Vol. 79/No. 18 May 18, 2015
The law was passed overwhelmingly by the Pennsylvania legislature in October, days after Mumia Abu-Jamal delivered a previously-recorded speech to the commencement ceremony at Goddard College in Vermont. It authorizes any county district attorney, the state’s attorney general — or anyone else — to file a civil lawsuit to prevent inmates from discussing their case, prison conditions or anything else, on the grounds that it causes a victim or family member “mental anguish.”
“A past criminal offense does not extinguish the offender’s constitutional right to free expression,” Conner said in his ruling. “The First Amendment does not evanesce at the prison gate, and its enduring guarantee of freedom of speech subsumes the right to expressive conduct that some may find offensive.”
Abu-Jamal, 61, is a journalist and former Black Panther Party member who has been imprisoned in Pennsylvania for 33 years on frame-up charges of murdering Philadelphia cop Daniel Faulkner in 1981. He was held in solitary confinement until 2011, after the death penalty imposed on him was overturned.
Along with seven other plaintiffs, Abu-Jamal filed a lawsuit 20 days after the gag act was signed, demanding an injunction barring enforcement of the law. In January the American Civil Liberties Union filed a second challenge to the law’s constitutionality on behalf of Florida-based Prison Legal News and 10 other plaintiffs. The judge’s ruling combines both cases.
“We are pleased that Judge Conner recognized the harm to free speech rights of people convicted of crimes,” Sara Rose, a staff attorney for the Pennsylvania ACLU, told the Militant May 4. “This case was about the public’s right to hear from these prisoners.”
The law is “unclear whether an offender includes the accused, the convicted, the exonerated, third parties, or all of the foregoing,” the judge wrote.
In arguments before Conner March 30, the judge asked Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General Abbegael Giunta if the act applied to people merely accused but not convicted of any crime. Yes, Giunta replied.
“The Act ostensibly affects protected — and critically important — speech, including: pardon applications, clemency petitions … public expressions of innocence … or any public speech or written work whatsoever, regardless of the speaker’s intention or the work’s relation to the offense,” Conner wrote.
The attorney general’s office told the media they are reviewing whether to appeal. State Rep. Mike Vereb vowed to rewrite it if no legal challenge is made.
Prison denies adequate medical care
Abu-Jamal’s health has been deteriorating amid inadequate treatment and neglect in prison. The same day as the hearing before Judge Conner, March 30, Abu-Jamal was rushed to the Schuylkill Medical Center with his blood sugar dangerously high from complications of diabetes. He was sent back to prison two days later, and has been in and out of the prison infirmary since.“Mumia needs his own doctors to examine and physically touch him,” said Pam Africa of International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal in a May 4 phone interview from Philadelphia. “Now his doctors can only talk to him by phone. It’s impossible for them to evaluate the situation and find out what is really going on with him.”
“We are fighting to keep the pressure on so his doctors can examine him,” she said.
To join in demanding Abu-Jamal be allowed to get needed medical attention from his own doctors, call Secretary John Wetzel at the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections at (717) 728-2573.
Related articles:
How the FBI targeted SWP, Black struggle for disruption
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