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Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio explains the new law that was rammed through the legislature and signed today by the desperate governor of Pennsylvania, aimed at silencing Mumia Abu-Jamal.
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In a desperate ploy for votes from white conservatives, Gov. Tom Corbett signed a bill into law today that is clearly unconstitutional, aimed at preventing public speeches and commentaries by Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is serving a life sentence in a Pennsylvania prison.
Hanrahan, founder of Prison Radio, has collaborated with Abu-Jamal to record and release his commentaries for more than 20 years.. She explains the context of this rash action, and the series of attempts to silence Abu-Jamal over the years.
We hear Abu-Jamal denounce “unconstitutional Tom” for this action, and ably cite the Supreme Court decision that upheld the First Amendment rights of Fred Phelps and his followers, who have noisily protested at the funerals of war veterans. He also cites his own legal victories regarding his right to speak, and argues that Corbett is a lawyer who certainly knows what he is doing is not lawful. And we hear some comments from Abu-Jamal about what he calls “the Mumia Rule” about the exceptions made in efforts to gag him.
We refer to the great film Long Distance Revolutionary and my interview with filmmaker Stephen Vittoria.
You can sign a petition object to the new law here.