Mumia Abu-Jamal Wins Against Death Penalty, but Still in Prison for Life

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – A case of justice long fought by civil rights leaders has received a major victory, yet is not totally won. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has dropped its pursuit of the death penalty for former journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal.  But, he is still in prison for life.

According to a release from the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc. (LDF), Abu-Jamal is now required by law to be “sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for his controversial 1982 murder conviction in the shooting death of a police officer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.”

The LDF and the Widener law professor Judith Ritter have represented Abu-Jamal in his appeals of the murder conviction and the death sentence.

John Payton, Director-Counsel of LDF stated in the release: "The District Attorney did the right thing.  After three long decades, it was time to bring the quest for a death sentence for Mr. Abu-Jamal to an end."  Prof. Ritter added, "There is no question that justice is served when a death sentence from a misinformed jury is overturned. Thirty years later, the District Attorney' s decision not to seek a new death sentence also furthers the interests of justice."

A formal resentencing hearing has not been scheduled, but will be held in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.  Civil rights leaders, who have consistently argued that Mumia was framed, have already begun discussion on strategies for his total freedom.