death penalty

On March 27, the U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia reaffirmed the frame-up conviction of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former Black Panther Party spokesman and world-renowned radical journalist who has been locked up on Pennsylvania’s death row for more than a quarter century. After previously rejecting Mumia’s request to present evidence of his innocence, as well as a host of issues showing that he was railroaded by a racist court, the Court turned down Mumia’s request for a new trial. It upheld the 2001 ruling by a federal district judge that ordered a new hearing on the sentence, but limited the “choice” to the living hell of life imprisonment without parole ... or execution. Mumia is innocent. He was declared guilty and sentenced to die because of his revolutionary politics and because for years he had been a thorn in the side of the racist rulers of the misnamed “city of brotherly love.” Around the world, millions have come out in defense of Jamal. This latest ruling, like all those that preceded it, shows that the exploited and oppressed must have no faith in the racist injustice system. We call on the workers movement to mobilize its power to free Mumia now!

Despite the auspicious occasion, the atmosphere in a St. Louis County Courtroom this past February 5th seemed calm. Perhaps this was because the result was certain: Kevin Johnson was going to be sentenced to death for the murder of William McEntee, a Kirkwood police officer.

Kevin Johnson was convicted for 1st degree murder recently and has recieved the death sentence for the shooting of a Kirkwood cop. The following report, reprinted from the current Confluence (online: stlconfluence.org or pick up hard copy at locations around St. Louis) gives another view of this story.