And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Activist Mailing List - http://get.to/activist From: Prison Radio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thursday, October 14, 1999 5:40 PM Subject: Mumia's New Legal Situation Mumia’s Situation Following the new Death Warrant and new Filing in the Federal Court by C. Clark Kissinger 10.14.99 What follows is a short summary of Mumia’s current legal situation for activists and speakers working for Mumia. It explains why there must be a major focus at this time on demanding that the federal district court in Philadelphia grant a hearing on Mumia’s new petition. Is Mumia going to be executed on December 2? No, but his life is in great danger. With the filing on October 15 of a petition in the federal district court for a new trial for Mumia, the federal judge is expected to soon grant a stay of execution. A stay, of course, is only a postponement to allow the federal judge to consider the new petition. Mumia remains under order of death, and the stay will be lifted after the federal district court finishes considering the case. Governor Ridge signed this death warrant knowing full well that Mumia would be filing for a new trial in a matter of days, and the death warrant would be stayed. This is the same thing he did in 1995 when he signed a death warrant just before Mumia filed a petition for a new trial in the state courts. It is a political step designed to mislead people and pressure the courts. What is the significance of Mumia’s new petition? This is a most critical moment in the whole appeals process. A federal district judge in Philadelphia is being asked to hold a hearing on Mumia’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. A motion for habeas corpus (Latin for "let's have the body") comes from English common law, where it was an appeal to a court to review whether the King's detention of somebody was legal. In granting the motion, the court told the King's sheriff to "bring the body" into court and justify why you are holding him. This practice developed into a procedure in the U.S. by which federal courts are asked to review criminal convictions by state courts. What it means in practice is that state governments do not have an absolute right to take away a person's freedom or life. So why would a hearing be so important? Up to this point, all hearings have been in the Pennsylvania state court system and presided over by Judge Sabo. Sabo routinely denied motions for discovery and denied subpoenas for key witnesses sought by the defense. Sabo’s actions were then approved by the Pennsylvania Supreme, most of whose justices are endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police. Thus a hearing in federal district court be Mumia FIRST real opportunity to have the evidence heard and reviewed. It will also be Mumia’s LAST opportunity to present the evidence and witnesses denied by the Pennsylvania court system. After the federal district court, all higher federal appeals courts will only review transcripts -- they will not hear any new evidence. What is the effect of the new federal laws on death penalty appeals? The danger is this: the federal district judge who gets this case is not required to grant Mumia a hearing. He could simply read the Pennsylvania trial transcripts and issue a ruling. In fact, the 1996 Effective Death Penalty Act (EDPA) is specifically designed to discourage federal courts from reviewing and overturning death sentences handed down in the state courts. This is why public action for Mumia is so important. The government has to hear a loud popular demand for a hearing, so the evidence can be heard that would justify a new trial for Mumia. What the Effective Death Penalty Act attempts to do is to repeal the federal right of habeas corpus. Under the signboard of “federalism,” both this new law and recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court are attempting to make decisions by state courts final, and far less subject to federal review. “Federalism” is just a new name for the old doctrine of “states rights” that attempted to prevent any federal review of white supremacist courts in the South. Such federal review was a major gain of the Civil Rights Movement, which the government is now seeking to reverse. This has to be called out and exposed. What is the effect of the Supreme Court turning down Mumia’s appeal on October 4? Earlier this year, Mumia’s legal team also petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a “writ of certiorari.” This is a request to the Supreme Court to look at the case before it works its way up through the normal habeas corpus process. Sometimes the Supreme Court will do this, when an important legal question is presented. In Mumia’s case, the Supreme Court was asked to consider whether it was constitutional to deny him the right to act as his own attorney and to bar him from the court room when he protested this denial. In denying this petition, the Supreme Court was saying that it would not consider these issues now -- the case will have to go through the federal district court and the circuit court of appeals first. The U.S. Supreme Court did NOT rule against Mumia on merit of the issues he raised. What happens if the federal district judge denies Mumia a new trial (denies habeas corpus)? If the judge at the federal district court level rules against him, Mumia will then appeal to the federal 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. But if the judge rules in favor of Mumia, the state of Pennsylvania is sure to appeal to the 3rd Circuit Court. So there will be two rounds of federal court action in Philadelphia over the next year (the district court and the circuit court of appeals). In general, action in the federal courts will go much faster than it did in the state courts. Thus we are now entering the final phase of the battle to save Mumia’s life. This is why we must proceed with a greater sense of urgency and determination. ----------------------- re-sent by Prison Radio ----------------------- Prison Radio challenges mass incarceration and racism by airing the voices of men and women in prison. Our educational materials serve as a catalyst for public activism. Prison Radio P.O. Box 411074 San Francisco, CA 94141 www.prisonradio.org Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
