There will be an important meeting in Philadelphia on Sunday, March 8, from 12 noon to 3 pm at 501 S. 52nd St (by Malcolm X Park).

The meeting's purpose is to take up our response to the outrageous attempt by the FOP and their allies on the PA Supreme Court to delay and deny justice for Mumia. (note - March 8 starts daylight savings time - so clocks get moved ahead in the morning).

The“King’s Bench Order” granted by the PA Supreme Court on Feb. 24 is not only an attack on Mumia Abu-Jamal’s constitutional appeal rights. It is a battering ram against all the prison reforms, progressive district attorneys and exonerations of innocent people fought for and won by community activists over the last decade. It is also an insult to all the residents and former prisoners who voted for a DA who would put an end to the long history of police and prosecutorial misconduct in Philadelphia. It is the unconstitutional practice of “prosecutor shopping.”

Linn Washington, Graduate of the Master of Studies in Law journalism fellowship program at Yale Law School and well-respected journalist and Temple University professor, said: “This grant of King’s Bench once again displays the readiness of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to wallow in misconduct specifically to pervert the justice so long overdue for Mumia Abu-Jamal.”

The Fraternal Order of Police, who have an interest in not allowing police misdeeds to see the light of day, filed for the King’s Bench ruling through Maureen Faulkner/Palkovic, asking the court to allow the PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro to take over the Abu-Jamal case. Abu-Jamal’s future would be determined by AG Shapiro’s office where many prosecutors fired by Krasner were hired. The objectivity of two of the four PA Supreme Court judges, Justice Kevin M. Dougherty and Justice David Wecht, are also suspect since they were endorsed by the FOP in their election campaigns. The FOPs’ campaign is an effort to terrorize any court official who sees justice as more important than letting an unfair conviction stand.

The FOP’s claim of collusion between Mumia supporters and Krasner’s office is ridiculous. In dozens of Free Mumia rallies, thousands of signed petitions, many articles and media interviews, proponents for Abu-Jamal’s freedom constantly lambasted Krasner for not freeing the innocent political prisoner.

Abu-Jamal has always insisted on his innocence in the 1981 death of police officer Daniel Faulkner. In one of the most sensational politically-sensitive criminal cases in Philadelphia history, Abu-Jamal was known as a Black Panther Party activist and later a radio commentator who refused to denigrate the MOVE Organization in his reporting. Police, prosecutors and presiding Judge Albert Sabo treated the accused as if he was already guilty of killing the cop because in their eyes that was what was expected from a politically-active Black male. Instead of being presumed innocent, Abu-Jamal was presumed guilty and the case was manufactured to find him guilty, instead of using the available facts to find the real killer.

Long time community activist Linda Ragin said: “I don't care how many 'neutral special master's' they get. Nothing will diminish the FACT that Veronica Jones admitted, with tears streaming down her face, how sorry she was for letting the FOP harass and intimidate her into lying and being a part of the cover-up that helped convict Mumia. Nothing can change the fact that John Singletary admitted that police harassment and intimidation, to the point of burning down his business, led him to change his written testimony, to falsely implicate Mumia and further the cover-up that led to Mumia's conviction. Nothing can change the fact that there were many boxes of exonerating evidence, hidden away in a storage room for years, with quid pro quo notes.“

Mumia Abu-Jamal has been incarcerated for 37 years because of his political activism, not because of the evidence. Abu-Jamal should be released immediately. The “King’s Bench Order” is nothing but an aggressive attempt by those who unfairly convicted him to hide their 38-year history of police and prosecutorial misconduct.