A Letter to the Movement:
The Next Critical Period in the Battle
to Save Mumia Abu-JamalRevolutionary Worker #1038, January 16, 2000
The RW received the following letter which is being circulated by activists in the battle to stop the execution of political prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal:
The new millennium will usher in some CRUCIAL MONTHS IN THE BATTLE TO SAVE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL. Now more than ever, our energies and efforts in organizing for him must be both more intense and more carefully implemented. The early months of 2000 are those in which we must build and mobilize public expression, during the run-up to a critical ruling by the Federal District court that may happen as early as March.
This court ruling, by Federal District Judge William H. Yohn, Jr., may determine whether or not Mumia receives an "evidentiary hearing" to reopen the factual record in his case, or whether all future appeals will be based on the court record of the "hanging judge" Albert Sabo. Judge Sabo found every prosecution witness to be truthful, found every defense witness to be untruthful, and barred the admission of witnesses and documents critical to Mumia's defense.
THE EVIDENCE MUST BE HEARD. Judge Yohn must now decide whether or not to exercise his power to review fully all aspects of State court rulings and findings of fact. Yohn has the Constitutional power to do this, even with the constraints imposed on Federal courts by the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. This ruling is crucial, because it determines whether the evidence barred by Pennsylvania courts will ever be heard, and it will determine what record of the facts in this case will be used during all future Federal appeals. If Sabo's record is allowed to stand, then there is no such thing as justice in the United States.
THE MASS MOVEMENTS DO SHAPE COURT DECISIONS. Legal pundits would have us believe that everything is decided by judges. But history shows that the courts are greatly affected by voices and actions of the people. This is particularly true in high profile political cases that concentrate broader issues being fought out in society. Remember how mass actions and the bus boycott forced the courts to rule against segregation in Montgomery. Appeals courts overturned the Chicago 7 convictions and the conviction of Panther leader Huey P. Newton, in part because the whole world was watching. And the movement against the war in Vietnam impelled an emergency ruling by the Supreme Court to allow publication of the Pentagon Papers. It is during the early months of 2000 that the government will be "taking the temperature of society" on this case, and making the decision of how much they will be forced to give ground.
OUR MOVEMENT FOR MUMIA HAS ACHIEVED MUCH over the last year. The Oakland teach-ins, the Rage Against the Machine concerts, the N.Y. Town Hall Rally, the West Coast Longshoremen's work stoppage, the April 24 mobilizations, the Evergreen State College commencement address, 95 arrested in civil disobedience at the Liberty Bell, Mumia 911, and Mumia Awareness Week, have set Mumia's case before millions. But let us not kid ourselves. We still need to build the broadest movement possible in order to counter an opposition that remains powerful, dangerous, well-organized and poised to kill Mumia.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME in the movement to stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal. If you are someone who is profoundly disturbed over what happened to Mumia in the courts, and are worried what will happen if this is allowed to stand as precedent, then we need your voice. If you are someone whose principal issue is the death penalty itself, then the fight is here. If you are someone who is convinced of Mumia's innocence, then don't let a miscarriage of justice take place. If you are someone concerned about the suppression of dissenting voices, then help make Mumia's voice heard.
EVERYONE CAN TAKE ACTION. Already planned are dozens of programs, actions, newspaper ads, and mobilizations to give collective voice to our cry for justice (see attached list). The actions of every individual count. Mumia's lawyer, Leonard Weinglass, has already received over 15,000 letters to Judge Yohn on Mumia's behalf. Couldn't we collect 100,000 such letters by the time of the hearing? Virtually everyone has access to some professional or social grouping. Can't we all take this case in our schools, churches, professional associations, unions, and even our friends and families. Can't we take advantage of public events and commemorations such as the Martin Luther King weekend to raise Mumia's case? Can't we poster Mumia's image everywhere? With the year 2000 being an election year, shouldn't the candidates be hounded with this issue. Pennsylvania Governor Ridge has now signed 179 death warrants, 106 for African-Americans in state that is 10 percent Black. Shouldn't he be branded everywhere as "Governor Death"?
WE ALL HAVE MUCH AT STAKE in preserving Mumia's life and voice. The movement for Mumia has become a focus for many other movements that are working to shake our peoples free from patterns of oppression that ravage us today: the epidemic of police brutality concentrated in Black and Latino communities, the burgeoning prison-industrial complex, the ready-use of a death penalty that is likely to place nearly 4,000 people on death row by the end the year 2000.
We dare not lose Mumia's voice and life. Every day of our movement's past work has been indispensable to where we are now in the struggle to save Mumia. The next few months, leading up to the Federal District court's decision on an evidentiary hearing and whether Sabo's record will be allowed to stand, must feature our best efforts, our strongest measures, our most creative energies.
Signed:
Pam Africa, International Concerned Family and
<_> Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Safiya Bukhari, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition
<_> (New York)
Ron Daniels, Center for Constitutional Rights
Angela Davis, University of California-Santa Cruz
Ossie Davis
Martín Espada, poet
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University
Frances Goldin, literary agent
C. Clark Kissinger, Refuse & Resist!
Jeff Mackler, Mobilization to Free Mumia
<_> Abu-Jamal (Northern California)
Bob Mandel, Oakland Education Association
Manning Marable, Black Radical Congress
Robert Meeropol, Rosenberg Fund for Children
Monica Moorehead, Millions for Mumia/IAC
Marcus Rediker, Western PA Committee to Free
<_> Mumia (Pittsburgh)
Muhjah Shakir, The Jericho Amnesty Movement
Rev. Al Sharpton, National Action Network
Mark Taylor, Academics for Mumia Abu-Jamal
Michael Warren, attorney
Steve Wiser, Bruderhof communities
Julia Wright, International Concerned Family and
<_> Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal (Paris)
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