{"id":16193,"date":"2020-03-02T12:44:59","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T17:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/2020\/03\/02\/cop-union-counters-mumias-fight-for-freedom\/"},"modified":"2020-03-02T12:44:59","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T17:44:59","slug":"cop-union-counters-mumias-fight-for-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/2020\/03\/02\/cop-union-counters-mumias-fight-for-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Cop union counters Mumia\u2019s fight for freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"March
Mumia\u2019s supporters rallied in Philadelphia on Feb. 28. (John Leslie \/ Socialist Resurgence)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By JOHN LESLIE<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey have struck a match with a fire that they can\u2019t put out.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and its allies have launched a new attack on Mumia Abu-Jamal and democratic rights. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a petition of Maureen Faulkner Popovich, the widow of Officer Daniel Faulkner, asking for a \u201cKing\u2019s Bench\u201d intervention in Mumia\u2019s case. This action cuts across all activity in Mumia\u2019s court case by appointing a Special Master to oversee an investigation into \u201cobvious conflicts of interest\u201d in District Attorney Larry Krasner\u2019s office. Representatives of Faulkner, who has been a perennial tool of the FOP in proceedings against Mumia, allege that Krasner\u2019s office ignored \u201cconflicted representation and the numerous appearances of impropriety.\u201d<\/p>\n

The King\u2019s Bench, an extraordinary power granted in only seven U.S. states, allows a state\u2019s highest court to intervene and exert jurisdiction over a lower level of the judicial system.<\/p>\n

Linn Washington, a journalist and professor at Temple University, wrote that\u00a0\u201cthis grant of King\u2019s Bench once again displays the readiness of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to wallow in misconduct specifically to pervert the justice so long overdue for Mumia Abu-Jamal.\u201d\u00a0 Washington also noted that the \u201cKing\u2019s Bench is not appropriate for an individual or group simply displeased with a governmental action,\u201d which is exactly the circumstance in the current case. In previous decisions the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has rejected relief on these grounds.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a Feb. 28 rally in Philadelphia (see video below<\/em>), Pam Africa, a long-time leader in the fight for Mumia\u2019s freedom, said, \u201cWhat we want to point out is that the FOP, who misuses Maureen Faulkner, went and did an illegal act bringing in the King’s bench decision \u2026 they have struck a match with a fire that they can\u2019t put out. It\u2019s evident that Mumia is innocent. It\u2019s evident that this system is using every ploy to kill Mumia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters rally<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Supporters of Mumia rallied outside of the DA\u2019s office on Feb. 28 before marching to the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. It should be noted that Shapiro, a Democrat, hired prosecutors that Krasner had fired in an attempt to clean up the DA\u2019s office. Last year, the state legislature passed a measure that stripped some of the power from Krasner\u2019s office and gave it to Shapiro.<\/p>\n

At the rally, Johanna Fernandez, a Baruch University history professor and filmmaker who works with Mumia\u2019s attorneys, said, \u201cWe who believe in freedom cannot rest in this town that imprisons the largest number of Black and Latino youth in the country. The district that imprisons the largest number Black and Latino youth does so because it is rotten to the core, and the reason why we are here really is because approximately one year ago there was a great discovery in this case. And what is that discovery? That the key witness in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Robert Chobert, \u2026 sent a note to the then prosecutor in this case, Joe McGill, asking \u2018where is my money?\u2019 That means that there is new exculpatory evidence in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal that says and suggests clearly that the main witness was bought off by the cops and by the prosecutor to finger Mumia. If that evidence sees the light of day, Mumia will walk amongst us in the city of Philadelphia like the MOVE 9, who are now free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters of justice for Mumia have been quick to point out the criticisms that they\u00a0leveled at Krasner since taking office. Despite his \u201cprogressive\u201d credentials as a former defense attorney, Krasner has been hesitant to take on the FOP in Mumia\u2019s case. However, Krasner has taken steps to clean up some of the worst aspects of the DA\u2019s office, which is infamous for prosecutorial\u00a0misconduct and racism. It\u2019s this modest effort that has drawn the ire of the cop union and its reactionary allies.<\/p>\n

The FOP has been a consistent defender of police violence against Black and Latinx people. The cop \u201cunion\u201d is a reactionary formation that has consistently taken actions and positions counter to the interests of working people. When workers go on strike to defend their rights, it\u2019s the cops, acting as the armed agents of the capitalist state, who enforce injunctions and, at times, take violent action against picket lines.<\/p>\n

Socialists understand that the cops, courts, and the rest of the criminal injustice system are not neutral but stand in defense of the capitalist class. This includes district attorneys, who act as part of the law enforcement infrastructure. Therefore there can be no endorsement or political support for district attorneys\u2014no matter how progressive they purport to be.<\/p>\n

The framing of Mumia<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Mumia Abu-Jamal, an award-winning journalist and former member of the Black Panther Party (BPP), was convicted of the 1981 murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner in a frame-up trial featuring unreliable witnesses and little physical evidence. The DA\u2019s office used Mumia\u2019s former membership in the BPP to argue for the death penalty. At the time of the trial, Judge Albert Sabo, also a member of the FOP, was overheard by a white court stenographer, saying that he was going to \u201chelp them [prosecutors] fry that n****r.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Philadelphia DA\u2019s office is well known for biased prosecutions and suppression of evidence in death penalty and other cases. The DA\u2019s office was exposed for a 1986 training video that taught assistant DAs how to keep Blacks off juries. In Mumia\u2019s case, crime scene photos taken by photojournalist Pedro Polokoff showed cops holding guns taken in evidence with their bare hands, and showed the hat of deceased Officer Daniel Faulkner placed on top of Mumia\u2019s brother Billy Cook\u2019s\u00a0VW<\/em>, though it appears on the sidewalk in the official police photos. The ballistics evidence was questionable. The Polokoff photos also don\u2019t show the cab allegedly driven by Chobert at the scene.<\/p>\n

An international mass movement grew in response to Mumia\u2019s case. The movement\u2019s steadfast determination to save Mumia\u2019s life helped win a reversal of the death sentence, which was commuted to a life sentence.<\/p>\n

Although Mumia\u2019s death sentence was overturned, he was later struck by a series of potentially life-threatening illnesses. It became clear that the Department of Corrections was neglecting symptoms of diabetes. He experienced chronic fatigue, painful itching, and eczema, which worsened when doctors prescribed a topical ointment. In 2015, Mumia was hospitalized for diabetes and in the same year initiated legal action to receive treatment for Hepatitis C. It took a two-year struggle to get life-saving medication for Mumia\u2018s Hepatitis C.<\/p>\n

More recently, Mumia\u2019s supporters have successfully fought to make sure that he received cataract surgery to stave off the threat of blindness. At every turn, Mumia and his supporters have struggled to make sure that he received proper treatment in the face of death by medical neglect.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Legal challenge<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In a series of court appearances over the past couple of years, Mumia\u2019s lawyers challenged Mumia\u2019s conviction and argued for a new appeals process under the\u00a0Williams v. Pennsylvania<\/em>\u00a0decision.<\/p>\n

Terrance Williams had been convicted and sentenced to death for robbery and murder. Ron Castille, the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, had been the district attorney of Philadelphia when Williams was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. When Williams appealed, his attorneys asked that Justice Castille recuse himself from the case given his previous role as prosecutor. Castille refused. The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that a prosecutor who later becomes a judge should recuse himself or herself if asked to hear an appeal in a case they had prosecuted.<\/p>\n

Mumia\u2019s attorneys sought to prove Castille\u2019s involvement in his prosecution, since Castille had refused to recuse himself from Mumia\u2019s appeal. They also argued on the basis of bias. On Dec. 27, 2018, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Leon Tucker ruled in favor of Mumia Abu-Jamal, holding that the actions of Judge Castille had demonstrated a \u201clack of impartiality\u201d and \u201cthe appearance of bias.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorney Judith Ritter explained at a Sept. 28, 2019, public meeting that the ruling referred to the discovery of a 1990 letter from Castille, when he was the Philadelphia DA, to Governor Bob Casey, urging him to sign death warrants for death row inmates \u201cto send a clear and dramatic message to all police killers that the death penalty in Pennsylvania actually means something.\u201d<\/p>\n

In December 2018, DA\u2019s office employees \u201cfound\u201d six boxes of evidence in Mumia\u2019s case that had been \u201cmisplaced\u201d years before. It was in these boxes that the Chobert letter to McGill demanding payment was found. Krasner only released the evidence under order from Judge Tucker. Krasner hesitantly decided not to oppose a new hearing for Mumia. Mumia\u2019s supporters anticipated a response by Krasner to the defense petition for Post Conviction Relief Hearings and remanding the case back to the Court of Common Pleas. It was fear of the outcome of such a hearing that drove the FOP and Faulkner to intervene.<\/p>\n

The MOVE 9 are free, now free Mumia!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Fighting to free Mumia Abu-Jamal is an urgent task. We can\u2019t wait passively for the legal process to play out. Mass pressure and mobilization is still our best way to keep pressure on the system. Activist groups, unions, and student organizations should educate and mobilize their members to fight for freedom for Mumia.<\/p>\n

We know that freedom for Mumia will be a victory for everyone. Overturning Mumia\u2019s conviction will be another death blow to the regime of mass incarceration as he joins the movement to swing the prison doors wide open and release all the unjustly incarcerated Black and Brown people in America\u2019s gulags. On the weekend of April 24, Mumia\u2019s 66th birthday, in Philadelphia, there will be film showings, and house meetings, culminating in a march on April 25.<\/p>\n

All out on April 25! Free Mumia and all political prisoners! An injury to one is an injury to all!<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By JOHN LESLIE \u201cThey have struck a match with a fire that they can\u2019t put out.\u201d PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and its allies have launched a new attack on Mumia Abu-Jamal and democratic rights. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a petition of Maureen Faulkner Popovich, the widow of Officer Daniel Faulkner, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13882114,"featured_media":15015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[30821,30850],"tags":[30473],"class_list":["post-16193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-liberation-racism","category-police-and-prisons","tag-mumia-abu-jamal"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.3","language":"es","enabled_languages":["en","es"],"languages":{"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"es":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t