by C. Clark Kissinger (10-6-99)
On Monday, October 4, the United States Supreme Court denied Mumia's petition for a writ of certiorari. Many of the mainstream media have reported this action as though it were "the end of the line" for Mumia. This is not the case. The petition for "cert" was only the opening shot in Mumia' s new struggle in the federal courts. But people should be outraged at the court's action.
The petition for cert was a request to the Supreme Court to look at the case before it works its way up through the normal federal appeals process. Sometimes the Supreme Court will do this, when an important legal question is presented. In Mumia's case, the important legal questions are whether it was constitutional to deny him the right to act as his own attorney and to bar him from the court room when he protested this denial. In declining to hear these issues now, the court has not ruled against Mumia on these points, but is certainly attempting to build public opinion against Mumia.
Another effect of the denial is that Governor Ridge of Pennsylvania may use this action, and the false media reports that Mumia has lost conclusively at the Supreme Court, as the occasion to sign a new death warrant. Any such death warrant, as well as this highly political rejection of Mumia petition by the Supreme Court, must be protested everywhere -- in the streets, in the media, through the voices of prominent people, and throughout our communities.
The next legal step for Mumia will be to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the federal district court in Philadelphia. If a new death warrant has been signed, the federal district court will be asked to stay the execution order, and this is expected to be granted. Thus Mumia would not face an immediate threat. But the overall plan of the government remains that of killing him, and a stay is nothing but a temporary postponement of the execution order.
Under the restrictive terms of the Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Mumia must file his petition for a writ of habeas corpus before the end of October, 1999. "Habeas corpus" is simply the technical legal term for asking the federal courts to review whether Mumia has been sentenced legally by the state courts.
This will be a most critical moment in the whole appeals process. A federal district judge in Philadelphia will be asked to hold a hearing on Mumia's petition. If he agrees, this hearing will be Mumia's LAST opportunity to present the evidence and witnesses denied by the Pennsylvania court system. After the federal district court, higher appeals courts will only review transcripts -- they will not hear new evidence.
The federal judge who gets this case is not required to grant a hearing. He could simply read the trial transcripts and issue a ruling. In fact, the 1996 federal law is specifically designed to discourage federal courts from reviewing and overturning death sentences handed down in the state courts. This is why the government has to hear a loud popular demand for a new trial for Mumia.
If the judge at the federal district court level rules against him, Mumia will then appeal to the federal 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. But if the judge rules in favor of Mumia, the state of Pennsylvania is sure to appeal to the 3rd Circuit Court. So there will be two rounds of federal court action in Philadelphia over the next year (the district court and the circuit court of appeals).
In general, action in the federal courts will go much faster than it did in the state courts. Thus we are now entering the final phase of the battle to save Mumia's life. This is why we must proceed with a greater sense of urgency and determination.
[posted 10/6/99]
Mumia Index | Mumia Events | R&R Main Page
Join Refuse
& Resist!
305 Madison Ave., Suite 1166, New York, NY 10165
Phone: 212-713-5657
email: info@refuseandresist.org