Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former journalist and Black Panther sentenced to die for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer, must receive a new sentencing hearing, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. The ruling by U.S. District Judge William Yohn takes Abu-Jamal off death row, at least for now. Abu-Jamal, sentenced for shooting Daniel Faulkner in 1981 after the officer stopped his brother for a traffic violation, has become the poster boy for anti-death penalty advocates, who say he was convicted by a racist justice system.
Mumia Sentence Overturned
Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former journalist and Black Panther sentenced to die for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer, must receive a new sentencing hearing, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. The ruling by U.S. District Judge William Yohn takes Abu-Jamal off death row, at least for now. Abu-Jamal, sentenced for shooting Daniel Faulkner in 1981 after the officer stopped his brother for a traffic violation, has become the poster boy for anti-death penalty advocates, who say he was convicted by a racist justice system.