Madison, WI: Central Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO Mumia Resolution

Below is the resolution passed by the South, at its March 15th, 1999 meeting. Fed delegates, representing 30,000 union members in the greater Madison area, readily passed the motion.

South Central Federation of Labor Resolution, Adopted March 15, 1999

In Support of April 24 Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal

WHEREAS, Mumia Abu-Jamal is currently on death row in Pennsylvania after being convicted of killing a Philadelphia policeman in a trial filled with blatant irregularities; and

WHEREAS, the notorious Judge Albert Sabo, who presided over the trial and was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police, has sentenced more people to death than any other sitting judge in the US; and

WHEREAS, six former Philadelphia prosecutors have sworn in court documents that no accused could receive a fair trial in the court of Judge Sabo; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. legal system, and especially the death penalty, is administered with class and race bias with African Americans being nearly four times more likely to receive death sentences than whites; and

WHEREAS, the Philadelphia courts now have 120 people on death row, and all but 13 of them are non-white (Jamal is an African-American); and

WHEREAS, the jury in the Jamal case was impaneled only after 11 qualified African-Americans were removed by preemptive challenges from the prosecution; and

WHEREAS, in 1995, the Philadelphia police scandal was highlighted in newspapers across the country with accounts of innocent people being blatantly framed, resulting in the release of 300 innocent people from jail, many convicted on fabricated evidence and by juries from which African-Americans were routinely excluded; and

WHEREAS, the defense attorney testified that he didn't interview a single witness in preparation for Jamal's 1982 trial and he informed the court in advance that he was not prepared; and

WHEREAS, Jamal was denied the constitutional right to act as his own attorney; and

WHEREAS, the defense investigator quit the case before the trial began because the meager court allocated funds were exhausted; and

WHEREAS, neither a ballistics expert nor a pathologist were hired by the defense because of insufficient funds; and

WHEREAS, the prosecutor used the fact that 12 years earlier Jamal had been a member of the Black Panther Party as an argument for imposing the death penalty, a practice later condemned as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in another case; and

WHEREAS, the jury was never allowed to hear evidence that contradicted the prosecution's claim that Jamal had confessed, because when the police officer who had reported that "the Negro male made no comments" was called as a defense witness, the prosecution contended he was on vacation and unavailable, and the judge refused a continuance so that the officer could be brought in, while, in fact, the officer was at home and available; and

WHEREAS, no police officer claimed to have heard this alleged confession until two months after it allegedly occurred, and only after Jamal filed police brutality charges; and

WHEREAS, the attending physician at the hospital where Jamal was initially kept denies that Jamal said anything; and

WHEREAS, the jury never heard the written findings of the medical examiner that contradicted other prosecution testimony by stating "shot with .44 cal." (while Jamal's gun was .38 caliber), and this was because Jamal's court-appointed attorney was not familiar with the medical examiner's report; and

WHEREAS, the police never tested Jamal's gun to see if it had been recently fired, never tested Jamal's hands to see if he had fired a gun, have never shown Jamal's gun to be the fatal weapon, and have lost a bullet fragment removed by the medical examiner; and

WHEREAS, the jury never heard from a key eye-witness, William Singletary, who saw the whole incident and has testified that Jamal was not the shooter, and who claims to have been intimidated by police when he initially reported this, subsequently fleeing the city; and

WHEREAS, key witnesses Veronica Jones, Cynthia White, and Robert Chobert testified for the prosecution, but the latter two were given special exemptions from criminal prosecutions for other charges, and Jones, who has since recanted her original testimony, was immediately arrested in the courtroom on other charges as soon as her testimony in support of Jamal had been articulated; and

WHEREAS, Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge has pledged to sign Mumia's death warrant and is set to begin the execution process of this innocent man; and

WHEREAS, Mumia has lent his name many times in support of labor's cause, most recently refusing a scheduled interview with 20/20 because of ABC's lockout of NABET/CWA members; and

WHEREAS, labor organizations across the country, including the labor councils in Seattle, San Francisco, and Oakland, and around the world have adopted positions in support of Mumia's call for a new trial; and

WHEREAS, the labor movement has the power, through action, to ensure justice for this courageous freedom fighter; and

WHEREAS, on April 24, 1999, there will be national demonstrations in Philadelphia and San Francisco to demand a stay of execution and a new trial for Mumia;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by delegates to the South Central (Wisconsin) Federation of Labor that we formally request the government of the State of Pennsylvania to stay the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal and to grant him a new, fair trial; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, SCFL go on record supporting the April 24 demonstrations and urging members to participate; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, delegates authorize that the SCFL banner be carried in the April 24 demonstration in Philadelphia.

South Central Federation of Labor
1602 S. Park St. #228
Madison, WI 53715
(608) 256-5111
(608) 256-6661 FAX
email: TheFed@SCFL.ORG 

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