Greg Butterfield wrote:
>
> >From: nattyreb@ix.netcom.com
> >
> >MUMIA ABU-JAMAL'S STATEMENT IN
> >RESPONSE TO SUPREME COURT
> >DENIAL FOR NEW TRIAL
> >
> >It was not unexpected that the Supreme Court would deny my
> >appeal. The Supreme Court hears only a tiny percent of the
> >cases that are brought before it, roughly 75 out of 7,000 in one
> >semester or a term of the court. I entertained no expectations
> >that mine would be granted. We have to remember that we
> >are working with a conservative court that has worked
> >deciduously in the Bush and Reagan administrations and
> >now in the Clinton administration to narrow the chances of
> >anyone having had their case heard, not just a prisoner on
> >death row. Even the most charitable observer must agree
> >that by virtue of the court taking such a small fraction of the
> >important cases that are filed before it, it is impossible to
> >ignore the fact that many grave injustices are going unresolved.
> >Given the tone and tenor of recent Supreme Court opinions
> >there is even a sense of relief that they didn't grant my third
> >appeal. And the trend is increasingly in favor of the State,
> >the trend is increasingly to disfavor the defendant and the
> >accused. Certainly there are exceptions, but that's the undeniable
> >trend, the expansion of state power and police power in the
> >retractions of prisoners' rights.
> >
> >The struggle continued, the same old forces are still at work.
> >Look what happened when I called into WBAI. I was literally
> >pulled off the air a few weeks ago. The recent Phillip Block
> >debacle reflects too how desperate the state is and their
> >desperation is really an acknowledgement that none of them
> >believed Phil's confession story to begin with. Still we can't
> >forget the old saying that the truth shall set you free. I still
> >believe that. I'd be a fool not to.
> >
> >October 4, 1999 -
> >From Death Row, Mumia Abu-Jamal
> >
> >///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
> >
> >October 4, 1999
> >
> >
> >TO: MUMIA SUPPORTERS
> >
> >FROM: DANIEL WILLIAMS AND LEONARD WEINGLASS
> >
> > RE: DENIAL OF CERT.
> >
> >
> >Today, the United States Supreme Court failed to seize an
> >opportunity to do justice and to end a 17-year nightmare. An
> >opportunity to vindicate a well-established right, secured within
> >the Constitution itself, has been squandered. We are sorely
> >disappointed in the Supreme Court's unwillingness to give Mumia
> >a hearing in that court, even though the record is crystal clear
> >as to what happened in Mumia's trial. Mumia was unquestionably
> >stripped unjustifiably of his right to represent himself.
> >He had decided to represent himself after it became apparent that
> >his court-appointed lawyer was unwilling and incapable of representing
> >him adequately. Yet, at the very moment that the trial began, Mumia's
> >right to handle his own case was taken from him and the case placed
> >back into the hands of his incompetent defense counsel who did not
> >even expect that he would be trying the case.
> >
> >When Mumia refused to sit in silence as his rights were being abridged,
> >he was forcibly removed from the trial proceedings.
> >
> >All that we asked of the Supreme Court was to put this case on its
> >docket so these incontrovertible facts could be evaluated in the light
> >of the Constitution. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court let this golden
> >moment pass, and we must now present these, and other claims concerning
> >Mumia's innocence, to the federal courts. We are finalizing our federal
> >habeas petition and shall file it shortly. Although disappointed by the
> >Supreme Court's lack of courage and resolve, we are hopeful that the light
> >we see in front of us is the light of justice.
> >
> >(end statement)
> >///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
> >
> >International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
> >P.O. Box 19709 - Philadelphia, PA 19143
> >Ph: 215-476-8812 / Fax: 215-476-7551
> >Web: www.mumia.org / E-mail: mumia@webcom.com
> >
> >MUMIA MUST LIVE! TIME IS RUNNING OUT!
> >
> >
> >
>
> ______________________________________________________
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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