Mumia Abu-Jamal

From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change

Mumia Abu-Jamal
Born	April 24, 1954 (age 54) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania[1]
Residence	SCI-Greene, near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania
Occupation	Journalist/Activist
Religion	Monotheistic
Children	3[2]
Parents	William and Edith Cook

Mumia Abu-Jamal (IPA: /ˈmu.mi.ɑː ə.buʔ dʒə.ˈmɑːl/); (born Wesley Cook on April 24, 1954) is a former Black Panther Party member, cab driver, writer, and journalist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1982 he was found guilty of shooting dead a policeman named Daniel Faulkner. The jury said that he was to be killed as punishment. In 2001 a judge changed that to keeping him in prison until he could be sentenced again.

His lawyers and the State of Pennsylvania continue to argue in court about if he should be put on trial again, sentenced again, or punished with death.

Many people around the world have shown interest in his case. The issues are if he had a fair trial, if he is innocent, and if there is good reason why he should not get the death penalty. Some feel that he should not be killed because he acted to defend his brother. Some say that death punishment should never be allowed because life is too precious and a natural human right.^[3][4][5]

Even though he has been found guilty of a most serious crime he has been honoured, listened to, and campaigned for in various ways - mostly outside Pennsylvania. He has been made a citizen of Paris and had a street named after him. He has received an honorary degree and support from city governments in different places. His recorded speeches have been played at graduation ceremonies, played on the radio, and shown on the internet. There are unions, well-known people, and rights groups that have spoken up either for him or against the death penalty because of him. In any case, his jury and many reviewing judges have agreed that he is guilty and qualifed for killing by deadly injection. He has already twice survived actions fixing dates for his death in 1995 and 1999. He has also been a subject of anger by police groups acting with politicians. Those feelings at times have resulted in him being specially singled out for punishment, sometimes against the law, by prison authorities in Pennsylvania.^{[needs proving]}

From prison he has gained some fame. He has had his writings printed in books and magazines. He has had some success as a writer - such as with his book Live From Death Row.

Contents 1 Early life and work 2 Arrest for murder and trial 2.1 Case against him 2.1.1 People who saw what happened 2.1.2 "I shot the motherfucker" 2.1.3 The gun and bullets 2.2 Defense 2.3 Others who spoke about what they saw 3 Verdict, death sentence, and reactions 4 Appeals and legal happenings 4.1 1983 - 1999 State appeals 4.2 2001 ruling to sentence again 4.3 2005 higher appeal 5 Life as a prisoner 5.1 Writing and journalism 5.2 Claim of 1992 confession 6 Foreign honors and related controversy 6.1 Foreign honors received 6.2 House Resolution 407 6.3 Legal claims against city governments in France 7 Free Mumia campaign 8 References 8.1 Footnotes 8.2 Books and other reading materials 9 Other websites

[change] Early life and work

His parents named him Wesley Cook, and his father died when he was nine.^[1] He learned the name Mumia in 1968 from his high school teacher who came from Kenya.^[6] 'Abu-Jamal' means "father of Jamal", from Arabic). He took his new name after the birth of his son Jamal on July 18, 1971.^[6][7] He has said 'Mumia' means "Prince" and that it was also used by Kenyas fighting against the presence of British soldiers in their country in the mid-20th century.^[8]

He has said he was "kicked into the Black Panther Party" as a teenager. At that time he was beaten up by whites who wanted to keep the black and white races apart as well as by police when tried to stop George Wallace from campaigning to become President of the United States in 1968. He was charged him with assault, but the judge dismissed the charge. In 1969 he helped form a branch of the Black Panther Party in Philadelphia.^[9] He was their "Lieutenant of Information" who wrote news articles and political statements for them. In one interview he quoted Mao Zedong, when saying the Black Panthers had learned "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun" because of how the police had behaved to them.^[10] He quit Benjamin Franklin High School that year and moved out of home to live at the Panthers' Philadelphia headquarters.^[9] The following year he lived with the Panthers in New York and then Oakland. He worked toward the Panther Party goals of creating racial awareness and economic independence in communities of African-Americans.^[11] He was a Panther from May 1969 until October 1970. It is known that the FBI kept an observation file upon him in that time and later until about 1974.^[12]

At age 19 he married Biba. She gave birth to Jamal just after, but the marriage did not last long.^[13] Their daughter, Lateefa, was born in 1973.^[2] His second wife Marilyn (or "Peachie") gave birth to his son Mazi in early 1978.^[7][14] He began living with his third wife, Wadiya, not long before he was arrested and sent to prison. She is his wife now.^[15]

When the BPP began to fall apart, he left them and went back to high school. He was not allowed to go to school for a shory time for handing out material urging "black revolutionary student power".^[16] He had also led a campaign for the school name to be changed to Malcolm X High.^[16] After getting his high school diploma, he studied for a few terms at Goddard College in Vermont.^[17] By 1975 he was a radio news broadcaster at Temple University's radio station, then at other stations around Philadelphia afterwards.^[16] In 1975, he worked at radio station WHAT in Philadelphia. He became the host of a weekly feature program of WCAU-FM in 1978.^[18] He was employed for short periods at station WPEN, and became active for the Marijuana Users Association of America.^[18] From 1979 he worked at WUHY until 1981 when he was asked to leave because his boss had a concern about him not being fair in covering news.^[18] He was known as "the voice of the voiceless" among many in Philadelphia. He spoke and wrote for a group known as MOVE that had formed a naturist commune in the Powelton Village neighborhood. In 1979–80 he reported the trial of nine MOVE members who had been charged with the murder of a police officer.^[18] At the time of his arrest for murder, he worked as a cab driver.^[19] He also was President of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists^[20] and was working part-time as a reporter for WDAS,^[18] a station for black listeners with black owners and presenters.^[21]

[change] Arrest for murder and trial

On December 9, 1981, at 3:51 a.m., Philadelphia Police Department officer Daniel Faulkner was shot and killed during an fight that came out of him stopping a vehicle driven by William Cook, who is Abu-Jamal's younger brother. Abu-Jamal was also shot. Police found a .38 caliber gun beside him that he had owned since 1979. He was wearing an empty gun holster across his shoulder. The gun contained five empty bullet casings. He was taken to hospital for help and charged with first-degree murder. He appointed Mr Anthony Jackson as his lawyer to defend him.^[22]

His murder trial began in June 1982 at Philadelphia City Hall. By that time he had been authorised to defend himself with Jackson as a backup. On the first day of the trial, however, he stopped the trial from proceeding by constant arguing and ignoring what the judge had ruled on. He would not accept that his friend John Africa, who was not a lawyer, would not be allowed to sit next to him as his adviser. The judge then told him that only Jackson would be allowed to put the case for him and that he should sit down and restrain himself.^[23] By one count, he was sent out of the courtroom at least 13 times for disrupting his trial proceedings.^[24]

[change] Case against him

The man proving the case against him in court showed evidence and made arguments that, one after another:^[22]

1. Faulkner stopped the car, Cook hit Faulkner, then Faulkner wrestled with Cook.
2. Abu-Jamal left his cab, crossed the street, and shot Faulkner in the back.
3. Faulkner shot back and wounded Abu-Jamal.
4. Abu-Jamal moved up to Faulkner and shot several times right at his face so he died.
5. Abu-Jamal could not run away because of his wound. He fell down close by on the street. Police that Faulkner had already called arrested him after arriving at the scene.

[change] People who saw what happened

The lawyer proving the case against him offered four people who had seen what happened to tell their stories in court:

1. Robert Chobert, an illegal cab driver who was on parole for setting fire to a school to get money,^[25] and who previously had been in trouble for driving while affected by alcohol,^[26] and who wanted to getting his driving license back with the help of the lawyer who brought him to tell his story;^[27]
2. Cynthia White, a whore on the nearest street corner;
3. Michael Scanlon, who was driving;
4. Albert Magilton, who was walking.

They all said they had seen at least part of what had gone on with the shootings.

Chobert said he was in his cab parked just behind Faulkner's car. About Abu-Jamal, he said: "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."^[28] He first 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. About that he explained in the witness box, "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?"^[29] In his September 25, 2001, statement investigator George Newman wrote that Chobert the he wanted to take back having said that he had was parked directly behind the police car and also that he had seen Faulkner being shot while Faulkner was on the ground.^[30]

Cynthia White said she saw the shooting from where she was standing at the nearest street corner. About Abu-Jamal, 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 be 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."^[31] Dessie Hightower has stated that he saw her at least half a block further away at the time when she claimed to have witnessed those events.^[32] Whore Veronica Jones has said that police told her they would help her out if she would just say she saw the same things as Cynthia White.^[32] On January 28, 2002, Yvette Williams said that White had told her in prison in December 1981 that she had not seen who shot the policeman and that she had lied to say Abu-Jamal did it only because the police wanted her to say that and she was afraid of them.^[33] Police dobber Pamela Jenkins said in court on June 26, 1997 that police forced her into lying that she had seen Abu-Jamal kill the policeman. She said she knew White was very afraid of the police from the shooting until the trial, and that she had seen White with police in March 1997.^[34] The lawyer proving the case against Abu-Jamal was able to prove that White died in 1992, however.^[35]

Scanlan said that he saw the policeman get hit in front of the police car just before another man ran across the street from a parking lot and shot him. He was not able to say who the shooter was. He also said he had been drinking a bit of alcohol.^[36]

Magilton said in court that he saw the policeman stop the car followed by Abu-Jamal crossing the street. He then lost sight of what happened until he heard shooting. He did not who shot who, and he did not say that Chobert's cab was right behind the police car.^[37]

[change] "I shot the motherfucker"

Hospital guard Priscilla Durham, and policeman Garry Bell both said in court that they heard Abu-Jamal say, "I shot the motherfucker, and I hope the motherfucker dies."^[38] Doctors who treated Abu-Jamal have said that he was just too sick, or even not awake, at that time to be able speak up and say something like that.^[1] The first report of policeman Gary Wakshul, who said he stayed with Abu-Jamal the whole time, was "the negro male made no comments".^[3] He later said he heard Abu-Jamal confess in hospital. He said he had not reported that for another two months because of "emotional trauma".^[3] The judge would not allow the jury to know about the first report.^[3]

[change] The gun and bullets

Doctor Paul Hoyer, who examined the body of the policeman, wrote down "shot w/ 44 cal", even though the Abu-Jamal's gun could only fire 38 cal bullets. He explained it was just his "rough guess" that was wrong. Tests showed that a 38 cal bullet killed the policeman. He was killed by Federal brand .38 Special +P hollow-based bullets, a rare kind.^[39] The type, brand, and size all match to the type, brand and size of casings found in Abu-Jamal's gun. The bullets also showed right-hand twist rifling with a pattern of eight grooves, matching to the pattern in Abu-Jamal's gun. Anthony L. Paul, police expert on gun types, said in court that he could easily name other types of guns also with the rifling pattern and direction.^[40] Police experts said in court that the bullet taken from Abu-Jamal had been fired from the policeman's gun. George Fassnacht, speaking for Abu-Jamal's defense, did not dispute any of what the police experts had proved about guns and bullets.^[41]

Amnesty International has said there was:

".. a lack of adequate ballistic tests to determine whether [Abu-Jamal's] gun had recently been fired. It was not determined, for instance, whether there was residue on his hands from firing a gun."^[3]

In a 1995 hearing, a defense expert said that that sort of test was not useful because the residue may have been shaken and moved about in Abu-Jamal's tussling with the police who took him down.^[42]

[change] Defense

Some witnesses saw a man or men running along the street after the shooting. They are: Deborah Kordansky, Robert Chobert, Veronica Jones, and Dessie Hightower.^[22] Of them only Chobert said he saw the shooting. He said that Abu-Jamal himself had run and collapsed after the shooting.^[29] The other three did not claim that the running man, or men, were involved in the shooting.^[22]

Nine witnesses also spoke just about the type of person Abu-Jamal was. Sonia Sanchez, a poet, said that Abu-Jamal was "viewed by the black community as a creative, articulate, peaceful, genial man."^[43] The lawyer against Abu-Jamal asked of what she thought about violence against police by her friend Joanne Chesimard and she was asked if she supported other blacks who had killed police.^[44]

[change] Others who spoke about what they saw

Abu-Jamal did not explain himself in court. He has said:^[45]

"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."

For a very long time he did not explain himself. In 1999 Arnold Beverly made a statement that, "wearing a green (camouflage) army jacket", he had ran across the street and shot Faulkner in the face. He said "the mob" paid him to do it to stop Faulkner making it difficult to bribe other police.^[46] In May 2001 he finally explained that he had been sitting in his cab when he heard shouts, then saw a police vehicle, then he heard gunshots. He said he ran across the street to his brother and was shot by a policeman. He also said that police tortured him while he was wounded and that: "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."^[45] He did not mention anything about his gun.^[45]

William Cook also had not spoken out or explained what happened with the shooting and the dead policeman except when he said "I ain't got nothing to do with this." to the first of the other police that arrived.^[47] On April 29, 2001, Cook finally wrote a statement to explain that he and his brother "had nothing do with shooting or killing the policeman". He said that when his car was stopped, Kenneth Freeman was in the riders seat with a .38 gun and wearing a green army jacket just like many of the witnesses had seen. He said Freeman had planned to shoot the policeman and had admitted that he was the shooter.^[48] Freeman's naked dead body was found with handcuffs on in a vacant lot in North Philadelphia in 1985. It was never said in the trial that Freeman was anywhere near Cook's car.^[49] When he died, the policeman had a replacement temporary driver license of Arnold Howard which Howard had "loaned" to Freeman for some reason.^{[50] [51]}

William Singletary has said he saw someone other than Abu-Jamal shoot the policeman.^[52] On August 11, 1995, he said in court that police had torn up two of his written statements and that he was made to sign a false statement saying that he had only heard shots and not seen who did any shooting.^[53] Policeman Vernon Jones said in court on August 14, 1995, that at the crimescene Singletary had asked what happened and said he had only heard the shots and though they were the sound of firecrackers.^[54] William Harmon, a pimp in 1981, said in court in August 1996 that he had seen someone other than Abu-Jamal kill the policeman and flee in a car which pulled up at the crimescene.^[55] Court recordist Terri Maurer-Carter said in August 2001 that before her and two other people behind the courtroom the Judge had said, "Yeah, and I'm going to help them fry the nigger",^[56] about Abu-Jamal's case just before the trial started.

On April 24, 2003, Kenneth Pate, the step-brother of Priscilla Durham, declared:

"I read a newspaper article about the Mumia Abu-Jamal case. It said Priscilla Durham had testified at Abu-Jamal's trial that when she was working as a security guard at the hospital she heard Abu-Jamal say that he had killed the police officer. When I read this I realized it was a different story from what she had told me. ... [when I asked her] ... "Did you hear him say that?" [she] answered, "All I heard him say was: 'Get off me, get off me, they're trying to kill me'"."^[57]

Pate says that happened "sometime around the end of 1983 or the beginning of 1984" while he was in prison with Abu-Jamal.

Much like the other witness stories proving the case against Abu-Jamal, Robert Harkins said in court on August 2, 1995 that he had seen a man stand over the policemen as the policeman was on the ground and shoot him in the face and who then just "walked and sat down on the curb."^[58][59]

[change] Verdict, death sentence, and reactions

After three hours of considering, the jury all agreed that Abu-Jamal was guilty. When it came to deciding how he should be punished, Abu-Jamal read to them from a statement and answered questions asked by the opposing lawyer about the sort of person he could show that he was.^[60][41] In his statement to the jury he said that his lawyer did not have the ability to do the job and worked for the judge instead of for. He said that the judge was a "black-robed conspirator", who had "deceitfully stolen" his rights such as what he thought was his right to have John Africa next to him as his adviser in court and what he thought was his right to be the only person to speak for his defense. He declared himself "innocent of these charges" and he rebuked the court and the justice system.

The jury agreed that he should be punished with death.^[61] on July 3, 1982.^[41] The punishment was confirmed by the judge on May 25, 1983.^[62] Deadly injection at State Correctional Institution - Rockview is how the death punishment is carried out in Pennsylvania.^[51] Supervising Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham has said it was the "most open-and-shut murder case" she had ever brought,^[63] 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."^[64]

[change] Appeals and legal happenings

[change] 1983 - 1999 State appeals

His appeal was refused by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on March 6, 1989,^[65][61] afterward denying rehearing. On October 1, 1990, the Supreme Court of the United States refused a further appeal^[66] and other requests twice up to June 10,1991.^[67][41]

On June 1, 1995 his death warrant was signed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.^[41] It had to be put aside while Abu-Jamal went after state post-conviction review.^[68] At the end of that review all six judges assigned from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on October 31, 1998, agreed that he had no case and that he could not show that his lawyer did not do an able job.^[69] The Supreme Court of the United States refused to overrule those Pennsylvania judges on October 4, 1999.^[41] Governor Ridge signed another death warrant on October 13, 1999.^[41] It also had to be put aside while Abu-Jamal went to the national-level courts to make the case that he should not be in prison.

[change] 2001 ruling to sentence again

Judge William H. Yohn Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania lifted the sentence of death on December 18, 2001, because of "irregularities" that had happened in sentencing.^[41]

He said,

"When the jury instructions and verdict sheet employed in Jamal’s case are considered, it becomes apparent that there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury has applied the … instruction [and form] in a way that prevents the consideration of constitutionally relevant evidence, regarding the existence of any named mitigating circumstances."^[41]

He gave Pennsylvania 180 days to do the sentencing again^[70] and he made if clear that even if there was just one jury member who felt there were good enough reasons not to kill Abu-Jamal then he could not be killed.^[71] Abu-Jamal's lawyers were unhappy that he was not allowed to have a new trial and they said they thought he was innocent and suffering because of people who had teamed up to lie and get him in trouble for something he never did just because they hated him.^[72] Both sides then went to an even higher court to get what they wanted.^[73][74]

[change] 2005 higher appeal

On December 6, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said there would be four things that they would consider about Abu-Jamal's case and the 2001 decision:^[75][76]

• were the jurors confused about when they could and could not agree on a death punishment?
• should there be a new trial because there was racism to keep down the number of blacks on the jury?
• should there be a new trial because the lawyer against Abu-Jamal said to the jury it was their only chance to ever make sure that he was punished for doing wrong?
• was it obvious that the judge who sat at the trial and reviewed the case was prejudiced against Abu-Jamal in 1995 and 1996?

On March 17, 2006, Pennsylvania put its case in writing saying why the original death sentence should be carried out. Governor Ed Rendell has said that he will sign another death warrant for Abu-Jamal if they are found to be correct.^[73][74] On October 23, 2006, Abu-Jamal's lawyer submitted their written responses. They asked the Third Circuit Court to order a new trial for him.^[77] The Third Circuit Court heard spoken arguments for the case on May 17, 2007, at the United States Courthouse in Philadelphia.^[78] Chief Judge Anthony Joseph Scirica, Judge Thomas L. Ambro, and Judge Robert Cowen listened to the arguments. The policeman's widow was there to watch.^[79][80]

[change] Life as a prisoner

[change] Writing and journalism

From prison, Abu-Jamal wrote Live from Death Row, a book on life inside prisons, and other books afterward. The book sold well and made a lot of money for him, but he was punished with 30 days isolation because he had broken prison rules about "engaging in the business or profession of journalism".^[81]

The New College of California School of Law has given him an honorary Juris Doctor degree.^[82]

In May 1994 he was employed by National Public Radio's All Things Considered radio program to speak regular monthly 3-minute opinion pieces about of crime and punishment.^[83] The arrangement had to be dropped because of anger from the public and the Fraternal Order of Police^[84] that was also expressed through US Senator Bob Dole (R-KA).^[85] Witten versions of the opinion pieces appeared in May 1995.^[86]

In 1999, he was invited to record a speech to the graduating class at The Evergreen State College.^[87] He accepted, he did so, and it was played to them. Police officers from around the US attended and protested. He has also addressed graduates of Antioch College, UC Santa Cruz, Kent State University, and Occidental College in that way.^[88]

While his speeches may be listened to on Free Speech Radio News and online at Prison Radio,^[89] and he writes every Saturday for the German language Marxist newspaper junge Welt, he has sometimes been censored. After the 1996 HBO documentary Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case for Reasonable Doubt? showed video of him, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections acted to ban visitors from bringing recording equipment into state prisons.^[17] In 1998 the US Court of Appeals approved his right to engage in journalism and earning money for his writing from prison. The Court also said that the Department had broken the law by denying him visits by the media in early 1995. They described it as retaliation for the content of his writing and journalism.^[90] His phone was cut off after he began reading his radio commentaries live to air on Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now!. That happened while he was on the air and reading live.^[17]

In his poetry book Death Blossoms, he expresses his unique religious belief in a Mother God he refers to by the name of "Mama".

[change] Claim of 1992 confession

In 1999, Vanity Fair revealed that a volunteer named Phillip Bloch visited Abu-Jamal in prison in 1992 and asked him whether he regretted killing the policeman. Block said Abu-Jamal replied, "Yes."^[91] Bloch said he revealed this because he didn't like what Abu-Jamal's supporters had been saying about the dead policeman. Abu-Jamal's response was: "A lie is a lie, whether made today or 10 years later", and he 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."^[92]

[change] Foreign honors and related controversy

[change] Foreign honors received

• In 1999 he was made an honorary citizen of Bobigny and then also by Malakoff and Villejuif. Copenhagen municipality, San Francisco, Venice, Palermo,^[93], and Montreal^[93] also have done this.
• In 2001 he was given the biannual Erich Mühsam Prize of the Erich Mühsam Society, Lübeck, awarded to "individuals and groups that deal with moral courage and idealism for social justice and persecuted minorities".^[94]
• In October 2002 he was made an honorary member of the Berlin-based Association of Those Persecuted by the Nazi Regime - Federation of Antifascists and Antifascist Groups (VVN-BdA).^[95]
• In October 4, 2003, he was made an honorary citizen of Paris as an act symbolizing the refusal of the death penalty.^[96]
• On April 29, 2006, a newly-paved road in the Paris suburb of St Denis was named Rue Mumia Abu-Jamal after him.^[97][98]

[change] House Resolution 407

On May 19, 2006, US Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced a concurrent resolution called House of Representatives Resolution 407,^[99] and on June 15, 2006, Richard Santorum (R-PA) introduced the same Senate Resolution 102,^[100] being :

"That Congress,

• condemn the murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Danny Faulkner
• urge the city of Saint-Denis to change the name of Rue Mumia Abu-Jamal, and, if they do not, urge the French government to take action against the city to change the name
• commend police officers all over the world for their commitment to public service and public safety."
  Operative text of proposed HR407, 109th US Congress, May 19, 2006

On December 6, 2006, the House of Representatives voted 368-31 in favor of HR407, "Condemning the decision of St. Denis, France, to name a street in honor of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the convicted murderer of Philadelphia Police Officer Danny Faulkner." Some elected Philadelphia City Council officials will go to Paris in November 2007 to plead with the French to reconsider the things they have done to bring more fame to him.^[93]

[change] Legal claims against city governments in France

On December 11, 2006, the executive committee of the Pennsylvania Republican Party for the 59th Ward of the City of Philadelphia (which covers most of Germantown, Philadelphia), sued with two criminal complaints in French courts against the government of the city of Paris and the city of Saint-Denis claiming the wrong of actions "glorifying" Abu-Jamal and the offence "apology of crime".^[93][101]

[change] Free Mumia campaign

An international movement supports him Abu-Jamal's. It is opposed by the family of the dead policeman, the State of Pennsylvania, and police unions^[102] which have called for boycotts against those showing sympathy for Abu-Jamal.^[103] The support includes:

• American labor unions and congresses;^{[104][105][106][107]}
• letter-writers and endorsees of the Partisan Defense Committee's campaign for him to be found not guilty;^[108]
• acts by some US^[109] and foreign city governments;^[97]
• a number of US and foreign artists and celebrities and notable people;^{[110][111][112]}
• musical tributes;
• forming of groups of elected politicians,^[113][114] lawyers,^[115][116] educators^[117], and journalists;^[118]
• a 2004 resolution of the NAACP^[119]
• legal support from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund;^[120]
• support claimed from the Episcopal Church of the United States of America;^[121]
• interest from Human Rights Watch^[122], Amnesty International, and the MRAP in France;^[3]
• continuing efforts by the Free Mumia Coalition and the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal.

[change] References

[change] Footnotes

[change] Books and other reading materials

• Abu-Jamal, Mumia.
  • Live from Death Row. HarperTrade, 1996. ISBN 0-380-72766-8
  • Ich Schreibe um zu Leben. Zeugnisse eines zum Tode Verurteilten (I Write to Live. Testimonies of a Person Sentenced to Death). Atlantik (Bremen), 1997. ISBN 3-926529-20-2
  • All Things Censored. Seven Stories Press, 2000. ISBN 1-58322-022-4
  • Das Imperium kennt kein Gesetz (The Empire Knows No Law). Atlantik (Bremen), 2002. ISBN 3-926529-59-8
  • Death Blossoms: Reflections from a Prisoner of Conscience. South End Press, 2003. ISBN 0-89608-699-2
  • Faith of Our Fathers: An Examination of the Spiritual Life of African and African-American People. Africa World Press, 2003. ISBN 1-59221-019-8
  • We Want Freedom: A Life in the Black Panther Party. South End Press, 2004. ISBN 0-89608-718-2
• Amnesty International. The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Life in the Balance (Open Media Pamphlet Series). Open Media, 2001. ISBN 1-58322-081-X
• Bisson, Terry On a Move: The Story of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Litmus Books, 2000. ISBN 0-87486-901-3
• Faulkner, Maureen; Smerconish, Michael A. Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain, and Injustice. The Lyons Press, 2007. ISBN 1-59921-376-1
• Lindorff, David. Killing Time. Common Courage Press, 2002. ISBN 1-56751-228-3
• Schiffmann, Michael. Wettlauf Gegen Den Todd. Mumia Abu-Jamal: Ein Schwarzer Revolutionär im Weiβen Amerika (Race Against Death. Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Black Revolutionary in White America). Promedia, 2006. ISBN 3-85371-258-4
• Weinglass, Leonard. Race for Justice: Mumia Abu-Jamal's Fight Against the Death Penalty. Common Courage Press, 1995. ISBN 1-56751-070-1
• Williams, Daniel R. Executing Justice: An Inside Account of the Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. St. Martin's Press, 2002. ISBN 0-375-76124-1

[change] Other websites

Visual

• 1996 video of him being asked questions in jail
• In Prison My Whole Life trailer 2007 film about the long time he has been in jail

His writings and news about him

• Things he has written in jail
• 1981-1998 Philadelphia Inquirer news stories about him
• Philadelphia Independent Media Centre news page about him

Groups supporting him

• Chicago Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
• Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal (EMAJ)
• Free Mumia European Network
• Journalists for Mumia Abu-Jamal
• Labour Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal About what some unions have done to support him up till early 2005
• Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (NYC) and International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
• Millions4Mumia supporter group
• Partisan Defense Committee campaign to free him A group that works for "class war prisoners" including him and his son Jamal
• Supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal A list kept by the Fraternal Order of Police
  

People and groups against him

• Fraternal Order of Police news, letters and statements about Mumia Abu-Jamal From a group that speaks for police in the USA
• Justice For Daniel Faulkner A group that remembers the killed policeman. Trial and court records are here and some writings from people who say that they are sure Mumia Abu-Jamal killed him
• The Anti-MOVE/Mumia blog A weblog by a person who used to be part of MOVE and who feels that Mumia is guilty and MOVE is lying for him

Came after: First PABJ President Chuck Stone (1973) & people after him

President of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists 1981

Came before: PABJ President Joe Davidson (1982) & people after him