Here is Mumia Abu-Jamal’s response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision rejecting his appeal (petition for a writ of certiorari). The court made no comment other than to place Mumia’s name on a long list of all rejected appeals. The court, having no “legal” obligation to grant such appeals, traditionally rejects 98 percent of all such requests.
In Mumia’s case the central appeal issue was the famous Batson v. Kentucky case Supreme Court decision wherein the racist exclusion of Blacks was deemed to negate any conviction in death penalty cases. Subsequent U.S. Supreme Court decisions strengthened Batson, ruling that the exclusion of a even a single juror on account of case violated the U.S. Constitution and required that any conviction based on such exclusion be reversed.
In Mumia’s 1982 trial, 11 of 14 Black jurors were excluded without cause. Note that Mumia mentions a 1986 or 1987 training tape produced by the State of Pennsylvania that literally instructs prosecutors how to exclude Black jurors.
The interview was conducted this morning by Prison Radio’s Noelle Hanrahan.
Click here for Mumia’s interview:
