Press release from NAACP LDF: Mumia Abu-Jamal's 1982 Death Sentence is Again Declared Unconstitutional
Press Release: NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.
For Immediate Release
April 26, 2011
Contact: Melquiades Gagarin, mgagarin@naacpldf.org, 212-965-2783
Mumia Abu-Jamal's 1982 Death Sentence is Again Declared
Unconstitutional
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has unanimously
declared that Mumia Abu-Jamal's death sentence is unconstitutional. In
today's decision, the Court of Appeals reaffirmed its 2008 finding that Mr.
Abu-Jamal's sentencing jury was misled about the process for considering
evidence supporting a life sentence. The Court found that, in violation of the
United States Supreme Court's 1988 decision in Mills v. Maryland, the jury
was improperly led to believe that that it could only consider unanimously
agreed upon evidence favoring a life verdict. This mistake rendered Mr.
Abu-Jamal's death sentence fundamentally unfair. The NAACP Legal Defense
& Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and Professor Judy Ritter of Widener Law
School represent Mr. Abu-Jamal in this appeal of his 1982 conviction and death
sentence for the murder of a police officer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
"This decision marks an important step forward in the struggle to
correct the mistakes of an unfortunate chapter in Pennsylvania history,"
said John Payton, Director-Counsel of LDF. "Again acknowledging the
existence of clear constitutional error in Mr. Abu-Jamal's trial, the Court
of Appeals' decision enhances confidence in the criminal justice system and
helps to relegate the kind of unfairness on which this death sentence rested to
the distant past."
Prof. Ritter noted that, "Pennsylvania long ago abandoned the confusing
and misleading instructions and verdict slip that were relied on in Mr.
Abu-Jamal's trial in order to prevent unfair and unjust death sentences.
Courts now use clear and unambiguous language to advise sentencing juries about
their ability to consider evidence that favors a life verdict. Mr. Abu-Jamal is
entitled to no less constitutional protection."
Mr. Abu-Jamal he has been on death row in Pennsylvania for 29 years.
To speak with counsel for Mr. Abu-Jamal, please contact Melquiades Gagarin,
mgagarin@naacpldf.org, 212-965-2783.
