It’s been over 20 years since Mumia Abu-Jamal was arrested for killing a police officer. Since that time, there have been public outcries of innocence and judicial injustice. There have been Black authors and attorneys causing harmful controversy and doubt, proclaiming that some days, they “think the n***a did it.” More importantly, there has been a strong movement that understands the value of a possibly innocent man’s life and have worked tirelessly to ensure that he gets a new trial.
That day is finally here.
Maryclaire Dale (AP)---Philadelphia prosecutors will have to pursue a second death-penalty sentence for convicted police killer Mumia Abu-Jamal or accept a life sentence after the U.S. Supreme Court declined Tuesday to review the racially charged case.
Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther, has spent nearly 30 years on death row after his 1982 conviction for killing white officer Daniel Faulkner.
A federal appeals court this year upheld his conviction, but agreed the death-penalty instructions were potentially misleading and ordered a new sentencing hearing.
City prosecutors appealed that order, but must now decide whether to pursue the death penalty for a second time. Only three people have been executed in Pennsylvania since 1976, and none since 1999.
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