********************************************************************** The following message is forwarded to you by Paul Zarembka, supporting RESEARCH IN POLITICAL ECONOMY at ********************http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PZarembka On 10/13/99, 05:20 PM, Subject: PA Governor Signs Mumia Abu-Jamal Death Warrant, "C. Clark Kissinger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: PA Governor Signs Mumia Abu Jamal's Death Warrant Despite Expected Habeus Corpus Petition Citing New Evidence of Innocence, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Racial Bias Abu Jamal's Legal Team to File Habeus Corpus Petition Friday, October 15 At 10:00 a.m. at the Federal District Court in Philadelphia, PA Press Conference Will Follow at 11:00 a.m. at the American Friends Services Committee, 15th and Cherry Street Rush to Execute Violates Defendant's Basic Legal Rights and Opposes Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Bar Associations' Recent Call for a Moratorium on Executions PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Governor Ridge of Pennsylvania today signed the death warrant of Mumia Abu Jamal, despite an expected habeus corpus petition from the defendant's lawyers citing: fabrication and suppression of evidence; racial bias in selecting jurors; and denial of the right to self- representation, among other arguments. This is the 171st death warrant Governor Ridge has signed since 1994 -- five times the number signed by his predecessors over a 25-year period. Ninety-nine percent of those warrants signed by Ridge were done while the inmates still had time to appeal. Aside from not waiting for the habeus corpus petition -- a process that all defendants are legally entitled to -- Governor Ridge also decided to sign Jamal's warrant despite the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Bar Associations' recent call for a moratorium on all executions until the death penalty system is proven just. One of the system's infirmities, acknowledged by the bar associations, has to do with racial prejudice. While nine percent of Pennsylvania's total population is African-American, for example, the percentage on death row is nearly seven times that amount (62%). This is the largest racial disparity of any state in the United States. In addition, a 1998 study by Professor Baldus at the University of Iowa found that a young African-American man growing up in Philadelphia is 11.5 times more likely to end up on death row than in Georgia or Alabama. ``Ridge is rushing to execute before all the evidence has been presented,'' said Leonard Weinglass, Jamal's lead attorney. ``Since when does one man's political motivations override another's right to a fair trial, especially when a human life is in question?'' Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, 81 people have been exonerated. Rushing executions assures that people who are on death row as a result of errors in process or issues of actual innocence will not be saved through the appellate process. The habeus corpus petition, which Governor Ridge knew was being filed for federal review, contains more than 29 separate issues of Constitutional violations that occurred in Jamal's trial and appeal. It is more than 150 pages, and contains more than 600 paragraphs of factual allegations pertinent to the case. ``Several arguments will be raised in the petition demonstrating that Jamal never received a meaningful trial and that compelling evidence of innocence was ignored by the state courts of Pennsylvania,'' said Daniel Williams, co- counsel. ``Above and beyond the issue of innocence -- which is paramount in this case -- are the transcendent issues of whether or not in the 1990's someone ought to be executed when the trial attorney admits he interviewed no witnesses and conducted no investigation; when 11 African-American jurors were removed on the basis of race; and when the prosecution wrongly used a teenager's political statements to give the death penalty to an adult 12 years later,'' said Weinglass. In addition to the defending attorneys, those working to ensure a fair trial for Jamal include: Amnesty International, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the European Parliament, Reverend Jesse Jackson and many others. SOURCE: Leonard Weinglass, Esq. ----------------------------------------------------- -- End of forwarded message -----------------------------------------------------
