Below is an appeal from Bob Mandel of the Adult School Teachers United (ASTU) Bargaining Team in Richmond California. Learn more below.
Greetings
Unexpectedly, Mumia Abu-Jamal has a shot at freedom. Judge Lucretia Clemons of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas has ordered the District Attorney’s office to turn over its entire file, up to 200 boxes, to the defense.
Mumia’s lawyers expect to find even further evidence that he was framed, that the police coerced and bribed witnesses, and that conscious racism and judicial bias have permeated all the proceedings against him. The judge has stated that she will issue a ruling within 60-90 days, roughly Feb.16-Mar. 16.
This is the hour to fight for Mumia’s freedom. On Feb. 16, longshore workers in ILWU #10 will shut down the Ports of Oakland and San Francisco, holding a stop-work meeting to demand his immediate release. Teachers in the SF Bay Area are organizing to teach on his case around that same date, Feb. 16, the middle of Black History Month.
In less than a week, a delegation from ILWU #10 will travel to a labor conference in South Africa and ask that unions there act again in his defense. NUMSA, the largest union in South Africa, played a critical role in getting Mumia life-saving medicine when he nearly died from hepatitis. In a letter to Pennsylvania’s then-governor Wolf, it compared Mumia’s medical neglect to the treatment prisoners received under the apartheid regime.
We urge you to fight for Mumia’s freedom now. As a first step, write to Judge Clemons demanding that he be released immediately. Then take whatever action you can—rallies, workplace meetings, political strikes—to give power to the demand.
Judge Clemons address:
Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
1220 Criminal Justice Center
1301 Filbert Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-683-7020
The judge’s order opening the files came after
the filing of an Amicus Brief by the U.N. Working Group of Experts on People of
African Descent; a public statement by then-sitting Judge Wendell Griffen of
the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, Arkansas, that the law
requires Judge Clemons to release Mumia immediately; an outpouring of
international labor support; and a letter writing campaign to the judge herself
based on the contradiction between her preliminary ruling against Mumia and her
statement to the Philadelphia Catholic Archdiocese Racial Healing
Commission: http://bitly.ws/z9Yt
Attached you will find a resolution from adult
education teachers, (Download this resolution here) a statement by
thePresident of the Vermont AFL-CIO, and a letter from the largest
union in the UK, Unite. (screenshot below)
After 41 years in prison, 29 of those on death row, Mumia has a real chance now to win his freedom. Mobilizing our unions can truly make a difference. We’re hoping you and your union will join us!
Please keep us posted on your actions,
In solidarity,
Bob Mandel,
member, Adult School
Teachers United (ASTU) Bargaining Team
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