Update: Rallies for Mumia NY, Philadelphia, LA

From: Free Mumia Coalition

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)
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FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL COALITION–NEW YORK CITY
P.O. BOX 16, COLLEGE STATION • NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10030
Hotline: 212 330-8029 • Web Site: 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 MOVE–Sounds 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 Yohn’s 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 Sabo’s 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 week’s 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.