Cop Killer Mumia Abu Jamal Will Spend Rest of Life In Prison After Prosecutors Drop Death Penalty

Prosecutors drop death penalty against convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal. He will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole. This comes as the US Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

The decision by District Attorney Seth Williams, made with the support of the officer's widow and the city police commissioner, comes after nearly 30 years of legal battles over the racially charged case.

Abu-Jamal was convicted of fatally shooting Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner on Dec. 9, 1981. He was sentenced to death after his trial the following year.

Abu-Jamal, who has been incarcerated in a Pennsylvania prison, has garnered worldwide support from those who believe he was the victim of a biased justice system.

Abu-Jamal, a one-time journalist, garnered worldwide support from the "Free Mumia" movement. Hundreds of vocal supporters and death-penalty opponents regularly turn out for court hearings in his case, even though Abu-Jamal is rarely entitled to attend.

Shannon Faulker, Daniel's widow, has dealt with this for 30 years, and she and the prosecutors have agreed to drop the death penalty from the case.

Abu-Jamal will spend the rest of his days in prison.

Van Jones Quits Amid Controversy

Good riddance to bad rubbish. I have little doubt that Van Jones' 9/11 troofer angle contributed heavily to his quitting from the post, but it was his crank science links and radical left positions that were truly troublesome, even as they fit in with the Administration's overall outlook perfectly.<

Mr. Jones issued an apology on Thursday. When asked the next day whether Mr. Obama still had confidence in him, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said only that Mr. Jones "continues to work in the administration."

The matter surfaced after news reports of a derogatory comment Mr. Jones made in the past about Republicans, and separately, of Mr. Jones's name appearing on a petition connected to the events surrounding 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.

That 2004 petition had asked for congressional hearings and other investigations into whether high-level government officers had allowed the attacks to occur.

The reports of his resignation generally focus on the 9/11 troofer petition, and that he once made derogatory comments about Republicans, but ignore his links to the Communist Party and crank science links. It also ignores the fact that he was a supporter of cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal, who organized marches to demand his release.

The Rhetorican also tracks Jones' resignation.

It is entertaining to see Jones bail (or be pushed) on a holiday weekend to minimize news coverage and get outside the news cycle. At least the Administration did that part right.

UPDATE:
Don Surber notes that Powerline Blog found statements Jones made just days after 9/11 blaming the US for the terror attacks. I don't think they are proof of trooferism, but are typical of the leftist thought that blames the US for all evil in the world.

Cop Killer Mumia Abu-Jamal Gets Another Sentencing Hearing

In a major victory for world-famous death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, a federal appeals court today refused to reinstate his death sentence for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Abu-Jamal must be sentenced to life in prison or get a chance with a new Philadelphia jury, which would decide anew whether he should get life in prison or be sentenced - again - to death.

At the same time, the judges upheld his first-degree murder conviction, rejecting Abu-Jamal's claim that he deserves an entirely new trial and a chance to prove his innocence.

Abu-Jamal, who has written books and given taped speeches from death row, was convicted in 1982 by a Philadelphia jury of killing Faulkner, who was shot to death near 13th and Locust Streets in the early morning hours of Dec. 9, 1981.

The court upheld, in all respects, the 2001 decision by U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr., who rejected all but one of Abu-Jamal's legal claims, but threw out the death sentence.

This farce has been playing out for years. Mumia was convicted of murdering Philadelphia cop Daniel Faulkner and he's been playing the race card ever since. He's become a cause-celebre among the Hollywood set, who have no problem rooting for a cop killer.

The article attempts to spin this as a victory for Mumia, but the key fact is that the appeals court upheld the conviction. That's an important fact that will get buried in all this - Mumia was found guilty by a jury, and multiple appeals have not changed that fact. Mumia is a cop-killer, and he's now trying to avoid the death penalty sentence he so richly deserves.

The question is whether the state should accept the life without parole decision of the appeals court or seek a new jury to decide whether to impose the death penalty or life without parole. You can bet that law enforcement agencies and officers around the country are hoping the state goes for the jury trial to impose the sentence that has been denied for so many years, to say nothing of Faulkner's family, who has put up with the hero worship of this cop killer for far too long.