In the 1980s Mumia Abu Jamal was convicted of killing Philadephia police officer Daniel Faulkner and sentenced to death. A host of activists, actors and others maintain Jamal was framed by police and had an unfair trial.

An objective look at the evidence, however, reveals that Jamal had a fair trial that reached a reasonable verdict. As an opponent of capital punishment, the distressing thing about the Jamal case is that it gives pro-capital punishment advocates plenty of ammunition to portray anti-capital punishment advocates as overly credulous and irrational -- which in this case, many of them have aptly proven themselves to be.

Part of the reason for this credulity is Jamal's extreme Left credentials. Along with being a former Black Panther, Jamal was obssessed with John Africa's MOVE organization. At Jamal's trial, he repeatedly attacked the American justice system, for example, at one point instructing his lawyer to object that murder hadn't been defined under U.S. law to his satisfaction.

The most curious fact of his case, however, is that Jamal has never said he didn't shoot Faulkner. The closest he has come is in statements saying he didn't committ the crime for which he was charged. Paul Mulshine, whose article on the case can be found below, believes this is because Jamal plans to admit to the shooting but present an argument of justifiable homicide.

• H. Rap Brown Could Face Death Penalty for Atlanta Murder (3/11/2002)
• Mumia Abu-Jamal's Death Sentence Thrown Out (12/18/2001)
• An Insider's Look at the Mumia Abu-Jamal Case: A Review of Daniel Williams' Executing Justice) (6/26/2001)
• All Things Censored, Indeed (3/23/2001)
• Mumia Abu Jamal Tries to Fire Lawyers (3/14/2001)
• Mumia Abu-Jamal Granted Stay of Execution (10/26/1999)
• Benjamin Kepple on Mumia Abu Jamal (10/26/1999)