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Mumia Abu Jamal, the victim of a racist Philadelphia police/prosecution frame-up trial in 1982, has been on Pennsylvania's death row for 22 years. His attorneys and supporters are moving on a number of fronts to get him out.
In June 2004, the Supreme Court ruled in the Banks v. Beard case that its 1987 ruling in Mills v. Maryland didn't apply to cases decided before Mills. The Mills decision allowed appeals of sentences where the jury was forced to all agree on mitigating facts or else impose the death sentence. Mumia's trial was in 1982, but his conviction didn't become final until 1990. On October 19th, the Third Circuit lifted an earlier stay of proceedings, denying Mumia's motion for a stay in order to litigate newly discovered facts. Once again, this puts Mumia's appeal process on the "fast track."
Mumia's attorneys interpret the Banks decision as clearly making it impossible to execute Mumia. The state of Pennsylvania has adopted the opposite view and has filed papers with the court insisting that the Banks decision opens the way for Mumia's execution. If Mumia wins, his case will go back to the trial level in the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. At that point, the state must either sentence Mumia to life impisonment or grant him a full jury trial on the issue of sentencing.
Mumia's lead attorney, Robert Bryan, is in the process of preparing a separate motion to remand the case to the US District Court, in order to litigate the bias and racism of the trial judge. The main obstacle to raising new claims and facts at this level has been the infamous 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) -- signed into law by Bill Clinton. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Miller El case liberalized some aspects of the reactionary AEDPA. This may turn out to be a very important opening, providing an opportunity to increase Mumia's chances of getting a broad range of previously excluded issues before the Federal Courts. These include many of the 29 points raised in the original federal habeas corpus brief by Mumia's first habeas legal team, led by Leonard Weinglass.
The complicated set of legal procedures includes at the highest level, the Third Circuit, Mumia's challenge to a Federal District Court ruling that upheld the racist exclusion of Black jurors from Mumia's original trial. The defense will also request that the Third Circuit grant "certificates of appealability" in regard to more than a dozen critical issues that the Federal District Court had rejected.
So Mumia's case is going forward in three separate jurisdictions, simultaneously:
The case will continue to move forward at the federal appeals level, even though there are issues pending in the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas and the U.S. District Court regarding the trial Judge Sabo's statement during the original trial in reference to Mumia: "Yeah, and I'm going to help 'em fry the nigger."
There is also the issue being appealed before the District Court of the exclusion of blacks from the jury, and the failure of PA Supreme Court Judge Castillo (a Philadelphia D.A. at the time of the original trial) to recuse himself from the case.
On October 2nd, twenty-five prominent leaders of a broad range of human and civil rights organizations and other progressive groups met in New York City to establish the National Task Force to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal. This can only be regarded as a great step forward.
The meeting, held at the Center for Constitutional Rights, saw a reunification of activists who had worked for Mumia's freedom over the past decade and longer, plus some new forces which will be essential to securing Mumia's freedom.
The term "Task Force" was agreed upon by the attendees, in order to make it clear that they are not a defense committee, thereby avoiding many of the internal conflicts of past national committees for Mumia. The Task Force was designed to accomplish specific organizational tasks requiring the common efforts of a broad range of groups and individuals.
While it will work in close collaboration with Mumia's formal defense committee, the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal (ICFFMAJ), the Task Force is not seen as a replacement for this committee. The latter works in direct collaboration with Mumia and his legal team and determines the strategic line of Mumia's defense effort.
Below are some topics and strategies discussed at the conference:
A number of national speaking tours were set in motion. Most prominent among who have agreed to work with the Task Force as a speaker is Arundati Roy.
There was an expansion of the present national fund-raising list for legal defense from its present outreach of 2000 to over twice that number. Plans were also made to raise funds for the political defense of Mumia, headed by the International Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
A team of internet specialists was established to bring the national communications effort to tens of thousands of people across the country, Clark Kissinger of Refuse & Resist and Not in Our Name (which have had some success with this) will be assisting in getting this off the ground.
A campaign is planned to generate newspaper and magazine ads detailing the history of Mumia's case, as well as a major effort to secure resolutions of support from hundreds of national and local political, humans rights, and labor organizations, and from city and state governments.
Labor for Mumia will go to district labor councils for new resolutions and to raise additional defense funds.
April 23rd will, once again, be the National Day of Action to Free Mumia, with actions at major cities across the country.
[Tom Lacey is North State Chair of the Peace & Freedom Party and active in the Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal.]
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