Here in Illinois we have seen vivid proof of the failings of a criminal justice system that condemned thirteen men to spend decades on death row for crimes they did not commit. Mumia Abu-Jamal's case shares many traits with these Illinois cases. Mr. Abu-Jamal had woefully inadequate representation at his trial (the attorney was later disbarred), vital evidence pointing to his innocence was withheld from the defense, and a prosecution witness has since recanted her testimony. Political statements made by Mr. Abu-Jamal years before as a member of the Black Panther Party were used against him in the sentencing phase to secure the death penalty, after the prosecution had used its preemptory challenges to remove eleven African-Americans from the jury panel. Both practices have since been ruled unconstitutional. Yet neither the verdict nor the sentence has been overturned. Mr. Abu-Jamal was forced to appeal his conviction before the same judge who sentenced him to death, and who has put more people on death row than any other judge in America.

Mumia Abu-Jamal's case is linked to the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act because under that law, unlike in the ultimately successful case of Ruben "Hurricane" Carter, federal judges are now expected to accept the findings of fact by state courts. This "state's rights" dictum could sound the death knell for any real review of lower court decisions in such cases (habeas corpus). Evidence uncovered by Mr. Abu-Jamal's new attorneys including coerced testimony and new witnesses not heard at the original trial will never be considered if he is not granted an evidentiary hearing and a new trial.

In Illinois overturned convictions have led to a moratorium on executions to prevent execution of the innocent. The climate in Philadelphia is quite different. Mr. Abu-Jamal's record of journalistic activism had made him a target of the Philadelphia police for years prior to the incident that put him on death row. Convicted of murdering a policeman, he has now become the center of a national campaign by the Fraternal Order of Police to see him executed, a campaign that includes refusal to provide police services to prominent people who support Mr. Abu-Jamal's cause. This climate of intimidation must be stemmed. We believe that the corruption of the Philadelphia police force, which led to a Federal suit against that City and reversals of numerous cases, is yet another reason Mr. Abu-Jamal's case must be heard in the Federal Courts. We cannot stand by silently while the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act is used to deny justice to a man who has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence.

Justice demands that the evidence in this controversial case be heard. We join with Amnesty International, heads of state from South Africa to France, members Congress and the European Parliament, trade unions and teachers associations and, here in Illinois, the Illinois Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Chicago Conference of Black Lawyers, and AFSCME Council 31, Local 3315 (representing Assistant Public Defenders in Cook County) to urge that Mumia Abu-Jamal be granted a new trial.

Gregory Adamski • Bret Angelo • Stephen W. Baker, Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers* • Shirley Taylor Birts • Locke Bowman, MacArthur Justice Center* • Prof. Francis Boyle • Paul Brayman • Robert R. Cohen, Frankel & Cohen • Deborah B. Cole • Arlene Y. • Susan Compernolle • Martha L. Conrad • Karen Conti • Cook County Bar Association • Cook County Public Defender Association, AFSCME Council 31, Local 3315 • Dick Cunningham • John Curnyn • Mark Davidow • Michael E. Deutsch, Peoples Law Office • Mark Dickman • Demitrus Evans • James R. Fennerty • Scott J. Frankel, Frankel & Cohen • Craig Futterman • Leonard Goodman • Theodore A. Gottfried • Jeff Granich • Andre Grant • Joseph M. Gump, Executive-at-Large, AFSCME Local 3315* • Jason Gylling, National Lawyers Guild* • Jeffrey H. Haas, Peoples Law Office • Marshall J. Hartman • Laurene M. Heybeck • Charles Hoffman • Janine Hoft, Peoples Law Office • Joanne Kinoy • Dan P. Kiss, Treasurer, AFSCME Local 3315* • Reed Lee • Loevy & Loevy • Timothy R. Lohraff, Peoples Law Office • Andrea Lyon • Lawrence C. Marshall, Northwestern University* • Joey L. Mogul, Peoples Law Office Bonnie McGrath • National Lawyers Guild, Chicago Chapter • R. Delacy Peters • Hon. Eugene M. Pincham • Todd Reardon • Timothy R. Roelling • Jean Maclean Snyder • John M. Stainthorp, Peoples Law Office • Edward T. Stein • Jed Stone • Jan Susler, Peoples Law Office • G. Flint Taylor, Peoples Law Office • David Thomas • Lee H. Tockman • Erica Thompson, Peoples Law Office • Phillip A. Turner • United Legal Workers of Chicago, National Organization of Legal Services Worker Local 2320 • Edward A. Voci • Kevin Vodak, National Lawyers Guild* • Julie Welch • Elizabeth K. Whitaker • Standish E. Willis • Tim Yeager

* Organization for identification only

In a flyer prepared for the Convention, 'Labor for Mumia' points out, "Among various initiatives, we are launching a mass letter-writing campaign. We will be circulating letters for union members to sign, protesting the planned execution and the continuing denial of Mumia's Constitutional and Civil Rights. We must demand that the Justice Department launch an investigation. 29 separate Constitutional violations have been documented. It shouldn't take 18 years to discover just one, which is sufficient grounds to throw the case out. Refusal to investigate this matter amounts to complicity. The Labor movement cannot afford to sit back or look the other way."

"The Labor Movement must continue to champion the struggle against injustice. As we have in the past, we must stand shoulder to shoulder with the African American community in combating racial injustice. This is true even when that injustice is handed down by a white man in a black robe, shrouded by the aura of the criminal justice system."

"Please add your name to the campaign. Secure the endorsement of your Union, Council or affiliated organization. Organize a Mumia Awareness Committee in your local. Help us reach out to the ranks of labor to win this struggle for freedom, justice and equality."

The resolution was introduced by Walter Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer of the San Francisco Labor Council, who had been one of six honorees the previous evening at the Federations' Banquet. Our literature table was quite busy with delegates stopping by to learn more about the case, and to volunteer their assistance. Many delegates wanting further information picked up the Amnesty International report or a copy of Mumia's latest book.

The next meeting of 'Labor for Mumia' in the San Francisco Bay Area will occur this coming Tuesday, July 25 at 7PM in the East Bay. The location hasn't been confirmed, so drop an e-mail for location info. Check out the WebSite at www.aspenlinx.com/labor to sign-up and lend a hand. You can also check out a picture of Walter at our literature table, hard at work campaigning for justice.

In Solidarity,

Resolution for Justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal

WHEREAS, Mumia Abu-Jamal is an outstanding African-American journalist and member of the National Writers Union-UAW who campaigned against police abuses and who, with no previous criminal record, has been on Pennsylvania's death row since 1981, convicted of shooting a police officer in a trial in which there was compelling evidence of his innocence and of gross misconduct on the part of the police, prosecutor and judge; and

WHEREAS, his execution was stopped only by massive international protests, yet he still faces imminent execution if Federal District Court Justice William Yohn refuses to hear evidence on 29 charges of Constitutional violations, even while new witnesses have come forward and new evidence announced by Rubin Hurricane Carter clearly shows perjury and prosecutorial subornation of perjury; and

WHEREAS, despite his life and death need to put his case before the public, Mumia Abu-Jamal showed courageous solidarity with locked out NABET/CWA workers by his refusal to be interviewed by a scab ABC television crew, helping to bring national attention to NABET's just struggle and has also championed the ILWU's bold efforts in solidarity with the Liverpool dockers in regard to the Neptune Jade scab ship ; and

WHEREAS, Mumia Abu-Jamal's struggle for a new trial is supported by a broad range of Labor Organizations which stand up for social justice, city governments, organizations such as the NAACP, Amnesty International, American Friends Service Committee and the European Parliament, and by such well known figures as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King III, Alice Walker, Paul Newman, Maya Angelou, Ossie Davis and many others who seek justice and human rights; and

WHEREAS ever increasing numbers of people are being freed from death row because of new evidence of innocence that has brought about public (including political) questioning of the fairness of the death penalty;and

WHEREAS, should he be executed without a new trial, it would be an affront to all who believe in fairness, and it would be an irreversible, tragic miscarriage of justice and a disgrace to the United States of America as a whole; now

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this Twenty-third Biennial Convention of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO commends Mumia Abu-Jamal for his principled and courageous acts of union solidarity and we continue to take our place alongside those labor organizations who stand up against racism and injustice, demanding justice and a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon Justice Yohn to hear Mumia Abu-Jamal's new evidence and witnesses, and if he refuses, we call upon the President of the United States to intercede and order a new trial; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we support the LABOR FOR MUMIA Campaign urging the entire Organized Labor Movement to educate and organize our members and to bring Organized Labor's Power to bear to assure Justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the California Labor Federation adopts this resolution at it's Convention on July 17-19, 2000, and forwards this resolution and encourages its adoption by the national Executive Council of the AFL-CIO.

Adopted - California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
July 18, 2000 - Anaheim, California

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) joins millions of individuals and organizations around the world in calling for a new trial for Mumia Abu Jamal. AFSC is a Quaker organization that is committed to social justice, peace, and humanitarian service. Our work in communities throughout the United States and internationally is based in the Quaker belief in the infinite dignity and worth of every person, as well as our faith in the power of love and nonviolent struggle to bring about positive social change. We oppose the death penalty in all cases, because of our belief in the value of human life. We do not believe that either justice or healing can be found by reacting to violence with violence.

We respect the memory of Daniel Faulkner, and we honor the pain of his widow and the other survivors who grieve his loss. AFSC stands firmly with murder victim family members just as it does those on death row. Every death through violence is a rupture in the fabric of the community, a rupture that cries out for healing. Such healing cannot come, however, through a search for vengeance or through casting aside legal and constitutional protections in order to obtain a conviction at any cost, regardless of the facts of a particular case.

AFSC's fifty years of work to rid the criminal justice system of systemic injustice has made us aware of the many systemic imperfections and injustices in the criminal justice system. We are also aware of the massive increase in the rate of incarceration in the United States that has accompanied the re-instatement of the death penalty. Until the 1970s, the rate of incarceration in the United States remained essentially stable for nearly fifty years, at about 110 per 100,000. At the present time, the rate of incarceration is over six times higher than it was prior to the 1970s.

The execution of innocent people is inescapable and likely to increase if the calls for swift executions, reduced resources for defense of the accused, and the inclusion of more crimes that may result in the imposition of the death penalty continue. The pace at which innocent people have been released over the last several years is at least double the rate from 1973-93, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Our justice system is far from mistake free. No matter how careful the courts are, the possibility of perjured testimony, mistaken honest testimony, and human error remain too real.

We believe that the case of Mumia Abu Jamal illustrates systemic problems in the U.S. criminal justice system and society as a whole. We deplore the demonization of death row inmates whose voices are censored and shunned by the larger community. For all the reasons set forth in this statement, we believe that our participation in the movement for justice for Mumia Abu Jamal as an individual strengthens our call for an end to the death penalty and for fairness for all people involved in the criminal justice system of the United States.

We applaud those public officials who, in response to the mounting evidence of wrongful conviction of innocent people, have been willing to consider abolition of the death penalty or to approve moratoriums on its use. We urge them to recognize that only the abolition of the death penalty will guarantee protection against taking the life of an innocent person.

Across the United States, AFSC works with communities of racial and cultural diversity: communities that carry great burdens of poverty and disenfranchisement.

Since the reinstatement of the federal death penalty, seventy-six (76) percent of the defendants approved for capital punishment are members of minority groups. The imposition of the death penalty by states reflects the same racial skewing. Since 1900, prison officials, police, or lynch mobs have executed thousands of African-Americans. In the past century, only a handful of whites have been executed for either the murder of a black person or the rape of a black woman. The dire impact of our criminal justice system on the poor, people of color, and the most disadvantaged demands that more of the nation's resources be devoted to improving the well being of our people and to eliminating racial stereotyping and institutional racism from our criminal justice system.

Before his incarceration, Abu Jamal was a prominent radio journalist, serving as president of the Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia. A one-time member of the Black Panther Party, he was a target of police harassment from a young age. As a reporter, he spoke out vigorously against police violence, particularly in confrontations with the MOVE organization.

In 1981, when Abu Jamal attempted to intervene in a street incident in which his brother was being beaten by a police officer, he was shot and severely wounded. Police officer Daniel Faulkner was also shot and killed. Abu Jamal was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Faulkner's killing. After nearly 20 years on death row, he has almost exhausted his appeals.

In appealing his original conviction, Abu Jamal has introduced evidence that police fabricated a confession he never made; that witnesses were harassed and coerced into changing their stories; that critical exculpatory evidence was withheld from the defense; and that African Americans were deliberately excluded from the jury. For years, Abu Jamal's case was overseen by a judge who consistently demonstrated a bias in favor of the prosecution and used every opportunity to prevent Abu Jamal from introducing new evidence that might cast doubt on his guilt. Higher courts in Pennsylvania have declined to review the lower court's rulings, thereby failing to scrutinize the extensive evidence of police and prosecutorial misconduct that Abu Jamal's defenders have amassed.

Abu Jamal's case is now at its most critical stage. He has petitioned the federal court to order a new trial in which he can present evidence of his innocence that has been excluded throughout his long quest for a fair trial. If his petition is rejected, it will be extremely difficult for him to win further federal appeals and an execution date could be set before the end of the year.

Despite all the international concern expressed on his behalf, Abu Jamal remains in jeopardy. There is reason to believe that he has been targeted because of his criticism of police practices, especially in communities of color. Attempts to stifle democratic debate regarding this case and to suppress Abu Jamal's voice are increasing in Philadelphia and around the country. For the AFSC, saving Mumia Abu Jamal from the death penalty and supporting him to gain the opportunity to demonstrate his innocence is only one step in our steadfast effort to end capital punishment and to rid our criminal justice system of its many flaws.