mumia AJ
=<div>made his bones?</div><div>
</div><div><div id="area-article-header" class="area" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; width: auto; float: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id="mod-article-byline" class="mod-phillyarticlebyline mod-articlebyline" style="padding: 15px 0px 0px; margin: 10px 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, helvetica, verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(136, 136, 136); font-size: 11px; float: none; font-weight: bold; text-transform: uppercase;"><h5 class="byline" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 3px; border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 68, 136); font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-stretch: normal; text-transform: none;">By Marc Kaufman, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER</h5>POSTED: <span class="pubdate" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: 18px; text-transform: capitalize;">July 25, 1995</span></div></div><div id="area-article-block-1" class="area" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id="mod-article-text-1" class="mod-phillyarticletext mod-articletext" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; border: 0px;"><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">The man who was district attorney 13 years ago and approved seeking the death penalty for Mumia Abu-Jamal today finds the defendant's cause-celebre status appalling and has no doubts about his guilt.</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">That man is Mayor Ed Rendell.</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">"I am confounded by this campaign to make (Abu-Jamal's) case into a political one," said the mayor, speaking publicly on the subject for the first time. "This is a case of a man walking up to a police officer and, without the slightest provocation, blowing him away."</p></div></div><div id="area-article-block-2" class="area" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id="mod-article-text-2" class="mod-phillyarticletextwithadcpc mod-phillyarticletext mod-articletext" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; border: 0px;"><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">"Trying to make it into something else is pure b.s.," he said during a weekend interview.</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">Protesters here and abroad have made Abu-Jamal, 41, into a symbol of the alleged racism of the American criminal-justice system. They contend that he was unfairly convicted by Philadelphia officials who disliked Abu-Jamal</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">because of his history as a political radical.</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">Rendell called the efforts "an incredible campaign, not based on reality."</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">"I have spoken to some of these people from out of town, and they don't even know that Mumia was found four feet away from the officer," he said.</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">Abu-Jamal was convicted in 1982 of murdering Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, 25, at 13th and Locust Streets.</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">The shooting took place after the officer stopped Abu-Jamal's younger brother, William Cook, on a routine traffic violation. The two got into an altercation that Abu-Jamal witnessed as he drove by in his taxi.</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">After a two-week trial, a jury convicted Abu-Jamal of running up to the officer and shooting him first in the back, and then in the face. Abu-Jamal was found by police on the ground near Faulkner with a bullet in his chest.</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">Rendell said he believed that the evidence that Abu-Jamal shot and killed Faulkner "in cold blood" was strong, and that Abu-Jamal deserves the death penalty.</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">The defense "did not put on strong counter-evidence" during the 1982 trial, Rendell said. "There has been a lot of rhetoric lately, but no concrete evidence that he didn't do it. I see no reason to change my opinion."</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">An evidentiary hearing on Abu-Jamal's appeal, filed earlier this month, is scheduled to begin tomorrow before Common Pleas Senior Judge Albert F. Sabo. Defense attorneys have said they will produce eyewitnesses and other evidence that will show Abu-Jamal did not kill Faulkner, and that he did not get a fair trial before Sabo.</p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px;">Rendell said he welcomed the hearing. "I think it could defuse the situation," he said.</p></div></div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal</div><div>
</div><div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Mumia Abu-Jamal</b> (born <b>Wesley Cook</b><sup id="cite_ref-guardian_1-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-guardian-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[1]</a></sup> April 24, 1954) is an American activist and journalist who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_police" title="Philadelphia police" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Philadelphia police</a> officer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Faulkner" title="Daniel Faulkner" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Daniel Faulkner</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Abu-Jamal became involved in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_nationalism" title="Black nationalism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">black nationalism</a> in his youth and was a member of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_Party" title="Black Panther Party" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Black Panther Party</a> until October 1970, after which he became a radio journalist – eventually becoming president of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Association_of_Black_Journalists" title="Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists</a>. On December 9, 1981, Faulkner was fatally shot while conducting a routine <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_stop" title="Traffic stop" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">traffic stop</a> of Abu-Jamal's brother, William Cook. Abu-Jamal was found at the scene with a bullet wound from Faulkner's gun and his own discharged revolver beside him. He was arrested and charged with Faulkner's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder" title="Murder" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">murder</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Prosecution witnesses identified Abu-Jamal as the shooter and two testified that he had confessed to shooting Faulkner. A jury convicted Abu-Jamal on all counts and sentenced him to death. Abu-Jamal spent the next 30 years on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_row" title="Death row" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">death row</a>. After a succession of appeals and hearings, his conviction was upheld but his death sentence vacated. He was resentenced to life imprisonment without parole. District Attorney Seth Williams later stated that no further appeals would be filed in pursuit of the death penalty.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Activists, celebrities, and self-proclaimed liberal groups have criticized the perceived lack of fairness of Abu-Jamal's trial, professed his innocence, and opposed his death sentence.<sup id="cite_ref-amn_2-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-amn-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[2]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[3]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-parl_4-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-parl-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[4]</a></sup> The Faulkner family, public authorities, police organizations, and self-described conservative groups have maintained that Abu-Jamal's trial was fair, his guilt undeniable, and his death sentence appropriate. Once described as "perhaps the world's best known death-row inmate" by <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times" title="The New York Times" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">The New York Times</a></i>,<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[5]</a></sup> during his imprisonment Abu-Jamal has published books and commentaries on social and political issues, including <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_from_Death_Row" title="Live from Death Row" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Live from Death Row</a></i> (1995).</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 7px; font-size: 13.3000001907349px; display: table; zoom: 1; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><h2 style="color: black; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; font-size: 13.3000001907349px; display: inline; line-height: 1.3; background: none;">Contents</h2> <span class="toctoggle" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: 12.5020008087158px;"> [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">hide</a>] </span></div><ul style="line-height: 1.6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Early_life_and_activism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Early life and activism</span></a><ul style="line-height: 1.6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Involvement_with_the_Black_Panthers" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Involvement with the Black Panthers</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Education_and_journalism_career" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">1.2</span> <span class="toctext">Education and journalism career</span></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Arrest_for_murder_and_trial" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Arrest for murder and trial</span></a><ul style="line-height: 1.6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Prosecution_case_at_trial" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Prosecution case at trial</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Defense_case_at_trial" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Defense case at trial</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Verdict_and_sentence" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">2.3</span> <span class="toctext">Verdict and sentence</span></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Appeals_and_review" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Appeals and review</span></a><ul style="line-height: 1.6; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#State_appeals" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">3.1</span> <span class="toctext">State appeals</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Federal_ruling_directing_resentencing" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Federal ruling directing resentencing</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Federal_appeal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">3.3</span> <span class="toctext">Federal appeal</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Death_penalty_dropped" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">3.4</span> <span class="toctext">Death penalty dropped</span></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Life_as_a_prisoner" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Life as a prisoner</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Popular_support_and_opposition" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Popular support and opposition</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#Written_works" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">Written works</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#See_also" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#References" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-18" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#External_links" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="tocnumber">9</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li></ul></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Abu-Jamal was given the name Mumia in 1968 by his high school teacher, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya" title="Kenya" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Kenyan</a> instructing a class on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Africa" title="Culture of Africa" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">African cultures</a> in which students took African classroom names.<sup id="cite_ref-burI_6-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-burI-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[6]</a></sup> According to Abu-Jamal, 'Mumia' means "Prince" and was the name of Kenyan <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-imperialism" title="Anti-imperialism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">anti-colonial</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_nationalism" title="African nationalism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">African nationalists</a> who fought against the British before <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenyan_independence" title="Kenyan independence" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Kenyan independence</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[7]</a></sup> He adopted the surname Abu-Jamal ("father of Jamal" in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language" title="Arabic language" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Arabic</a>) after the birth of his son Jamal on July 18, 1971.<sup id="cite_ref-burI_6-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-burI-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[6]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-bur4_8-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-bur4-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[8]</a></sup> His first marriage at age 19, to Jamal's mother, Biba, was short-lived.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[9]</a></sup> Their daughter, Lateefa, was born shortly after the wedding.<sup id="cite_ref-majfamily_10-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-majfamily-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[10]</a></sup> Abu-Jamal married his second wife, Marilyn (known as "Peachie"),<sup id="cite_ref-bur4_8-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-bur4-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[8]</a></sup> in 1977.<sup id="cite_ref-Oxford_11-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-Oxford-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[11]</a></sup> Their son, Mazi, was born in early 1978.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[12]</a></sup> By 1981, Abu-Jamal was living with his third and current wife, Wadiya.<sup id="cite_ref-Oxford_11-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-Oxford-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[11]</a></sup></p></h2><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Involvement_with_the_Black_Panthers">Involvement with the Black Panthers</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumia_Abu-Jamal&action=edit§ion=2&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Involvement with the Black Panthers" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></h3><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In his own writings, Abu-Jamal describes his adolescent experience of being "kicked ... into the Black Panther Party" after suffering a beating from "white </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism" title="Racism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">racists</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">" and a policeman for his efforts to disrupt a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace#Independent_American_Party_presidential_candidate" title="George Wallace" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">George Wallace for President</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> rally in 1968.</span><sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[13]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> From the age of 14, he helped form the Philadelphia branch of the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_Party" title="Black Panther Party" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Black Panther Party</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> with Defense Captain </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggie_Schell" title="Reggie Schell" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Reggie Schell</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">,</span><sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[14]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-bur1_15-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-bur1-15" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[15]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and other Panthers, taking appointment, in his own words, as the chapter's "Lieutenant of Information", exercising a responsibility for writing information and news communications. In one of the interviews he gave at the time he quoted </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong" title="Mao Zedong" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Mao Zedong</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, saying that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun".</span><sup id="cite_ref-bur5_16-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-bur5-16" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[16]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> That same year, he dropped out of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_High_School(Philadelphia)" title="Benjamin Franklin High School (Philadelphia)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Benjamin Franklin High School</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and took up residence in the branch's headquarters.</span><sup id="cite_ref-bur1_15-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-bur1-15" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[15]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> He spent late 1969 in New York City and early 1970 in </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland,California" title="Oakland, California" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Oakland</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, living and working with BPP colleagues in those cities.</span><sup id="cite_ref-bur2_17-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-bur2-17" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[17]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He was a party member from May 1969 until October 1970 and was subject to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation" title="Federal Bureau of Investigation" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Federal Bureau of Investigation</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO" title="COINTELPRO" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">COINTELPRO</a> surveillance, with which the Philadelphia police cooperated, from then until about 1974</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><sup id="cite_ref-bur3_18-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-bur3-18" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[18]</a></sup></p></h2><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Education_and_journalism_career">Education and journalism career</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumia_Abu-Jamal&action=edit§ion=3&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Education and journalism career" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></h3><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">After leaving the Panthers he returned to his old high school, but was suspended for distributing literature calling for "black revolutionary student power".<sup id="cite_ref-naacp_19-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-naacp-19" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[19]</a></sup> He also led unsuccessful protests to change the school name to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X" title="Malcolm X" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Malcolm X</a> High.<sup id="cite_ref-naacp_19-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-naacp-19" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[19]</a></sup> After attaining his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Educational_Development" title="General Educational Development" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">GED</a>, he studied briefly at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goddard_College" title="Goddard College" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Goddard College</a> in rural <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont" title="Vermont" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Vermont</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-tsb_20-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-tsb-20" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[20]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">By 1975 he was pursuing a vocation in radio newscasting, first at </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_University" title="Temple University" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Temple University</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'s </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRTI" title="WRTI" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">WRTI</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and then at commercial enterprises.</span><sup id="cite_ref-naacp_19-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-naacp-19" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[19]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> In 1975, he was employed at radio station </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHAT(AM)" title="WHAT (AM)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">WHAT</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and he became host of a weekly feature program of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WOGL" title="WOGL" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">WCAU-FM</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> in 1978.</span><sup id="cite_ref-pi1_21-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-pi1-21" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[21]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> He was also employed for brief periods at radio station </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKDN(AM)" title="WKDN (AM)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">WPEN</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, and became active in the local chapter of the Marijuana Users Association of America.</span><sup id="cite_ref-pi1_21-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-pi1-21" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[21]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">From 1979 he worked at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Public_Radio" title="National Public Radio" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">National Public Radio</a>-affiliate (NPR) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHYY-FM" title="WHYY-FM" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">WUHY</a> until 1981 when he was asked to submit his resignation after a dispute about the requirements of objective focus in his presentation of news.</span><sup id="cite_ref-pi1_21-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-pi1-21" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[21]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> As a radio journalist he earned the moniker "the voice of the voiceless" and was renowned for identifying with and giving exposure to the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOVE" title="MOVE" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">MOVE</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-primitivism" title="Anarcho-primitivism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">anarcho-primitivist</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> commune in Philadelphia's </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powelton_Village,Philadelphia" title="Powelton Village, Philadelphia" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Powelton Village</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> neighborhood, including reportage of the 1979–80 trial of certain of its members (the "MOVE Nine") charged with the murder of police officer James Ramp.</span><sup id="cite_ref-pi1_21-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-pi1-21" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[21]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> During his broadcasting career, his high-profile interviews included </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Erving" title="Julius Erving" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Julius Erving</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marley" title="Bob Marley" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Bob Marley</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Haley" title="Alex Haley" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Alex Haley</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, and he was elected president of the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Association_of_Black_Journalists" title="Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><sup id="cite_ref-oconnor_22-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-oconnor-22" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[22]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">At the time of Daniel Faulkner's murder, Abu-Jamal was working as a taxicab driver in Philadelphia two nights a week to supplement his income.<sup id="cite_ref-oconnor_22-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-oconnor-22" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[22]</a></sup> He had been working part-time as a reporter for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WDAS(AM)#WDAS" title="WDAS (AM)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">WDAS</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-pi1_21-4" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-pi1-21" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[21]</a></sup> then an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_culture" title="African-American culture" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">African-American-oriented</a> and minority-owned radio station.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-23" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[23]</a></sup></p></h2><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Arrest_for_murder_and_trial">Arrest for murder and trial</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumia_Abu-Jamal&action=edit§ion=4&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Arrest for murder and trial" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></h2><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="hatnote relarticle mainarticle" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Pennsylvania_v.Mumia_Abu-Jamal" title="Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Mumia Abu-Jamal" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Mumia Abu-Jamal</a></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">
Abu-Jamal was charged with the</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder(United_States_law)#Degrees_of_murder_in_the_United_States" title="Murder (United States law)" style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">first-degree murder</a><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">of Officer Faulkner. The case went to trial in June 1982 in Philadelphia. Judge</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_F.Sabo" title="Albert F. Sabo" style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Albert F. Sabo</a><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">initially agreed to Abu-Jamal's request to</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_se" title="Pro se" class="mw-redirect" style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">represent himself</a><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">, with criminal defense attorney Anthony Jackson acting as his legal advisor. During the first day of the trial, Sabo warned Abu-Jamal that he would forfeit his legal right to self-representation if he kept being intentionally disruptive in a fashion that was unbecoming under the law. Due to Abu-Jamal's continued disruptive behavior, Sabo ruled that Abu-Jamal forfeited his right to self-representation.</span><sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-25" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[25]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-26" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[26]</a></sup>On December 9, 1981, in Philadelphia, close to the intersection at 13th and Locust Streets, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Police_Department" title="Philadelphia Police Department" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Philadelphia Police Department</a> officer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Faulkner" title="Daniel Faulkner" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Daniel Faulkner</a> conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle belonging to William Cook, Abu-Jamal's younger brother. During the traffic stop, Abu-Jamal's taxi was parked across the street. He ran across the street towards Cook's car, where Faulkner was shot from behind and then in the face. Abu-Jamal was shot by Faulkner in the stomach. Faulkner died at the scene from the gunshot to his head. Police arrived and arrested Abu-Jamal, who was found wearing a shoulder holster. His revolver, which had five spent cartridges, was beside him. Abu-Jamal was taken directly from the scene of the shooting to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_University_Hospital" title="Thomas Jefferson University Hospital" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Thomas Jefferson University Hospital</a>, where he received treatment for his wound.<sup id="cite_ref-tr_24-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-tr-24" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[24]</a></sup></p></h2><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Prosecution_case_at_trial">Prosecution case at trial</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumia_Abu-Jamal&action=edit§ion=5&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Prosecution case at trial" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></h3><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The prosecution presented four witnesses to the court. Robert Chobert, a cab driver who testified he was parked behind Faulkner, identified Abu-Jamal as the shooter.<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-27" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[27]</a></sup> Cynthia White, a prostitute, testified that Abu-Jamal emerged from a nearby parking lot and shot Faulkner.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-28" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[28]</a></sup> Michael Scanlan, a motorist, testified that from two car lengths away, he saw a man, matching Abu-Jamal's description, run across the street from a parking lot and shoot Faulkner.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-29" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[29]</a></sup> Albert Magilton, a pedestrian who did not see the actual murder, testified to witnessing Faulkner pull over Cook's car. At the point of seeing Abu-Jamal start to cross the street toward them from the parking lot, Magilton turned away and lost sight of what happened next.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-30" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[30]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The prosecution also presented two witnesses who were at the hospital after the shootings. Hospital security guard Priscilla Durham and police officer Garry Bell testified that Abu-Jamal confessed in the hospital by saying, "I shot the motherfucker, and I hope the motherfucker dies."<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-31" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[31]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_Special" title=".38 Special" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">.38 caliber</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_Arms" title="Charter Arms" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Charter Arms</a> revolver, belonging to Abu-Jamal, with five spent cartridges was retrieved beside him at the scene. He was wearing a shoulder holster, and Anthony Paul, the Supervisor of the Philadelphia Police Department's firearms identification unit, testified at trial that the cartridge cases and rifling characteristics of the weapon were consistent with bullet fragments taken from Faulkner's body.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-32" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[32]</a></sup> Tests to confirm that Abu-Jamal had handled and fired the weapon were not performed, as contact with arresting police and other surfaces at the scene could have compromised the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensics" title="Forensics" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">forensic</a> value of such tests.<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-33" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[33]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-34" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[34]</a></sup></p></h2><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Defense_case_at_trial">Defense case at trial</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumia_Abu-Jamal&action=edit§ion=6&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Defense case at trial" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></h3><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The defense maintained that Abu-Jamal was innocent and that the prosecution witnesses were unreliable. The defense presented nine <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_witness" title="Character witness" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">character witnesses</a>, including poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_Sanchez" title="Sonia Sanchez" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Sonia Sanchez</a>, who testified that Abu-Jamal was "viewed by the black community as a creative, articulate, peaceful, genial man".<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-35" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[35]</a></sup> Another defense witness, Dessie Hightower, testified that he saw a man running along the street shortly after the shooting although he did not see the actual shooting itself.<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-36" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[36]</a></sup> His testimony contributed to the development of a "running man theory", based on the possibility that a "running man" may have been the actual shooter. Veronica Jones also testified for the defense, but she did not see anyone running.<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-37" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[37]</a></sup> Other potential defense witnesses refused to appear in court.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-38" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[38]</a></sup> Abu-Jamal did not testify in his own defense. Nor did his brother, William Cook, who told investigators at the crime scene: "I ain't got nothing to do with this."<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-39" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[39]</a></sup></p></h2><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Verdict_and_sentence">Verdict and sentence</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumia_Abu-Jamal&action=edit§ion=7&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Verdict and sentence" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></h3><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The jury delivered a unanimous guilty verdict after three hours of deliberations.</span></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In the sentencing phase of the trial, Abu-Jamal read to the jury from a prepared statement. He was then <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-examination" title="Cross-examination" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">cross-examined</a> about issues relevant to the assessment of his character by Joseph McGill, the prosecuting attorney.<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-40" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[40]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In his statement Abu-Jamal criticized his attorney as a "legal trained lawyer" who was imposed on him against his will and who "knew he was inadequate to the task and chose to follow the directions of this black-robed conspirator, [Judge] Albert Sabo, even if it meant ignoring my directions". He claimed that his rights had been "deceitfully stolen" from him by Sabo, particularly focusing on the denial of his request to receive defense assistance from non-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attorney_at_law" title="Attorney at law" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">attorney</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Africa" title="John Africa" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">John Africa</a> and being prevented from proceeding <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_se" title="Pro se" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">pro se</a></i>. He quoted remarks of John Africa, and said:</p><blockquote class="templatequote" style="overflow: hidden; margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">Does it matter whether a white man is charged with killing a black man or a black man is charged with killing a white man? As for justice when the prosecutor represents the Commonwealth the Judge represents the Commonwealth and the court-appointed lawyer is paid and supported by the Commonwealth, who follows the wishes of the defendant, the man charged with the crime? If the court-appointed lawyer ignores, or goes against the wishes of the man he is charged with representing, whose wishes does he follow? Who does he truly represent or work for? ... I am innocent of these charges that I have been charged of and convicted of and despite the connivance of Sabo, McGill and Jackson to deny me my so-called rights to represent myself, to assistance of my choice, to personally select a jury who is totally of my peers, to cross-examine witnesses, and to make both opening and closing arguments, I am still innocent of these charges.<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-41" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[41]</a></sup></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Abu-Jamal was subsequently sentenced to death by the unanimous decision of the jury.<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-42" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[42]</a></sup></p></h2><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Appeals_and_review">Appeals and review</span></h2><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="State_appeals">State appeals</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumia_Abu-Jamal&action=edit§ion=9&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: State appeals" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></h3><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Direct appeal of his conviction was considered and denied by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_Pennsylvania" title="Supreme Court of Pennsylvania" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Supreme Court of Pennsylvania</a> on March 6, 1989,<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-43" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[43]</a></sup> subsequently denying rehearing.<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-44" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[44]</a></sup>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States" title="Supreme Court of the United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Supreme Court of the United States</a> denied his petition for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certiorari" title="Certiorari" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">writ of <i>certiorari</i></a> on October 1, 1990,<sup id="cite_ref-45" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-45" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[45]</a></sup> and denied his petition for rehearing twice up to June 10, 1991.<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-46" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[46]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-yn_47-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-yn-47" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[47]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On June 1, 1995, his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_warrant" title="Execution warrant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">death warrant</a> was signed by Pennsylvania Governor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Ridge" title="Tom Ridge" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Tom Ridge</a>.</span><sup id="cite_ref-yn_47-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-yn-47" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[47]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Its execution was suspended while Abu-Jamal pursued state post-conviction review. At the post-conviction review hearings, new witnesses were called. William "Dales" Singletary testified that he saw the shooting and that the gunman was the passenger in Cook's car.</span><sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-48" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[48]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Singletary's account contained discrepancies which rendered it "not credible" in the opinion of the court.</span><sup id="cite_ref-yn_47-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-yn-47" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[47]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-49" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-49" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[49]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">William Harmon, a convicted </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraud" title="Fraud" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">fraudster</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, testified that Faulkner's murderer fled in a car which pulled up at the crime scene, and could not have been Abu-Jamal.</span><sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-50" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[50]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> However, Robert Harkins testified that he had witnessed a man stand over Faulkner as the latter lay wounded on the ground, who shot him point-blank in the face and then "walked and sat down on the curb".</span><sup id="cite_ref-51" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-51" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[51]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-52" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-52" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[52]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The six judges of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled unanimously that all issues raised by Abu-Jamal, including the claim of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ineffective_assistance_of_counsel" title="Ineffective assistance of counsel" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">ineffective assistance of counsel</a>, were without merit.<sup id="cite_ref-53" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-53" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[53]</a></sup> The Supreme Court of the United States denied a petition for <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certiorari" title="Certiorari" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">certiorari</a></i> against that decision on October 4, 1999, enabling Ridge to sign a second death warrant on October 13, 1999. Its execution in turn was stayed as Abu-Jamal commenced his pursuit of federal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus_in_the_United_States" title="Habeas corpus in the United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><i>habeas corpus</i></a>review.<sup id="cite_ref-yn_47-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-yn-47" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[47]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 1999, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Beverly" title="Arnold Beverly" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Arnold Beverly</a> claimed that he and an unnamed assailant, not Mumia Abu-Jamal, shot Daniel Faulkner as part of a contract killing because Faulkner was interfering with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_corruption" title="Political corruption" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">graft</a> and payoff to corrupt police.<sup id="cite_ref-54" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-54" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[54]</a></sup> The Beverly affidavit became an item of division for Mumia's defense team, as some thought it usable and others rejected Beverly's story as "not credible".<sup id="cite_ref-55" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-55" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[55]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Private investigator George Newman claimed in 2001 that Chobert had recanted his testimony.<sup id="cite_ref-56" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-56" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[56]</a></sup> Commentators also noted that police and news photographs of the crime scene did not show Chobert's taxi, and that Cynthia White, the only witness at the trial to testify to seeing the taxi, had previously provided crime scene descriptions that omitted it.<sup id="cite_ref-Lindorff_57-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-Lindorff-57" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[57]</a></sup> Cynthia White was declared to be dead by the state of New Jersey in 1992 although Pamela Jenkins claimed that she saw White alive as late as 1997.<sup id="cite_ref-58" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-58" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[58]</a></sup> Mumia supporters often claim that White was a police informant and that she falsified her testimony against Abu-Jamal.<sup id="cite_ref-59" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-59" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[59]</a></sup> Priscilla Durham's step-brother, Kenneth Pate, who was imprisoned with Abu-Jamal on other charges, has since claimed that Durham admitted to not hearing the hospital confession.<sup id="cite_ref-60" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-60" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[60]</a></sup> The hospital doctors stated that Abu-Jamal was "on the verge of fainting" when brought in and they did not overhear a confession.<sup id="cite_ref-61" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-61" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[61]</a></sup> In 2008, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania rejected a further request from Abu-Jamal for a hearing into claims that the trial witnesses <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perjury" title="Perjury" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">perjured</a> themselves on the grounds that he had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laches(equity)" title="Laches (equity)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">waited too long</a> before filing the appeal.<sup id="cite_ref-62" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-62" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[62]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On March 26, 2012 the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania rejected his most recent appeal for retrial asserted on the basis that a 2009 report by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Academy_of_Science" title="National Academy of Science" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">National Academy of Science</a> demonstrated that forensic evidence put by the prosecution and accepted into evidence in the original trial was unreliable.<sup id="cite_ref-63" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-63" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[63]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-64" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-64" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[64]</a></sup> It was reported to be the former death row inmate's last legal appeal.<sup id="cite_ref-65" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-65" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[65]</a></sup></p></h2><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Federal_ruling_directing_resentencing">Federal ruling directing resentencing</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumia_Abu-Jamal&action=edit§ion=10&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Federal ruling directing resentencing" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></h3><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Abu-Jamal did not make any public statements about Faulkner's murder until May 2001. In his version of events, he claimed that he was sitting in his cab across the street when he heard shouting, then saw a police vehicle, then heard the sound of gunshots. Upon seeing his brother appearing disoriented across the street, Abu-Jamal ran to him from the parking lot and was shot by a police officer.<sup id="cite_ref-66" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-66" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[66]</a></sup> The driver originally stopped by police officer Faulkner, Abu-Jamal's brother William Cook, did not testify or make any statement until April 29, 2001, when he claimed that he had not seen who had shot Faulkner.<sup id="cite_ref-67" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-67" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[67]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H.Yohn,Jr." title="William H. Yohn, Jr." style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Judge William H. Yohn Jr.</a> of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Eastern_District_of_Pennsylvania" title="United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania</a> upheld the conviction but vacated the sentence of death on December 18, 2001, citing irregularities in the original process of sentencing.<sup id="cite_ref-yn_47-4" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-yn-47" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[47]</a></sup> Particularly,</p><blockquote class="templatequote" style="overflow: hidden; margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">... the jury instructions and verdict sheet in this case involved an unreasonable application of federal law. The charge and verdict form created a reasonable likelihood that the jury believed it was precluded from considering any mitigating circumstance that had not been found unanimously to exist.<sup id="cite_ref-yn_47-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-yn-47" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[47]</a></sup></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">He ordered the State of Pennsylvania to commence new sentencing proceedings within 180 days<sup id="cite_ref-68" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-68" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[68]</a></sup> and ruled that it was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconstitutional" title="Unconstitutional" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">unconstitutional</a> to require that a jury's finding of circumstances mitigating against determining a sentence of death be unanimous.<sup id="cite_ref-69" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-69" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[69]</a></sup> Eliot Grossman and Marlene Kamish, attorneys for Abu-Jamal, criticized the ruling on the grounds that it denied the possibility of a <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_de_novo" title="Trial de novo" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">trial de novo</a></i> at which they could introduce evidence that their client had been framed.<sup id="cite_ref-70" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-70" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[70]</a></sup> Prosecutors also criticized the ruling; Officer Faulkner's widow Maureen described Abu-Jamal as a "remorseless, hate-filled killer" who would "be permitted to enjoy the pleasures that come from simply being alive" on the basis of the judgment.<sup id="cite_ref-71" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-71" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[71]</a></sup> Both parties appealed.</p></h2><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Federal_appeal">Federal appeal</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumia_Abu-Jamal&action=edit§ion=11&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Federal appeal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></h3><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">On December 6, 2005, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Third_Circuit" title="United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Third Circuit Court</a> admitted four issues for appeal of the ruling of the District Court:<sup id="cite_ref-72" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-72" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[72]</a></sup></p><ol style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 3.2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">in relation to sentencing, whether the jury verdict form had been flawed and the judge's instructions to the jury had been confusing;</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">in relation to conviction and sentencing, whether racial bias in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_selection" title="Jury selection" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">jury selection</a> existed to an extent tending to produce an inherently biased jury and therefore an unfair trial (the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batson_v.Kentucky" title="Batson v. Kentucky" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Batson</a></i>claim);</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">in relation to conviction, whether the prosecutor improperly attempted to reduce jurors' sense of responsibility by telling them that a guilty verdict would be subsequently vetted and subject to appeal; and</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">in relation to post-conviction review hearings in 1995–6, whether the presiding judge, who had also presided at the trial, demonstrated unacceptable bias in his conduct.</li></ol><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The Third Circuit Court heard oral arguments in the appeals on May 17, 2007, at the United States Courthouse in Philadelphia. The appeal panel consisted of Chief Judge <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Joseph_Scirica" title="Anthony Joseph Scirica" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Anthony Joseph Scirica</a>, Judge <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_L.Ambro" title="Thomas L. Ambro" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Thomas Ambro</a>, and Judge <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cowen" title="Robert Cowen" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Robert Cowen</a>. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania sought to reinstate the sentence of death, on the basis that Yohn's ruling was flawed, as he should have deferred to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which had already ruled on the issue of sentencing, and the <i>Batson</i> claim was invalid because Abu-Jamal made no complaints during the original jury selection. Although Abu-Jamal's jury was racially mixed with 2 blacks and 10 whites at the time of his unanimous conviction, his counsel told the Third Circuit Court that Abu-Jamal did not get a fair trial because the jury was racially-biased, misinformed, the judge was a racist, and noted that the prosecution used eleven out of fourteen peremptory challenges to eliminate prospective black jurors.<sup id="cite_ref-73" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-73" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[73]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-74" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-74" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[74]</a></sup> Terri Maurer-Carter, a former Philadelphia court stenographer claimed in a 2001 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affidavit" title="Affidavit" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">affidavit</a> nearly 20 years after the trial that she overheard Judge Sabo say "Yeah, and I'm going to help them fry the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger" title="Nigger" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">nigger</a>" in the course of a conversation with three people present regarding Abu-Jamal's case.<sup id="cite_ref-75" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-75" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[75]</a></sup> Sabo denied having made any such comment.<sup id="cite_ref-76" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-76" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[76]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">On March 27, 2008, the three-judge panel issued a majority 2–1 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_opinion" title="Judicial opinion" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">opinion</a> upholding Yohn's 2001 opinion but rejecting the bias and <i>Batson</i> claims, with Judge Ambro dissenting on the <i>Batson</i>issue. On July 22, 2008, Abu-Jamal's formal petition seeking reconsideration of the decision by the full Third Circuit panel of 12 judges was denied.<sup id="cite_ref-77" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-77" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[77]</a></sup> On April 6, 2009, the United States Supreme Court also refused to hear Abu-Jamal's appeal, allowing his conviction to stand.<sup id="cite_ref-78" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-78" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[78]</a></sup> On January 19, 2010, the Supreme Court ordered the appeals court to reconsider its decision to rescind the death penalty,<sup id="cite_ref-supreme2010Reuters_79-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-supreme2010Reuters-79" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[79]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-80" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-80" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[80]</a></sup> with the same three-judge panel convening in Philadelphia on November 9, 2010, to hear oral argument.<sup id="cite_ref-81" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-81" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[81]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-82" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-82" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[82]</a></sup> On April 26, 2011, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed its prior decision to vacate the death sentence on the grounds that the jury instructions and verdict form were ambiguous and confusing.<sup id="cite_ref-83" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-83" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[83]</a></sup> The Supreme Court declined to hear the case in October.<sup id="cite_ref-84" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-84" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[84]</a></sup></p></h2><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Death_penalty_dropped">Death penalty dropped</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumia_Abu-Jamal&action=edit§ion=12&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Death penalty dropped" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></h3><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">On December 7, 2011, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_Attorney_of_Philadelphia" title="District Attorney of Philadelphia" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">District Attorney of Philadelphia</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.Seth_Williams" title="R. Seth Williams" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">R. Seth Williams</a> announced that prosecutors, with the support of the victim's family, would no longer seek the death penalty for Abu-Jamal.<sup id="cite_ref-dpdropped_85-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-dpdropped-85" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[85]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-86" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-86" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[86]</a></sup> Faulkner had indicated she did not wish to relive the trauma of another trial, and that it would be extremely difficult to present the case against Abu-Jamal again, after the passage of 30 years and the death of several key witnesses. Williams, the prosecutor, said that Abu-Jamal will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole,<sup id="cite_ref-timeslife_87-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-timeslife-87" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[87]</a></sup> a sentence that was reaffirmed by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superior_Court_of_Pennsylvania" title="Superior Court of Pennsylvania" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Superior Court of Pennsylvania</a> on July 9, 2013.<sup id="cite_ref-88" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-88" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[88]</a></sup> After the press conference, Maureen Faulkner made an emotional statement harshly condemning Abu-Jamal:</p><blockquote class="templatequote" style="overflow: hidden; margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;">I would like to say that I believe the lowest dimension of hell has been reserved for child molesters and unrepentant murderers, like Mumia Abu-Jamal. After thirty years of waiting, the time remaining before Abu-Jamal stands before his ultimate judge. It doesn’t seem so far off as it once did when I was younger. I look forward to that day so I can finally close the chapter of my life and live with the gratification and assurance that Mumia Abu-Jamal will finally receive the punishment he deserves, for all eternity.<sup id="cite_ref-89" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-89" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[89]</a></sup></p></blockquote></h2><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Life_as_a_prisoner">Life as a prisoner</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumia_Abu-Jamal&action=edit§ion=13&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Life as a prisoner" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></h2><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In 1991 Abu-Jamal published an essay in the <i>Yale Law Journal</i>, on the death penalty and his death row experience.<sup id="cite_ref-90" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-90" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[90]</a></sup> In May 1994, Abu-Jamal was engaged by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Public_Radio" title="National Public Radio" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">National Public Radio</a>'s <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Things_Considered" title="All Things Considered" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">All Things Considered</a></i> program to deliver a series of monthly three-minute commentaries on crime and punishment.<sup id="cite_ref-91" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-91" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[91]</a></sup> The broadcast plans and commercial arrangement were canceled following condemnations from, among others, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraternal_Order_of_Police" title="Fraternal Order of Police" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Fraternal Order of Police</a><sup id="cite_ref-92" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-92" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[92]</a></sup> and US Senator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dole" title="Bob Dole" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Bob Dole</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Republican_Party" title="United States Republican Party" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">R</a>-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas" title="Kansas" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Kan.</a>).<sup id="cite_ref-93" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-93" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[93]</a></sup> Abu-Jamal sued NPR for not airing his work, but a federal judge dismissed the suit.<sup id="cite_ref-94" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-94" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[94]</a></sup> The commentaries later appeared in print in May 1995 as part of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_from_Death_Row" title="Live from Death Row" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Live from Death Row</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-95" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-95" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[95]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In 1999, he was invited to record a keynote address for the graduating class at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evergreen_State_College" title="The Evergreen State College" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">The Evergreen State College</a>. The event was protested by some.<sup id="cite_ref-96" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-96" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[96]</a></sup> In 2000, he recorded a commencement address for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antioch_College" title="Antioch College" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Antioch College</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-97" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-97" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[97]</a></sup> The now defunct <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_College_of_California_School_of_Law" title="New College of California School of Law" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">New College of California School of Law</a> presented him with an honorary degree "for his struggle to resist the death penalty".<sup id="cite_ref-98" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-98" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[98]</a></sup> On October 5, 2014, he gave the commencement speech at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goddard_College" title="Goddard College" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Goddard College</a>, via playback of a recording.<sup id="cite_ref-99" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-99" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[99]</a></sup> As before, the choice of Abu-Jamal was controversial.<sup id="cite_ref-100" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-100" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[100]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">With occasional interruptions due to prison disciplinary actions, Abu-Jamal has for many years been a regular commentator on an online broadcast, sponsored by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_Radio" title="Prison Radio" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Prison Radio</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-101" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-101" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[101]</a></sup> as well as a regular columnist for <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junge_Welt" title="Junge Welt" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Junge Welt</a></i>, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism" title="Marxism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Marxist</a> newspaper in Germany. In 1995, he was punished with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solitary_confinement" title="Solitary confinement" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">solitary confinement</a> for engaging in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneur" title="Entrepreneur" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">entrepreneurship</a> contrary to prison regulations. Subsequent to the airing of the 1996 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HBO" title="HBO" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">HBO</a> documentary <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal:A_Case_For_Reasonable_Doubt%3F" title="Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case For Reasonable Doubt?" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case For Reasonable Doubt?</a></i>, which included footage from visitation interviews conducted with him, the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Department_of_Corrections" title="Pennsylvania Department of Corrections" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Pennsylvania Department of Corrections</a> acted to ban outsiders from using any recording equipment in state prisons.<sup id="cite_ref-tsb_20-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-tsb-20" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[20]</a></sup> In litigation before the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Court_of_Appeals" title="US Court of Appeals" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">US Court of Appeals</a> in 1998 he successfully established his right to write for financial gain in prison. The same litigation also established that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections had illegally opened his mail in an attempt to establish whether he was writing for financial gain.<sup id="cite_ref-102" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-102" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[102]</a></sup> When, for a brief time in August 1999, he began delivering his radio commentaries live on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifica_Radio" title="Pacifica Radio" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Pacifica Network's</a> <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Now!" title="Democracy Now!" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Democracy Now!</a></i>weekday radio newsmagazine, prison staff severed the connecting wires of his telephone from their mounting in mid-performance.<sup id="cite_ref-tsb_20-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-tsb-20" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[20]</a></sup> He was later allowed to resume his broadcasts, and hundreds of his broadcasts have been aired on Pacifica Radio.<sup id="cite_ref-103" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-103" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[103]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">His publications include <i>Death Blossoms: Reflections from a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner_of_Conscience" title="Prisoner of Conscience" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Prisoner of Conscience</a></i>, in which he explores religious themes, <i>All Things Censored</i>, a political critique examining issues of crime and punishment, <i>Live From Death Row</i>, a diary of life on Pennsylvania's death row, and <i>We Want Freedom: A Life in the Black Panther Party</i>, which is a history of the Black Panthers drawing on autobiographical material.</p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">At the end of January 2012 he was released into general prison population at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Correctional_Institution%E2%80%93_Mahanoy" title="State Correctional Institution – Mahanoy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">State Correctional Institution – Mahanoy</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-104" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-104" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[104]</a></sup></p></h2><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Popular_support_and_opposition">Popular support and opposition</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-left: 0px;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumia_Abu-Jamal&action=edit§ion=14&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Popular support and opposition" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-right: 0px;">]</span></span></h2><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="hatnote boilerplate seealso" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">See also: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal_in_popular_culture" title="Mumia Abu-Jamal in popular culture" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Mumia Abu-Jamal in popular culture</a></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">
Abu-Jamal has been made an</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorary_citizenship" title="Honorary citizenship" style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">honorary citizen</a><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">of about 25 cities around the world, including Montreal, Palermo, and Paris.</span><sup id="cite_ref-humanite_111-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-humanite-111" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[111]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-115" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-115" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[115]</a></sup><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">. It is a widespread misunderstanding that he was made an honorary citizen of Copenhagen. The city of Copenhagen has officially denied this.</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><sup id="cite_ref-116" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-116" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[116]</a></sup><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">In 2001, he received the sixth biennial</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_M%C3%BChsam" title="Erich Mühsam" style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Erich Mühsam</a><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Prize, named after an</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-communist" title="Anarcho-communist" class="mw-redirect" style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">anarcho-communist</a><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">essayist, which recognizes activism in line with that of its namesake.</span><sup id="cite_ref-117" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-117" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[117]</a></sup><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">In October 2002, he was made an honorary member of the German political organization</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Persecutees_of_the_Nazi_Regime" title="Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime" style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Society of People Persecuted by the Nazi Regime – Federation of Anti-Fascists (VVN-BdA)</a><sup id="cite_ref-118" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-118" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[118]</a></sup><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">which Germany's</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Office_for_the_Protection_of_the_Constitution" title="Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution" style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution</a><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">has considered to be influenced by left-wing extremism.</span><sup id="cite_ref-119" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-119" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[119]</a></sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_union" title="Labor union" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Labor unions</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-105" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-105" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[105]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-106" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-106" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[106]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-107" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-107" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[107]</a></sup> politicians,<sup id="cite_ref-parl_4-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-parl-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[4]</a></sup> advocates,<sup id="cite_ref-108" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-108" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[108]</a></sup> educators,<sup id="cite_ref-109" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-109" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[109]</a></sup> the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAACP_Legal_Defense_and_Educational_Fund" title="NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-naacp_19-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-naacp-19" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[19]</a></sup> and human rights advocacy organizations such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Watch" title="Human Rights Watch" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Human Rights Watch</a><sup id="cite_ref-110" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-110" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[110]</a></sup> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International" title="Amnesty International" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Amnesty International</a> have expressed concern about the impartiality of the trial of Abu-Jamal,<sup id="cite_ref-amn_2-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-amn-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[2]</a></sup>though Amnesty International neither takes a position on the guilt or innocence of Abu-Jamal nor classifies him as a political prisoner.<sup id="cite_ref-amn_2-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-amn-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[2]</a></sup> They are opposed by the family of Daniel Faulkner, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the City of Philadelphia,<sup id="cite_ref-humanite_111-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-humanite-111" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[111]</a></sup> Republican politicians,<sup id="cite_ref-humanite_111-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-humanite-111" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[111]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-politicspa.com_112-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-politicspa.com-112" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[112]</a></sup> and the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraternal_Order_of_Police" title="Fraternal Order of Police" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Fraternal Order of Police</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-113" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-113" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[113]</a></sup> In August 1999, the Fraternal Order of Police called for an economic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott" title="Boycott" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">boycott</a> against all individuals and organizations that support Abu-Jamal.<sup id="cite_ref-114" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-114" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[114]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">On April 29, 2006, a newly paved road in the Parisian suburb of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Denis" title="Saint-Denis" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Saint-Denis</a> was named <i>Rue Mumia Abu-Jamal</i> in his honor.<sup id="cite_ref-120" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-120" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[120]</a></sup> In protest of the street-naming, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">US Congressman</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Fitzpatrick" title="Mike Fitzpatrick" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Michael Fitzpatrick</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Republican_Party" title="United States Republican Party" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">R</a>-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania" title="Pennsylvania" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Pa.</a>) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate" title="United States Senate" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Senator</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Santorum" title="Rick Santorum" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Rick Santorum</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Republican_Party" title="United States Republican Party" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">R</a>-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania" title="Pennsylvania" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Pa.</a>) introduced resolutions in both <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress" title="United States Congress" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Houses of Congress</a> condemning the decision.<sup id="cite_ref-121" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-121" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[121]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-122" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-122" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[122]</a></sup> The House of Representatives voted 368–31 in favor of Fitzpatrick's resolution.<sup id="cite_ref-123" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-123" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[123]</a></sup> In December 2006, the 25th anniversary of the murder, the executive committee of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_State_Committee_of_Pennsylvania" title="Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Republican Party</a> for the 59th Ward of the City of Philadelphia—covering approximately <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germantown,Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania" title="Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Germantown, Philadelphia</a>—filed two criminal complaints in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_legal_system" title="French legal system" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">French legal system</a> against <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris#Administration" title="Paris" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">the city of Paris</a> and the city of Saint-Denis, accusing the municipalities of "glorifying" Abu-Jamal and alleging the offense "apology or denial of crime" in respect of their actions.<sup id="cite_ref-humanite_111-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-humanite-111" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[111]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-politicspa.com_112-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-size: 11.1999998092651px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal#cite_note-politicspa.com-112" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[112]</a></sup></p></h2></div><div></div><div>freakonomics levitt</div><div><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);">I was sitting in the student union at the University of Chicago last week when a student came by putting “Free Mumia” leaflets on the tables.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);">I have never paid much attention to the <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Mumia Abu-Jamal</strong> case. On the one hand, I know enough about police, the criminal justice system, and racism to believe that an innocent black man could be framed. On the other hand, it makes me nervous when people like <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Mike Farrell</strong>, <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Oliver Stone</strong>,<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Sting</strong>, and <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Jacques Derrida</strong> suddenly become legal experts and publicly proclaim the innocence of someone on death row.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);">Whatever else you might think of Abu-Jamal, one has to congratulate him on an incredibly effective media campaign over the last 15 years.<span id="more-2535" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" /></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);">It started in 1991 when <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Yale Law Journal</em> published an article by Abu-Jamal entitled “Teetering on the Brink Between Life and Death” and was fueled by his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Live-Death-Row-Mumia-Abu-jamal/dp/0380727668" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(1, 95, 211); text-decoration: none;">Live From Death Row</a>. (I’m pretty sure I own that book; I’m more sure that I never read very far into it.) Somehow, Abu-Jamal and his supporters have managed to keep Hollywood celebrities and cohort after cohort of college students convinced of his innocence and willing to work on his behalf.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);">He has been somewhat less successful in the court room.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);">His death sentence has been turned over on a technicality, but I believe he still faces life in prison without parole. Even while on death row he was pretty safe: there are more than 200 people currently sentenced to death in Pennsylvania, and there have been three executions in that state in the last forty years. As in most states, death row in Pennsylvania is a lot safer than the streets if you are a criminal.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);">To anyone interested in the Mumia Abu-Jamal case, I highly recommend a book entitled,<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Murdered-Mumia-Life-Sentence-Injustice/dp/1599213761" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(1, 95, 211); text-decoration: none;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Murdered by Mumia</em></a> written by <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Maureen Faulkner</strong> and <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Michael Smerconish</strong>. Maureen Faulkner is the widow of <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Danny Faulkner</strong>, the police officer who Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing. Michael Smerconish is an outspoken (but extremely intelligent) writer and radio host in Philadelphia.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);">Having just finished the book in a single sitting, I can’t say I feel too sympathetic to Abu-Jamal. It’s easy to be swayed when you only hear one side of the story, but I have to say that the facts (at least as presented here) don’t look so good for him.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(244, 244, 244);">If you are a college student, or a Hollywood celebrity, thinking about publicly proclaiming Abu-Jamal’s innocence, I strongly recommend that you read this book first. One of my favorite passages from the book will give you a little extra incentive. In this (slightly condensed) excerpt, Maureen Faulkner describes a chance encounter with a college student 15 years and 3,000 miles away from where her husband died:</p><blockquote style="margin: 0px 20px 30px; padding: 15px 20px; border: 1px solid rgb(218, 218, 218); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16.7999992370605px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-align: justify; background: rgb(252, 252, 252);"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline;">As I pumped gas, a young man, a white kid who looked college age, pulled up behind me. He was wearing a T-shirt that read “Free Mumia Abu-Jamal,” and it immediately caught my eye.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline;">I walked up and asked him where he got the T-shirt. He said he was a student at U.C.L.A. and they had recently held a rally for Abu-Jamal. I asked him if he knew anything about the case in which Abu-Jamal was involved.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline;">He said, “Well, I know that this guy was a Black Panther who was railroaded. Someone else shot a police officer and he was framed for it.” I cringed when he went on with the usual recitation of misinformation being spun by the Abu-Jamal defenders: a peaceful black activist, a social dissident, hostile white police force, F.B.I. surveillance, conned eyewitness accounts, phony ballistics, etc.</p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; vertical-align: baseline;">I heard him out and offered to provide him with the actual facts of the case. He politely declined my offer. Before I left, I suggested that when he wore a political statement on his chest he would be well served if he knew his facts, because you never know when you might run into the widow of the officer. I left him in stunned silence.</p></blockquote></div><div></div></div>