Tuesday, May 08, 2007

All Out for Mumia Abu-Jamal!


Join Danny Glover, Cynthia McKinney and many others in Philadelphia!


For bus tickets, call 212-633-6646. Go to www.millions4mumia.org to download May 17 literature.
If you cannot go to Philly, join the Abolition Movement on May 17 at the Harris County Courthouse, 1201 Franklin at San Jacinto. Get your organization to endorse and come out on this crucial day to stand up in solidarity with Mumia.

Here are some facts:

* The oral argument in the case of death row, political prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal, is scheduled on May 17, 9:30 am, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Ceremonial Courtroom, 1st Floor, U.S. Courthouse,
6th and Market Streets. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., and the National Lawyers Guild, which have filed amicus curiae (friend of the
court) briefs, are also participating.

* This case concerns Mr. Abu-Jamal’s right to a fair trial, the struggle against
the death penalty, and the political repression of an outspoken journalist.
Racism and politics are threads that have run through this case since his 1981
arrest. The complex issues under consideration, which are of great
constitutional significance, include:

* Whether Mr. Abu-Jamal was denied the right to due process of law and a fair
trial under the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments because of the
prosecutor’s “appeal-after- appeal” argument which encouraged the jury to disregard the presumption of innocence and reasonable doubt, and err on the side of guilt.

* Whether the prosecution’s use of peremptory challenges to exclude African
Americans from sitting on the jury violated Mr. Abu-Jamal’s rights to due
process and equal protection of the law under the Sixth and Fourteenth
Amendments, and con­travened Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986).

* Whether the jury instructions and verdict form that resulted in the death
penalty deprived Mr. Abu-Jamal of rights guar­anteed by the Eight and
Fourteenth Amend­ments to due process of law, equal protection of the law, and
not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, and violated Mills v.
Maryland, 486 U.S. 367 (1988), since the judge
precluded the jurors from considering any mitigating evidence unless they all
agreed on the existence of a particular circumstance.

* Whether Mr. Abu-Jamal was denied due process and equal protection of the law under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments during post-conviction hearings as the result of the bias and racism of Judge Albert F. Sabo, which included the
comment that he was “going to help ‘em fry the ni - - er”.

Mumia has always fought for people’s rights! A united, broad movement can save
Mumia from a legal lynching! Free Mumia, Leonard Peltier, the Cuban 5, the MOVE 9 & all political prisoners!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was just reading about this over at Highbrid Nation. one of the writers over there and a very interesting look at the Mumia situation. Personally I have mixed feeling on it all. I would hate to see any man lose his life even a man who may or may not be guilty. But I don't understand why we rally behind this guy instead of focusing our energy into making sure other inner city young men are able to avoid getting into place like Mumia is in right now.