It is difficult to imagine that the systematic race and class bias that permeate America’s criminal “justice” system could be set aside and that the nation’s most famed and innocent death row inmate and political prisoner of 25 years, Mumia Abu-Jamal, could win a new trial and freedom.
But that is precisely what appeared to be unfolding on May 17 in the packed Ceremonial Courtroom of the Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia as a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in full view of 200 riveted Mumia supporters and others from across the country and around the world, mercilessly queried Pennsylvania’s lead prosecutor and persecutor, Hugh Burns.
In contrast, Mumia’s three-person legal team of Robert R. Bryan, Judith Ritter, and NAACP Legal Defense Fund amicus curiae (friend of the court) counsel Christina Swarns appeared to have the rapt, if not sympathetic, attention of the three judges during most the two-and-a-half-hour proceeding.
The day’s events left little doubt that these Judges, Chief Justice Anthony Scirica and Judge Robert Cowen (Reagan appointees), and Judge Thomas Ambro of the Clinton era, had carefully read the voluminous briefs submitted by both sides and thoroughly researched the history of the constitutional issues involved, including the precedent-setting cases that govern their interpretation.
Indeed, a number of the Third Circuit’s previous decisions on several critical issues that directly pertain to Mumia’s most telling arguments have marked this court as among the few remaining “liberal“ juridical institutions in the country.
Hugh Burns was hard pressed to offer his own skewed interpretation of Third Circuit decisions when the judges, who had themselves authored a number of the cases cited, were virtually staring/glaring in his face as they peppered him with citations contradicting his central arguments.
This appears to be the real reason why Pennsylvania’s prosecutors, looking for a more conservative panel of judges, filed motions prior to the hearing to literally recuse (remove) the entire Third Circuit from hearing Mumia’s appeal. The prosecutors argued spuriously that the circuit included a judge who is the wife of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (Rendell has pledged to sign a third warrant for Mumia’s execution). They postulated that Marjorie Rendell’s presence, by virtue of her relation to the governor, would constitute grounds for a future successful appeal of the proceedings by Mumia in the event of any decision against him.
The prosecution’s effort to escape the Third Circuit’s jurisdiction was rejected, as Robert R. Bryan’s response brief successfully countered that the move was a blatant effort to circumvent the court for political reasons. The judges also granted Bryan’s request to double the time for oral arguments, finally granting each side one hour and five minutes as opposed to the traditional 30 minutes.
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