMIA!

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT AT THIS KEY MOMENT
PD (Social-Democratic Party) – Parliamentary Group
Alliance 90/The Greens/Pink List – Parliamentary Group
FDP (Liberal-Democratic Party) – Parliamentary Group
Die LINKE (Left Party) – Parliamentary Group

Resolution on the Occasion of the Full Meeting of the Munich City Council

– October 28, 2009 –

As a municipality which considerately follows constitutional principles and is committed to just and sustainable ways of development, Munich regards it as its duty to be actively engaged in the worldwide protection of human rights and to not look the other way when governmental abuse infringes on human dignity. In accord with this, the Capital of the State of Bavaria, Munich, has repeatedly taken a stance for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty, particularly in the context of the initiative "Cities for Life – Cities against the Death Penalty," in which several hundred major cities on all continents have participated.

The death penalty is a barbaric act of state violence that constitutes an affront against human dignity. It becomes outright murder whenever the question of guilt has not been unequivocally resolved, such as in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. This African American journalist and civil rights activist has been on death row in the United States for 27 years, accused of having allegedly killed a white police officer. Ever since then, Abu-Jamal has insisted on his innocence, and human rights organizations have pointed to egregious procedural mistakes in Abu-Jamal's original trial, which were obviously rooted in a background of prevalent racism.

For these reasons, we join the world-wide solidarity campaign for Mumia Abu-Jamal and demand a new, fair trial for him. The United States of America are rightfully proud of the oldest democratic constitution of the world with its guarantee of equal rights for all. However, this role model function also obliges the state in question to an extremely careful and humane evaluation of each individual case. As a matter of course, the legal principle in dubio pro reo (or "the benefit of the doubt") is of particular, increased importance in all cases that involve the death penalty.

Beyond this particular case, the Munich City Council of course continues to demand the complete abolition of the death penalty. Particularly in friendly states such as the U.S.A., the decision to do away with it is long overdue.


--Mumia is Innocent! Stop the Frame Up! Free Mumia!--

Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, NYC
P.O. Box 16, College Station, NY, NY 10030
212-330-8029, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, NYC, info@FreeMumia.com ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Moorbey http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40233-germany-passes-resolution-demanding-new-trial-mumia.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40216-letter-petition-holder.html Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:57:30 GMT US Department of Justice
Washington, DC
April 2009

To Eric Holder, US Attorney General:

We write to you with a sense of grave concern and outrage about the US Supreme Court's denial of a hearing to Mumia Abu-Jamal on the issue of racial bias in jury selection, that is, the "Batson issue". Inasmuch as there is no other court to which Abu-Jamal can appeal for justice, we turn to you for remedy of a 27- year history of gross violations of US constitutional law and international standards of justice as documented by Amnesty International and many other legal groups around the world.

We call on you and the Justice Department to immediately commence a civil rights investigation to examine the many examples of egregious and racist prosecutorial and judicial misconduct dating back to the original trial in 1982 and continuing through to the current inaction of the US Supreme Court. The statute of limitations should not be a factor in this case as there is very strong evidence of an ongoing conspiracy to deny Abu-Jamal his constitutional rights.

We are aware of the many differences that exist between the case of former Senator Ted Stevens and Mumia Abu-Jamal. Still, we note with great interest the actions you have taken with regard to Senator Stevens' conviction to assure that he not be denied his constitutional rights. You were specifically outraged by the fact that the prosecution withheld information critical to the defense's argument for acquittal, a violation clearly committed by the prosecution in Abu-Jamal's case. Mumia Abu-Jamal, though not a US senator of great wealth and power, is a Black man revered around the world for his courage, clarity, and commitment and deserves no less than Senator Stevens.

Cordially,

NAME ADDRESS E-MAIL

____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _

PLEASE RETURN TO: FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL, PO BOX 16, COLLEGE STATION, NEW YORK, NY, 10030, (212) 330-8029 www.freemumia. com

---------- Post added at 11:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:41 AM ----------

US Department of Justice
Washington, DC
April 2009

To Eric Holder, US Attorney General:

We write to you with a sense of grave concern and outrage about the US Supreme Court's denial of a hearing to Mumia Abu-Jamal on the issue of racial bias in jury selection, that is, the "Batson issue". Inasmuch as there is no other court to which Abu-Jamal can appeal for justice, we turn to you for remedy of a 27- year history of gross violations of US constitutional law and international standards of justice as documented by Amnesty International and many other legal groups around the world.

We call on you and the Justice Department to immediately commence a civil rights investigation to examine the many examples of egregious and racist prosecutorial and judicial misconduct dating back to the original trial in 1982 and continuing through to the current inaction of the US Supreme Court. The statute of limitations should not be a factor in this case as there is very strong evidence of an ongoing conspiracy to deny Abu-Jamal his constitutional rights.

We are aware of the many differences that exist between the case of former Senator Ted Stevens and Mumia Abu-Jamal. Still, we note with great interest the actions you have taken with regard to Senator Stevens' conviction to assure that he not be denied his constitutional rights. You were specifically outraged by the fact that the prosecution withheld information critical to the defense's argument for acquittal, a violation clearly committed by the prosecution in Abu-Jamal's case. Mumia Abu-Jamal, though not a US senator of great wealth and power, is a Black man revered around the world for his courage, clarity, and commitment and deserves no less than Senator Stevens.

Cordially,

NAME ADDRESS E-MAIL

____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _

PLEASE RETURN TO: FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL, PO BOX 16, COLLEGE STATION, NEW YORK, NY, 10030, (212) 330-8029 www.freemumia. com ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Moorbey http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40216-letter-petition-holder.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40022-thursday-letters-delivered-eric-holder-mumia.html Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:37:32 GMT MUMIA IS ALWAYS THERE FOR US; WE MUST BE THERE FOR HIM!

From: Mumia NYC (info@freemumia.com)
===============

SAVE THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12TH FOR THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTERS, CALLING FOR A CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION OF MUMIA'S CASE, TO ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER !!!
11 AM PRESS CONFERENCE
1 PM DELIVERY OF LETTERS TO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

AT THIS CRITICAL MOMENT IN MUMIA'S CASE, A CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION COULD MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH FOR HIM. IT COULD ALSO OPEN THE DOOR FOR MUMIA'S ULTIMATE RELEASE.

There is right now a very dangerous converging of forces committed to the execution of Mumia. Lynne Abraham, the current District Attorney in Philadelphia, is calling loudly for the Supreme Court to reinstate Mumia's death sentence so that Governor Ed Rendell can do what he has repeatedly promised to do: sign the death warrant. The US Supreme Court is currently reviewing a death penalty case that could have serious implications for Mumia. A ruling on Mumia's case could come anytime.

To cover up the obscenity of their trying to murder an innocent Black man, a great thinker and revolutionary, they now have a Black man, Seth Williams, leading the race for those running to replace DA Abraham. Williams, who is expected to be the next DA of Philadelphia, has stated that he believes Mumia is guilty and should be executed. He is being actively supported by the Fraternal Order of Police.

Finally, on December 9th, the 28th anniversary of the original incident that led to Mumia's incarceration and death sentence, a new film, a hit-piece, called "The Barrel of a Gun" also produced by a Black man, will premiere both in the US and Germany.

PLEASE JOIN US. YOU CAN DO ANY OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:

1. Organizations: co-sponsor the November 12th event at the Justice Department, and please, send us whatever financial contributions you can. We are asking for at least $50 from each organization. Checks should be made out to the FMAJC/IFCO and sent to FMAJC, PO Box 16, College Station, New York, NY 10030, or you can make a contribution on Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, NYC

2. Organizations and individuals: Help us get the word out. Mobilize. Raise and contribute money. Forward this letter to your lists. Fliers will be ready in a few days.

3. Come to the Coalition's next meeting, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23rd, at 6:30 PM at ST. MARY'S CHURCH, 521 WEST 126TH STREET, BETWEEN AMSTERDAM AND BROADWAY to get fliers, share ideas, and volunteer your work and financial contributions. Organizations are urged to send representatives. Everyone attending will be encouraged to take on work.

WORK MEETING: FRIDAY, OCT 23, 6:30 PM, AT ST. MARY'S CHURCH, 521 WEST 126TH STREET
(LIST OF SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS AND OTHER DETAILS WILL FOLLOW, AS WILL FLIERS)

Free Mumia and All Political Prisoners! Abolish the Death Penalty! Abolish the
Prison Industrial Complex!

Ona Move!
Pam Africa, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Suzanne Ross, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition

For more information: Call 212-330-8029, 215-476-8812 and check Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, NYC


Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

Freedom Archives Home ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Moorbey http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/40022-thursday-letters-delivered-eric-holder-mumia.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/39916-saturday-october-17th-emergency-mumia-meeting-philly.html Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:23:41 GMT On Saturday, October 17th, the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition is joining International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal in an emergency meeting to deal with startlingly serious developments in Mumia's case. Pam Africa, head of the worldwide Movement to Free Mumia, is asking everyone to be there and to organize others to attend.

Saturday, October 17th, Noon - 3PM
ABIDING TRUTH MINISTRIES
846 South 57th Street (& Christian)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Please call the Mumia Hotline: (212) 330-8029 for transportation to Philly.
We will be leaving from New York at 9AM and be back in New York by 7PM.

-The Supreme Court is back in session, and the legal blogs are saying there is a strong possibility that the US Supreme Court will reinstate the Death Penalty for Mumia.

-Seth Williams, the Democratic candidate (and presumptive winner) for Philly D.A., has publicly pledged to pursue execution: "From my review of the evidence, if there was a new sentencing hearing I would ask for the death penalty."

-"The Barrel of a Gun" is the latest regurgitation of Prosecutor Joe McGill's nailing Mumia as Guilty of murder because he was a Panther: Panthers read Mao (the title's subtlety) and Mao used guns. Naturally, this well- financed and distributed documentary will be released for the December 9th Anniversary of Mumia's capture in 1981, and used to popularize calls for Mumia's execution.

We must protest the actions of the enemy before they happen! Come out on the 17th and plan to stop evil in its tracks! ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Moorbey http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/39916-saturday-october-17th-emergency-mumia-meeting-philly.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/39856-dangerous-news-us-supreme-court-might-reinstate-death-penalty-mumia.html Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:48:48 GMT We have been saying that there is a strong possibility that the US Supreme Court will reinstate the Death Penalty for Mumia. This while the leading candidate running to replace Lynne Abraham as Attorney General is calling for Mumia's execution and a new hit piece film by Tigre Hill "The Barrel of a Gun" is scheduled to be released around December 9th, the 28th anniversary of Mumia's arrest and the beginning of the subsequent conspiracy to have him executed. Now this article. Please pay close attention and stay tuned for our messages.


Suzanne Ross, for the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition

This is most alarming news:
Ohio Death Penalty Case Might Determine Abu-Jamal's Fate

Shannon P. Duffy

The Legal Intelligencer

October 12, 2009

Lawyers for convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal will be watching closely on Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court takes up an Ohio death penalty case because its outcome may very well decide whether Abu-Jamal's death sentence will be reinstated.

In April, Abu-Jamal lost his final appeal seeking a new trial for the December 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner when the justices refused to take up the issue of whether blacks were unfairly excluded from the jury.

But, at the time, the justices took no action on a companion petition filed by the Philadelphia district attorney's office demanding reinstatement of Abu-Jamal's death sentence despite having discussed it weeks before.

Now it appears certain that the high court has decided to hold the Philadelphia prosecutors' petition in abeyance pending the outcome of Smith v. Spisak -- an Ohio case that raises strikingly similar issues to those in Abu-Jamal's case.

If the prosecutors in that case are successful and win reinstatement of the death sentence imposed on Frank G. Spisak, the justices may then see no need to take up Abu-Jamal's case.

Instead, at that point, it's likely that the justices would simply issue a one-page order in Abu-Jamal's case that would summarily reverse the decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and order the appellate court to reconsider whether Abu-Jamal's death sentence should be reinstated.

Why is Abu-Jamal's case so similar to Spisak's? Both were on death row for notorious murders, but both won rulings in federal court that granted them partial new trials limited to the penalty phase.

In both cases, the federal courts' decisions to overturn the death sentences hinged on Mills v. Maryland -- a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision that governs how juries should deliberate during the penalty phase of a capital trial.

The Mills ruling struck down a Maryland statute that said juries in capital cases must be unanimous on any aggravating or mitigating factor. Voting 5-4, the justices declared that unanimity was properly required for any aggravating factor, but that mitigating factors -- those that weigh against imposing a death sentence -- must be handled more liberally, with each juror free to find on his or her own.

Since then, Mills has proven to be a powerful tool for defense lawyers aiming to overturn death sentences in numerous other states.

The question now before the courts is whether Mills truly requires that death sentences in other states be overturned if the juries in those states might have been confused by faulty instructions or verdict forms and led to believe that mitigating factors require unanimity.

Perhaps even more important to the justices is a corollary question of federalism: Is it fair for the federal courts to overturn a state court's decision on how to interpret Mills by imposing its own interpretation that extends Mills beyond its original scope?

It's possible that the justices will provide the answers to those questions in Spisak's case that will be immediately applied to Abu-Jamal's case -- with Abu-Jamal and his lawyers forced to simply watch and wait until that happens.

Spisak, 57, was sentenced to death in 1983 for a killing spree at Cleveland State University after a monthlong trial that reportedly included testimony that he was a neo-Nazi and cross-dresser.

According to briefs in the case, Spisak killed Horace T. Rickerson, Timothy Sheehan and Brian Warford and also shot at John Hardaway and Coletta Dartt. Hardaway was shot seven times but survived and identified Spisak as the shooter.

After his arrest, Spisak confessed to all five shootings and declared that his actions were motivated by his hatred of gay people, blacks and Jews.

As Ohio prosecutors argued in their Supreme Court brief, Spisak "proudly testified at length as to his neo-Nazi beliefs and told the jury that those beliefs had motivated the murders."

In 2006, the 6th Circuit overturned Spisak's death sentence based on a Mills violation as well as findings that his lawyers were ineffective and had "demonized" Spisak during the trial.

The Supreme Court overturned the ruling and ordered the 6th Circuit to study the case again in light of two other decisions by the high court.

But the 6th Circuit in 2008 reinstated its prior decisions, finding they were correct.

Now the Supreme Court has taken the Spisak case up a second time to tackle the question of whether the 6th Circuit failed to give proper deference to the Ohio state courts "when it applied Mills v. Maryland to resolve ... questions that were not decided or addressed in Mills."

Abu-Jamal's lead lawyer, Robert R. Bryan of San Francisco, said in April that the issue in Spisak is "very similar" to the issue raised in the prosecutors' petition in Abu-Jamal's case.

"The question we've got," Bryan said at the time, "is whether we'll be left dangling in the wind until Spisak is decided."

In the prosecutor's petition in Abu-Jamal's case, Deputy District Attorney Ronald Eisenberg argued that the 3rd Circuit failed to give the proper deference to the rulings of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which had addressed the Mills issue in 1995 and -- relying on a 3rd Circuit decision -- concluded that the Pennsylvania jury instructions did not run afoul of Mills.

But by the time Abu-Jamal's case made its way into the federal courts, the 3rd Circuit "had changed its mind," Eisenberg argued, with a series of decisions that said the Pennsylvania courts' analysis of Mills was not only wrong but unreasonable.

Eisenberg urged the justices to see a difference between Mills -- where the Maryland jury was specifically instructed that it had to be unanimous on mitigating factors -- and the situation in states like Pennsylvania, where the issue is much subtler and hinges on speculation by the federal courts that the jury might have been confused.

"The difficulty with the 3rd Circuit's 'risk of confusion' view is that Mills, quite simply, stated no such rule," Eisenberg argues. ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Moorbey http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/39856-dangerous-news-us-supreme-court-might-reinstate-death-penalty-mumia.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/39834-10-12-pam-africa-wurd-am-radio.html Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:24:35 GMT Wurd-am philadelphia has been on fire discussing the very serious situation
developing around the increased threats against mumia abu-jamal. Pam africa
will appear on wurd's bill anderson show this coming monday and it is
definitely not to be missed!!

++++++++

the bill anderson radio show
monday, october 12
8:00-9:00 am
wurd - 900AM WURD

++++++++

please tune in and pass the word!! ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal nattyreb http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/39834-10-12-pam-africa-wurd-am-radio.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/39818-10-17-emergency-mtg-mumia.html Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:28:08 GMT PLEASE FORWARD AND REPOST -- FOR BROADEST POSSIBLE DISTRIBUTION --------------- INTERNATIONAL CONCERNED FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL IS CALLING FOR EVERYBODY TO COME TOGETHER NOW! **** EMERGENCY MEETING **** WE NEED YOU TO BE THERE AND ORGANIZE OTHERS TO ATTEND!! PLEASE FORWARD AND REPOST -- FOR BROADEST POSSIBLE DISTRIBUTION
---------------

INTERNATIONAL CONCERNED FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
IS CALLING FOR EVERYBODY TO COME TOGETHER NOW!

**** EMERGENCY MEETING ****

WE NEED YOU TO BE THERE AND ORGANIZE OTHERS TO ATTEND!!

*******************

OCTOBER 17, 2009
ABIDING TRUTH MINISTRIES
846 S. 57TH ST. (57TH & CHRISTIAN)
PHILADELPHIA, PA
12:00 - 3:00 PM

******************

MUMIA IS UNDER ATTACK!

-- SUPREME COURT RULING COULD COME DOWN ANY DAY!

-- SETH WILLIAMS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR D.A., HAS PLEDGED
TO CALL FOR THE EXECUTION OF MUMIA:
"From my review of the evidence, if there was a new sentencing hearing I would ask for the death penalty."
Michael Smerconish: A German surrender (on Mumia) | Philadelphia Daily News | 08/27/2009

-- "THE BARREL OF A GUN" MUMIA LYNCH MOB FILM SLATED FOR RELEASE IN DECEMBER:
The Fantasies of Joe McGill ? a response to the trailer for "The Barrel of A Gun" | Philadelphia Independent Media Center


++++ IN 1985 WILSON GOODE AND LEO BROOKS ACTED AS BLACK HIT MEN AGAINST MOVE

++++ IN 2009 SETH WILLIAMS AND TIGRE HILL ARE ACTING AS BLACK HIT MEN AGAINST MUMIA


Y'ALL ALREADY KNOW THEY'VE RUN THIS GAME BEFORE, WE'VE GOT TO PLAN ACTIONS RIGHT NOW TO FIGHT BACK!!


DON'T BE MIA ON OCTOBER 17!!
--------

CONTACT ICFFMAJ AT 215-476-8812
icffmaj@aol.com or info@freemumia.com
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, NYC
Abu-Jamal News - Journalists for Mumia Abu-Jamal ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal nattyreb http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/39818-10-17-emergency-mtg-mumia.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/39804-new-german-statement-mumia-der-spiegel-michael-smerconish-m.html Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:43:24 GMT http://www.phillyim c.org/en/ germany-controve rsy-about- possible- execution- mumia http://de.indymedia .org/2009/ 10/262563. shtml Controversy about possible execution of Mumia By Anton Mestin? ? http://www.phillyim c.org/en/ germany-controve rsy-about- possible- execution- mumia

http://de.indymedia .org/2009/ 10/262563. shtml

Controversy about possible execution of Mumia

By Anton Mestin?

?

In recent weeks a group of neo-con journalists surrounding Mike Smerconish from Philaldephia launched a media campaign to warm up the american public to the idea of an execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Fully aware that this won't go down well they wrote various articles all over the US and in Europe, too.

At the same time Anti-Death Penalty activists and Mumia supporters start mobilizing against the pending death threat that Mumia is under. A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court could come any day now.

The lynch mob swings into action

In Germany e.g., the weekly DER SPIEGEL fell to their propaganda and published Smerconish influenced lies on almost 5 pages this summer. This article was widely discussed within the german movement to support Mumia. Some of the letters and forum contributions can be found here:
?http://mumia- hoerbuch. de/mumiadeutsch. htm#spiegelhetze

Mike Smerconish is involved in media bias against Mumia Abu-Jamal for the last 20 years. He published various articles and a book together with Maureen Faulkner to increase the pressure for an execution of Mumia. The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) - by some described as the legal wing of the Clu Clux Clan - paid several million US-$ in the past to support this campaign.

Now Smerconish paid a filmmaker, Tigre Hill to produce a new vicious attack on reality. They will publish a film about Mumia Abu-Jamal and Daniel Faulkner in December 2009. The german author Michael Schiffmann had a look at various press releases and wrote the following article with the title "The Fantasies of Joe McGill":
?http://againstthecr imeofsilence. de/material/ News/The% 20Fantasies% 20of%20Joe% 20McGill% 20Final.pdf/ view

Since the FOP is very aware of the international solidarity for Mumia Abu-Jamal they concentrate on public opinion in France and Germany, too. Everyone interested could have a look on upcoming press releases in Europe and counteract the attempt of distorting the truth in regard to the injust incarceration of Mumia. He has set on Pennsylvanian death row for more than 27 years. In April 2009 the U.S. Supreme Court denied his last possible attempt to get a new trial without any explanation. For this, again, they had to break their own constitution. The latest example of the "Mumia exception" is the neglection of ten jurors, who were simply excluded from the jury in Mumias initial trial in 1981 because they were black. Since 1986 racist exclusion of jurors always led to completely new trials. But for Mumia no court seems to be bound to the US constitution.

Now a decision by the same court is still pending on whether or not to re-instate the death penalty against Mumia, as the District Attourney of Philadephia demands. This decision could come any day now.

Resistance is growing - preparations are in progress

Supporters of Mumia in many countries call for action on the 3rd day after the court's decision, if they decide to re-instate the death penalty. In addition, in Germany many organizations call for a central demonstration in Berlin towards the US embassy on the last Saturday before a possible execution date:
?http://mumia- soli-muenchen. tk/

Anti-Death Penalty activists noticed that authorities are likely to speed up execution procedures if they expect protests. This could be seen with the protests around Troy Davis last autumn. By now the global Anti-Death Penalty movement saved Toy Davis' life for three times already. Recently the US Supreme Court gave in and ordered a new trial with clear instructions to listen to all the surpressed evidence indicating his innocence.
Therefor supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal started mobilizing and preparations against a possible death penalty re-installment already.

In the USA many concentrate on the Obama government. The NAACP and others demand a civil rights investigation into the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. They want the Government and "...Attorney General Eric Holder to immediately initiate a civil rights investigation addressing a 27-year history of prosecutorial and judicial violations of Mumia Abu-Jamal's constitutional and international rights..." (qoute from the petition itself). To sign this petition online everything can be found here:
?http://www.iacenter .org/mumiapetiti on/?

A german version of this petition can be found here:
?http://mumia- hoerbuch. de/mumiadeutsch. htm#petitionhold er

In Greece, Germany and Mexico public actions of civil disobediance against US Government institutions are anounced already with new calls to action joinning in on a daily basis.

Mumia's life is in great danger. Unlike 1995 and 1999, when hundreds of thousands protested against the execution - then set by the Pennsylvanian Governor - this time there wouldn't be any legal avenues to counter a valid death penalty verdict. It is down to the movement to find a political solution to the pending death threat. But as with Troy Davis, who was in a similar situation almost a year ago, it is possible to save Mumia Abu-Jamal's life yet again.

?NULLSPAM.Anton. Mestin@web. de ? http://mumia- hoerbuch. de
?

Organize the emergency protests! FREE MUMIA!
?

NYC, July 2009 - Civil Rights Investigation now!
?

Berlin, Mayday 2009 - Free Mumia! Abolish the Death Penalty!
?

Paris, March 2007 - Free Mumia!
?

Berlin, September 2009 - Free Mumia! (Umbruch Bildarchiv)
?

Free Mumia! Abolish the Death Penalty!
?

Heidelberg - Stop The Execution! ]]> Mumia Abu-Jamal Moorbey http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/mumia-abu-jamal/39804-new-german-statement-mumia-der-spiegel-michael-smerconish-m.html