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Mumia Abu-Jamal
Born	April 24, 1954 (1954-04-24) (age 53) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Residence	SCI-Greene, near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania
Nationality	U.S.
Education	Benjamin Franklin High School (Philadelphia) Goddard College (BA) California State University, Dominguez Hills (MA)[2]
Occupation	Journalist/Activist
Religious stance	Monotheistic
Children	3[1]
Parents	William and Edith Cook

Mumia Abu-Jamal (pronounced /muːmiɑː əbuː dʒəˈmɑːl/); (born Wesley Cook on April 24, 1954) was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1981 murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner, and is currently a prisoner at State Correctional Institution - Greene near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. In December 2001 a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania affirmed the conviction but quashed his original punishment and ordered resentencing. Both Abu-Jamal and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania appealed. The case was orally argued before a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia on May 17, 2007, and is pending.^[3]

His case has received international attention. Supporters and human rights campaigners variously assert that he is innocent, that he was setup, that he did not receive a fair trial, and/or oppose the death penalty. Opponents assert that he is guilty, that he received the benefit of due process and was legitimately convicted of murder. Execution proponents among these assert that under Pennsylvania law his eventual judicial execution is warranted and mandated by the nature of his crime.^[4][5][6]

Prior to his arrest he was a Black Panther Party activist, cab driver, and journalist. During the period of his imprisonment he has courted controversy as an honoree of municipal, educational and civil society organizations, and as a spoken word commentator and published author of several works - most notably Live from Death Row.

Contents 1 Early life and activism 2 Arrest for murder and trial 2.1 Prosecution case 2.1.1 Eyewitnesses 2.1.2 Hospital confession 2.1.3 Physical evidence 2.2 Defense case 2.3 Witnesses not called at trial 3 Verdict, death sentence, and reactions 4 Appeals and legal developments 4.1 1983–1999 State appeals 4.2 2001 Federal ruling directing resentencing 4.3 2005 Federal higher appeal 5 Life as a prisoner 5.1 Writings and broadcasts 5.2 Claim of 1992 confession 5.3 Honors and controversy 5.4 Campaigns 6 See also 7 References 7.1 Footnotes 7.2 Sources and further reading 8 External links

Early life and activism

Born Wesley Cook, his father died when he was nine years old.^[7] He was given the name Mumia in 1968 by his high school teacher, a Kenyan instructing a class on African cultures in which students took African classroom names.^[8] He adopted the name appending Abu-Jamal ("father of Jamal" in Arabic) as his choice of surname after the birth of his son Jamal from his first wife on July 18, 1971.^[8][9] Abu-Jamal claims that 'Mumia' means "Prince" and was the name of certain anti-colonial African nationalists conducting warfare against the British in Kenya at the time of the Uhuru.^[10]

In his writings Abu-Jamal describes his adolescent experience of "being kicked into the Black Panther Party" through suffering a beating at the hands of white racists and police at the same time as being charged with assault for his efforts to disrupt a George Wallace for President rally in 1968. The following year he helped form the Philadelphia branch of the Black Panther Party,^[11] taking appointment, in his own words, as its chapter "Lieutenant of Information" exercising a responsibility for authoring propaganda and news communications. In one of the interviews he gave at the time he quoted Mao Zedong, saying that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun".^[12] That same year, he dropped out of Benjamin Franklin High School and took up residence in the branch's headquarters.^[11] Spending the winter of 1969 in New York and the spring of 1970 in Oakland, he lived and worked with BPP comrades in those cities.^[13] He was a Party member from May 1969 until October 1970 and was subject to some degree of FBI COINTELPRO surveillance from then until about 1974.^[14]

A first marriage, to Biba when he was aged 19, proved to be short-lived.^[15] Their daughter, Lateefa, was born shortly after.^[1] Mazi, Abu-Jamal's son by his second wife, Marilyn a.k.a. "Peachie",^[9] was born in early 1978.^[16] Abu-Jamal commenced living with his third and current wife, Wadiya, while separated from Peachie prior to the events that resulted in his incarceration.^[17]

After leaving the Panthers he returned to high school, but was suspended for distributing literature calling for "black revolutionary student power".^[18] He also led unsuccessful protests to change the school name to Malcolm X High.^[18] After attaining his GED, for a number of semesters he studied at Goddard College in rural Vermont.^[19] By 1975 he was pursuing a vocation in radio newscasting, first at Temple University's WRTI and then at commercial enterprises.^[18] In 1975, he was employed at radio station WHAT and he became host of a weekly feature program of WCAU-FM in 1978.^[20] He was also employed for brief periods at radio station WPEN, and became active in the local chapter of the Marijuana Users Association of America.^[20] From 1979 he worked at WUHY public radio station until 1981 when he was asked to submit his resignation pursuant to a dispute about the requirements of objective focus in his presentation of news.^[20] As a radio journalist he earned the moniker "the voice of the voiceless" and was renowned for identifying with and giving exposure to the MOVE anarcho-primitivist commune in Philadelphia's Powelton Village 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.^[20] At the time of the killing of Daniel Faulkner, Abu-Jamal was working as a taxicab driver in Philadelphia.^[21] He was at that time also the outgoing President of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists^[22] and had been working part-time concurrently as a reporter for WDAS,^[20] then an African-American-oriented and minority-owned radio station.^[23]

Arrest for murder and trial

In the early hours of December 9, 1981, around 3:51 a.m., Philadelphia Police Department officer Daniel Faulkner was shot and killed during an altercation that ensued from a routine traffic stop of a vehicle driven by William Cook, Abu-Jamal's younger brother. During the altercation Abu-Jamal was also shot and wounded. Officers arriving at the scene found a .38 caliber revolver beside Abu-Jamal that records show he had purchased in 1979. The cylinder of the revolver had five spent cartridges. He was taken directly from the scene of the shooting to a hospital and was treated for his injury. He was charged with the first-degree murder of Daniel Faulkner. He initially retained the services of criminal defense attorney Anthony Jackson.^[24]

The case went to trial in June 1982 at Philadelphia's City Hall. The judge initially acquiesced to Abu-Jamal's request to represent himself, with Jackson continuing to act as his legal advisor. During the first day of the trial, however, Abu-Jamal repeatedly and vociferously dissented from accepting the judge's rulings on points of law and procedure to the extent that he was removed from representing himself and it was ordered that Jackson resume the role of acting as his sole advocate by reason of what the judge deemed to be intentionally disruptive actions on Abu-Jamal's part.^[25] In all, according to his detractors, Abu-Jamal was removed from the courtroom at least 13 times for disruption during the course of the legal proceedings and trial.^[26]

Prosecution case

At the trial the following sequence of events was presented in evidence by the prosecution:^[24]

1. During the traffic stop, Cook assaulted Faulkner, who in turn attempted to subdue Cook.
2. Abu-Jamal emerged from a nearby parking lot, crossed the street, and shot Faulkner in the back.
3. Faulkner was able to return fire, seriously wounding Abu-Jamal.
4. Abu-Jamal then advanced on Faulkner, fired some additional shots at close range, one of which struck Faulkner in the face causing his death.
5. Abu-Jamal was unable to flee due to his own gunshot wound, collapsed on a nearby curb, and was taken into custody by other police officers, who had been summoned by Faulkner at the time of the traffic stop.

Eyewitnesses

Four eyewitnesses, who testified that they were at or in sight of the scene at the time of the shooting, were produced by the prosecution:

1. Robert Chobert, a disqualified/unlicensed cab driver on parole for arson,^[27] with two arrests for drunk-driving,^[28] who in 1995 admitted to having sought the advice of the trial prosecutor as to how he could reclaim his driving privileges;^[29]
2. Cynthia White, a prostitute;
3. Michael Scanlon, a motorist;
4. Albert Magilton, a pedestrian.

Robert Chobert said he was in his cab parked directly behind Faulkner's police car. He positively identified Abu-Jamal as the shooter, testifying: "I heard a shot. I looked up, I saw the cop fall to the ground, and then I saw Jamal standing over him and firing some more shots into him...Then I saw him [Jamal] walking back about ten feet and he just fell by the curb."^[30] During cross-examination, he admitted that he had originally told police that the shooter had moved 30 rather than 10 ft away from Faulkner, and had been 30-to-50 pounds heavier than Abu-Jamal. He explained, "I'm not good at weight. Do you think I'm going to stand there for a couple of minutes and ask him how much he weighs?"^[31] In his September 25, 2001, affidavit private investigator George Newman describes that under interrogation Chobert had recanted the aspect of his testimony that his taxi had been parked directly behind Faulkner's police car as well as the assertion that he had witnessed a person firing bullets into the body of Faulkner as the latter lay prone on the ground.^[32]

Cynthia White testified to witnessing the shootings from a nearby corner. Describing Abu-Jamal's actions, she said: "he was running out of the parking lot and he was practically on the curb when he shot two times at the police officer. It was the back. The police officer turned around and staggered and seemed like he was grabbing for something. Then he fell. Then he came over and he came on top of the police officer and shot some more times. After that he went over and he slouched down and he sat on the curb."^[33] Dessie Hightower has stated that he observed her to be at least half a block further away.^[34] Prostitute Veronica Jones said later that she had been offered favorable treatment by police on condition that she corroborate Cynthia White.^[34] In her declaration of January 28, 2002, Yvette Williams affirmed to having been incarcerated with White in December 1981 and being told by her that she had not even seen who shot Faulkner and that she had entirely fabricated a witness account identifying Abu-Jamal out of fear of the Philadelphia police.^[35] Police informant Pamela Jenkins testified at a post-conviction relief hearing on June 26, 1997, that she had been pressured by Philadelphia police offers to falsely state that she had witnessed the killing of Faulkner and to falsely identify Abu-Jamal as the murderer. She also testified that she knew White to be in fear of her life from police in the period after the shooting of Faulkner and before the trial of Abu-Jamal, and that she had tracked down and discovered Ms White in the company of some Philadelphia police as recently as March 1997.^[36] However, the prosecution produced Cynthia White's death certificate showing that she had died in 1992.^[37]

Scanlan testified that he saw Faulkner assaulted in front of his police car shortly before another man ran across the street from a parking lot and shot Faulkner. Scanlan was not able to identify the shooter. Under cross-examination, which was interrupted by Abu-Jamal being removed from the courtroom for disruption, Scanlan admitted to being mildly under the influence of alcohol and was unable to describe in detail the appearance of the assailant.^[38]

Magilton testified to witnessing Faulkner pull over Cook's car and that at the point of seeing Abu-Jamal start to cross the street toward them from the parking lot he turned away and lost sight of what happened next until he heard gun shots. He did not see any shooting, or Chobert's vehicle parked behind Faulkner's.^[39]

Hospital confession

The prosecution presented two witnesses, security officer Priscilla Durham and Police Officer Garry Bell, who testified that while Abu-Jamal was at hospital, he acknowledged that he shot Faulkner by once or even twice proclaiming, "I shot the mother fucker, and I hope the mother fucker dies."^[40] The hospital doctors are recorded as having said that Abu-Jamal was not capable of making such a statement during the time that he was reported to have uttered it.^[7] The original report of Gary Wakshul, a police officer who accompanied Abu-Jamal to and at the hospital, relates that "the negro male made no comments".^[4] Wakshul later claimed to recall hearing Abu-Jamal's alleged confession on the night of the killing, over two months after the arrest when interviewed by police Internal Affairs officers. He blamed "emotional trauma" for the delay.^[4] Judge Albert F. Sabo did not permit the trial jury to receive Wakshul's report as evidence.^[4]

Physical evidence

A .38 caliber Charter Arms revolver registered to Abu-Jamal was found at the scene next to him with 5 spent shell casings.^[41] Tests performed with the available physical evidence verify that Faulkner was killed by a .38 caliber bullet. The extracted slugs were identified as Federal brand .38 Special +P bullets with hollow bases, which matched the shell casings in Abu-Jamal's handgun retrieved at the scene. The hollow base in a +P bullet is distinguishable from Federal ammunition otherwise used at that time.^[42] Charter Arms is known for rifling the barrels of their revolvers with eight lands and grooves in a right-hand direction of twist—characteristics also evident on the bullet fragments extracted from Faulkner's body. Anthony L. Paul, Supervisor of the Firearms Identification Unit, testified at trial that the type of bullet was rare at the time, with only one manufacturer, though he could name two other manufacturers "right off the bat" which produce weapons bearing the same rifling characteristics of pattern and twist direction.^[43] Experts testified that the bullet taken from Abu-Jamal had been fired from Faulkner's service weapon. George Fassnacht, a ballistics expert proferred by the defense, did not dispute any of the findings of the prosecution's weapons and ballistics experts.^[44]

Amnesty International, with reference to the physical evidence, has expressed the view that "…the police failed to conduct tests to ascertain whether the weapon had been fired in the immediate past…Compounding this error, the police also failed to conduct chemical tests on Abu-Jamal's hands to find out if he had fired a gun recently."^[4] In a 1995 hearing, a defense ballistics expert testified that due to Abu-Jamal's struggle with the police during his arrest, such a test would have been difficult to accomplish and, due to the gunpowder residue possibly being shaken or rubbed off, would not have been scientifically reliable.^[45] A note written by coroner Dr. Paul Hoyer, who autopsied Daniel Faulkner, states that he extracted a .44 caliber bullet from Faulkner. This has led to claims that Faulkner was shot by a .44 caliber rather than a .38 caliber weapon. Hoyer admitted in 1995 that his note had been a "lay guess" based on his own observations, that he was not a firearms expert and that he had not received any training in weapons ballistics.^[46]

Defense case

The defense presented evidence, from witness Dessie Hightower, describing a man running along the street shortly after the shooting.^[47] This became known as the "running man theory", based on the possibility that a "running man" may have been the actual shooter. Another witness, Veronica Jones, said "All I seen was two men and a policeman on the ground and what else can I say? I was kind of intoxicated." In reply to the question, "Did you see anyone running away from the scene?" She replied, "I didn't see anyone do nothing. No one moved."^[48] The defense claimed to have a third witness, Deborah Kordansky, but she refused to appear in court.^[49] Of the witnesses, only Chobert testified that shortly after the shooting he had told police that he had seen Abu-Jamal shoot Faulkner in the face, and that Abu-Jamal had then run a short distance and collapsed on the sidewalk after being shot by Faulkner.^[31] None of the other witnesses claimed that the running man, or men, were involved in the shooting.^[24]

The defense presented nine character witnesses including poet Sonia Sanchez. Sanchez testified that Abu-Jamal was "viewed by the black community as a creative, articulate, peaceful, genial man."^[50] During cross examination the prosecution raised the issue of her association with convicted felon and Black Panther activist Joanne Chesimard; Sanchez was also asked over defense objections whether she supported other blacks who had killed police.^[51]

Witnesses not called at trial

Abu-Jamal did not testify in his own defense. Regarding this he has explained:^[52]

"At my trial I was denied the right to defend myself. I had no confidence in my court-appointed attorney, who never even asked me what happened the night I was shot and the police officer was killed; and I was excluded from at least half the trial…Since I was denied all my rights at my trial I did not testify. I would not be used to make it look like I had a fair trial."

He did not state his version of events for the initial police investigation, nor for almost another 20 years afterwards, until the 1999 confession of Arnold Beverly, who claimed that, "wearing a green (camouflage) army jacket", he had run across the street and shot a fallen Daniel Faulkner in the face as part of a contract killing connected with a desire to keep Faulkner from interfering with graft and payoff to corrupt police.^[53] Abu-Jamal's sworn statement avers that he had been sitting in his cab across the street when he first heard shouting, then saw a police vehicle, then heard the sound of gunshots. It asserts that, upon seeing his brother appearing disoriented across the street, he ran to him and was shot by a uniformed police officer. He claims to have no memory of the events between being shot by Faulkner and the arrival of officers at the scene and to have been abused by the police while he was still in need of medical assistance for his wound. It concludes with his claim of innocence: "I never said I shot the policeman. I did not shoot the policeman…I never said I hoped he died. I would never say something like that."^[52]

For a similar period, William Cook also did not testify or make any statement whatsoever about events other than his utterance at the crimescene, "I ain't got nothing to do with this."^[54] On April 29, 2001, Cook belatedly declared that he would be willing to testify and that both he and his brother "had nothing do with shooting or killing the policeman". The statement inculpates Kenneth Freeman as being armed with a .38 caliber firearm, present in Cook's vehicle passenger seat immediately prior to the confronation with Daniel Faulkner, wearing a green army jacket, knowing of a plan to kill Faulkner, and participating in his shooting.^[55] Freeman's handcuffed and naked corpse was discovered in North Philadelphia on the night of the police bombing of the MOVE communal residence in 1985 and neither his name nor the fact of his presence at the crimescene was raised at any stage during the course of the trial and sentencing in 1982.^[56] At the time of his death, Daniel Faulkner was in possession of the replacement temporary driver license of Arnold Howard which the latter had recently "loaned" to Freeman for unspecified purposes.^[57]

Several others have made statements in support of Abu-Jamal. At a post-conviction review hearing of August 11, 1995, William "Dales" Singletary testified that he directly witnessed the shooting and that the gunman was the passenger in Cook's car wearing a army overcoat. Singletary said that police tore up his written statements and that he was prevailed upon to sign a different statement which they dictated.^[58] Singletary's account was deemed "not credible" and "medically impossible" (Singletary claimed that Faulkner spoke after being shot in the eye at point blank range, which would have been instantaneously lethal, and that a police helicopter was in attendance, which no other witnesses described).^[44] Police officer Vernon Jones testified three days later, that at the crimescene Singletary had inquired of him what had transpired and said that he not witnessed any shooting other than hearing some shots that he thought were firecrackers.^[59] William Harmon, a pimp in 1981 with convictions for forgery, fraud and theft by deception, testified that he had seen a man other than Abu-Jamal execute Faulkner and flee in a car which pulled up at the crimescene.^[60] Court stenographer Terri Maurer-Carter stated in an affidavit of August 2001 that the presiding Judge had exclaimed, "Yeah, and I'm going to help them fry the nigger", in the course of a conversation regarding Abu-Jamal's case.^[61][62] Judge Sabo denied making such a comment.^[63] Kenneth Pate, a step-brother of Priscilla Durham with a history of imprisonment, swore a declaration that he asked her in a telephone conversation whether she had heard Abu-Jamal confess and that she had answered, "All I heard him say was: 'Get off me, get off me, they're trying to kill me'".^[64] Pate reported that the conversation to Abu-Jamal while they were serving in the same prison.^[64]

In corroboration of the four prosecution eyewitnesses, Robert Harkins testified on August 2, 1995, 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 who then "walked and sat down on the curb".^[65][66]

Verdict, death sentence, and reactions

The jury delivered a unanimous guilty verdict after three hours of deliberations. In the sentencing phase of the trial Abu-Jamal read to the jury from a prepared statement and was then sworn and cross-examined about issues relevant to the assessment of his character by Joseph McGill, the prosecuting attorney.^[67] In his statement Abu-Jamal criticized his attorney as a "legal trained lawyer" who was imposed on him against his will 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 the Judge, particularly focusing on the denial of his request to receive defense assistance from John Africa and his being prevented from proceeding pro se. He quoted remarks of John Africa and declared himself "innocent of these charges".^[68]

Abu-Jamal was subsequently sentenced to death by the unanimous decision of his jury.^[70] The date of the sentence is recorded as May 25, 1983.^[71] Judicial execution in Pennsylvania is by means of lethal injection and would occur at the State Correctional Institution - Rockview.^[72]

The Philadelphia Office of the District Attorney, Daniel Faulkner's family, including his wife Maureen, the Fraternal Order of Police, and other law-enforcement-related organizations have expressed approval of the conviction and sentence—being of a view that Abu-Jamal murdered Faulkner while the latter was making a lawful arrest in the line of police duty, and that Abu-Jamal had received a fair trial.^[73] District Attorney Lynne Abraham, who at times has supervised aspects of the Abu-Jamal case, is on record stating that it was the "most open-and-shut murder case" she had ever tried,^[74] and that Abu-Jamal:

"Never produced his own brother, who was present at the time of the murder, (yet) he has offered up various individuals who would claim that one trial witness or another must have lied; or that some other individual has only recently been discovered who has special knowledge about the murder; or that someone has fallen out of the skies, who is supposedly willing to confess to the murder of Officer Faulkner."^[75]

Appeals and legal developments

For more details on judicial review of detention in the United States, see Habeas corpus in the United States.

For more details on pardons and executive clemency in the United States, see Pardon#Pardons and clemency in the United States.

1983–1999 State appeals

Direct appeal of his conviction was considered and denied by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on March 6, 1989,^[76] subsequently denying rehearing.^[77] On October 1, 1990, the Supreme Court of the United States denied his petition for writ of certiorari,^[78] and his petition for rehearing twice up to June 10, 1991.^[79][44]

On June 1, 1995 his death warrant was signed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.^[44] Its execution was suspended while Abu-Jamal pursued state post-conviction review, the outcome of which was a unanimous decision by six judges of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on October 31, 1998 that all issues raised by him, including the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, were without merit.^[80] The Supreme Court of the United States denied the petition for certiorari against that decision on October 4, 1999, enabling Governor 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 habeas corpus review.^[44]

2001 Federal ruling directing resentencing

Judge William H. Yohn Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania upheld the conviction but voided the sentence of death on December 18, 2001, citing irregularities in the original process of sentencing.^[44] Particularly,

"…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."^[44]

He ordered the State of Pennsylvania to commence sentencing proceedings anew within 180 days^[81] and ruled that it was unconstitutional to require that a jury's finding of circumstances mitigating against determining a sentence of death be unanimous.^[82] Eliot Grossman and Marlene Kamish, attorneys for Abu-Jamal, criticized the ruling on the grounds that it denied the possibility of a trial de novo at which they could introduce evidence that their client had been the subject of a frameup.^[83] Prosecutors also criticized the ruling; Maureen Faulkner 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 judgement.^[84] Both parties appealed.

2005 Federal higher appeal

On December 6, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit admitted four issues for appeal of the ruling of the United States District Court:^[85]

• in relation to sentencing, whether the jury verdict form had been flawed and the judge's instructions to the jury had been confusing
• in relation to conviction and sentencing, whether racial bias in jury selection existed to an extent tending to produce an inherently biased jury and therefore an unfair trial (the Batson claim)
• 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
• 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.

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 Anthony Joseph Scirica, Judge Thomas Ambro, and Judge Robert Cowen. 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 Batson claim was invalid because Abu-Jamal made no complaints during the original jury selection. Abu-Jamal's counsel told the Third Circuit Court that Abu-Jamal did not get a fair trial because the judge was a racist and the jury was both racially-biased and misinformed.^[86] Current Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell favors the death penalty and had signed 73 execution warrants as of September 2007.^[87]

Life as a prisoner

Writings and broadcasts

In May 1994, he was commercially engaged by National Public Radio's All Things Considered program to deliver a series of monthly 3-minute commentaries addressing issues of crime and punishment.^[88] The broadcast plans and commercial arrangement were cancelled following condemnations from, amongst others, the Fraternal Order of Police^[89] and US Senator Bob Dole (R-KA).^[90] The commentaries later appeared in print in May 1995 as part of Live From Death Row.^[91]

In 1999, he was invited to deliver the keynote address for the graduating class at The Evergreen State College. The event was protested heavily.^[92] In 2000, he gave a commencement address at Antioch College.^[93] The New College of California School of Law has presented him with an honorary degree.^[94]

While his spoken word commentaries are recorded regularly, and may be listened to online at Prison Radio,^[95] and he continues to write a Saturday weekly column for the German language Marxist newspaper junge Welt, restrictions have at times been imposed upon his activities. In 1995, he was punished with solitary confinement for engaging in entrepreneurship contrary to prison regulations. Subsequent to the airing of the 1996 HBO documentary Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case for Reasonable Doubt?, which included footage from visitation interviews conducted with him, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections acted to ban outsiders from using any recording equipment in state prisons.^[19] In litigation before the US Court of Appeals in 1998 he successfully established his right to write for reward 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.^[96] When, for a brief time in August 1999, he began delivering his radio commentaries live on the Pacifica Network's Democracy Now! weekday radio newsmagazine, local prison authorities severed the connecting wires of his telephone from their mounting in mid-performance.^[19]

In his poetry book Death Blossoms, he expresses his belief, which follows no denomination, in a Mother God who coexists with all male religious understandings and which he refers to by the name of "Mama".

Claim of 1992 confession

In 1999, a volunteer named Phillip Bloch claimed that he visited Abu-Jamal in prison in 1992 and asked him whether he regretted killing Faulkner, to which Abu-Jamal replied, "Yes."^[97] Bloch, otherwise a supporter of Abu-Jamal's case, stated he came forward after he grew concerned about the vilification of Daniel Faulkner.^[97] In response, Abu-Jamal is reported to have said "A lie is a lie, whether made today or 10 years later", and thanked Vanity Fair "...not for their work but for stoking this controversy, because controversy leads to questioning, and one can only question this belated confession."^[98]

Honors and controversy

See also: Anti-French sentiment in the United States#Mumia Abu-Jamal

Abu-Jamal has been made an honorary citizen of about 25 cities around the world, including Paris, Montreal and Palermo.^[99] In 2001, he received the biannual Lübeck Erich Mühsam Prize, awarded by Frank-Thomas Gaulin of Kunsthaus Lübeck for special commitment to human rights.^[100] In October 2002, he was conferred honorary membership of the Berlin-based Association of Those Persecuted by the Nazi Regime - Federation of Antifascists and Antifascist Groups (VVN-BdA).^[101]

On April 29, 2006, a newly-paved road in the Parisian suburb of St Denis was named Rue Mumia Abu-Jamal in his honour.^[102] In protest of the street-naming, US Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Senator Richard Santorum (R-PA) introduced resolutions in both Houses of Congress condemning the action.^[103][104] The House of Representatives voted 368-31 in favor of the resolution. ^[105] On the 25th anniversary of the murder, the executive committee of the Republican Party for the 59th Ward of the City of Philadelphia (covering approximately Germantown, Philadelphia), filed two criminal complaints in the French legal system against the city of Paris and the city of Saint-Denis citing the wrong of those municipalities' actions in "glorifying" Abu-Jamal and alleging the offense "apology or denial of crime" in respect of their actions.^[99][106]

Campaigns

A broad international movement has allied in support of Abu-Jamal's cause with opposition coalesced about the family of Daniel Faulkner, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the Fraternal Order of Police,^[107] which in August 1999 called for an economic boycott against all individuals and organizations that have expressed sympathy for Abu-Jamal.^[108]

His supporters protest at perceived injustice or deplore the death penalty in his and other cases, and encompass prominent American labor unions and congresses;^{[109][110][111][112]} endorsees of the Partisan Defense Committee's campaign;^[113] US and foreign city governments;^[114] politicians;^[6] advocates;^[115] educators;^[116] the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund;^[18] and human rights advocacy organizations such as Human Rights Watch^[117] and Amnesty International.^[4]

See also

• Black anarchism

References

Footnotes

Sources and further reading

External links

Video

• 1996 video of death row visitation interview with Mumia Abu-Jamal

Archived writings and news

• Archived files of Mumia Abu Jamal's essays composed and read from his prison cell
• Collection of Philadelphia Inquirer articles about the Mumia Abu-Jamal case 1981-1998
• Philadelphia Independent Media Centre Mumia Abu-Jamal page

Supporter groups

• Chicago Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
• Abu-Jamal News
• Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (NYC)
• Millions4Mumia
• Partisan Defense Committee
• A list of supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal maintained by the Fraternal Order of Police

Opponent groups

• Justice For Daniel Faulkner

Preceded by '

President of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists January 1981 - January 1982

Succeeded by Joe Davidson

Persondata
NAME	Abu-Jamal, Mumia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Cook, Wesley; X, Mumia; Mumia, Wes
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Murderer, Prisoner, Copkiller, Journalist, Broadcaster, Author, Activist
DATE OF BIRTH	April 24, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH