[Ppnews] Rallies for Mumia NY, Philadelphia, LA
Political Prisoner News
ppnews at freedomarchives.org
Wed Jan 20 10:47:21 EST 2010
From: Free Mumia Coalition <<mailto:info at freemumia.com>info at freemumia.com>
BRINGING MUMIA ONE STEP CLOSER TO REINSTATEMENT OF DEATH PENALTY
TAKE IT TO THE STREETS!
EMERGENCY PROTESTS:
WEDNESDAY 1/20, 4-7PM AT THE HARLEM STATE OFFICE BUILDING
(125th St and 7th Ave) NEW YORK
WEDNESDAY 1/20, 4pm at the SE CORNER OF CITY HALL (Juniper St.)
PHILADELPHIA
LOS ANGELES RALLY FOR MUMIA
WEDNESDAY, 1/20 5:00PM, DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES
FEDERAL BLDG., LOS ANGELES STREET AT TEMPLE
EMERGENCY MEETING:
FRIDAY 1/22, 6:30PM AT ST. MARY'S CHURCH
(521 W.126th St, between Amsterdam and Broadway)
-----------------
FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL COALITIONNEW YORK CITY
P.O. BOX 16, COLLEGE STATION NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10030
Hotline: 212 330-8029 Web Site: <http://www.freemumia.com>www.freemumia.com
For Immediate Release: January 19, 2010
Contact: Suzanne Ross (917) 584-2135
Pam Africa (215) 476-8812
PRESS CONFERENCE: 4:30 pm at Harlem State Office Building
RALLY: 4-7 pm
Supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal Take to the Streets
the Day After in Response to Supreme Court
Ruling; Critical Juncture in 28-Year-Old Death Penalty Case
On January 19, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court
tossed out a lower federal court ruling that
nullified the death sentence hanging over
celebrated Black political prisoner Mumia
Abu-Jamal. The case now goes back to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in
Pennsylvania to be reconsidered in light of
Smith v. Spisak, 558 U.S. ___ (2010). This
recently decided case reaffirmed the death
penalty of a Neo-Nazi convicted of three murders.
The only similarity to the case of Abu-Jamal was
that Spisak had also petitioned the Supreme Court
partly on the basis of incorrect jury instructions.
The Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (New York
City) and other supporters of Abu-Jamal are
calling for a rally at the Adam Clayton Powell
Jr. State Office Building, 125th Street and Adam
Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in New York City, on
Wednesday, January 20, from 4-7 p.m., to condemn
the decision and to intensify their petition
campaign to Attorney General Eric Holder urging a
civil rights investigation into the case.
Speakers at the rally include Councilman Charles
Barron; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director of
the National Lawyers Guild; Nana Soul of Black
Wax Productions and producer of On the
MOVESounds Inspired by Mumia Abu-Jamal;
internationally recognized hip-hop artists
Immortal Technique; Spritchild of the hip-hop
fusion band Mental Notes; Professor Johanna
Fernandez of Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal; and many others.
In March 2008, the Third Circuit Court affirmed
Federal District Court Judge William Yohns 2001
decision overturning the death sentence. Citing
the 1988 Mills v. Maryland precedent, Judge Yohn
had ruled that sentencing forms used by jurors
and Judge Albert Sabos instructions to the jury
were potentially confusing and that therefore
jurors could have mistakenly believed that they
had to unanimously agree on any mitigating
circumstances in order to consider them as
weighing against a death sentence. In this weeks
rejection of that decision, supporters of
Abu-Jamal see another example of the Mumia
Exception; that is, claims that have won the day
in other cases were repeatedly denied him.
Supporters of Abu-Jamal have argued for decades
that he was wrongfully convicted in a deeply
flawed trial for the 1981 killing of a
Philadelphia police officer. They point to
suppressed evidence, perjury, witness
intimidation, an admittedly biased judge and a
long string of twisted appellate court rulings as
evidence of a continuing conspiracy by the state to execute him.
Demonstrations will be held in several cities
across the U.S. and internationally. In
Philadelphia, Mumia supporters will be protesting
at the office of the new district attorney, Seth
Williams, on the southeast side of City Hall.
Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of murdering a
Philadelphia police officer in 1982. His case is
one of the most contested in U.S. history.
Prosecutors, and the Fraternal Order of Police in
support of them, have always claimed to possess a
watertight case of eyewitnesses and conclusive
evidence. Nevertheless, Abu-Jamal's trial,
conviction, and death sentence have prompted
jurists and human rights organizations worldwide
to denounce the trial and death sentence as a
travesty of justice. They cite bias in the
original judge, a racially skewed process of jury
selection, numerous other denials of due process,
and prosecution and police intimidation of
witnesses. Amnesty International advised, for
example, that "justice would best be served by
granting a new trial." Abu-Jamal's defense team
identified 29 claims of violation of Abu-Jamal's
constitutional rights, although he has been
unable to present evidence of his innocence,
evidence of police and prosecutorial conspiracy to frame and convict him.
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
www.Freedomarchives.org
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