The United States Supreme Court has two standards: one for white supremacists and one for Black revolutionaries.
The case of David Dawson shows how zealous the U.S. Supreme Court can be in protecting the rights of white supremacists and other reactionaries. Dawson broke out of a Delaware prison, went on a crime spree, murdered a woman, and was subsequently recaptured and sentenced to death. In the sentencing phase of Dawson's trial, the prosecution introduced the fact that Dawson was a member of the "Aryan Brotherhood" white prison gang, and had swastikas and the words "Aryan Brotherhood" tattooed on his body.
When the Delaware Supreme Court earlier upheld the death sentence for Dawson, one of the cases they cited as precedent was the Pennsylvania case of Commonwealth v. Abu-Jamal. The Deleware court said that if Mumia's membership in the Black Panthers could be used to sentence him to death, then Dawson's membership in the Aryan brotherhood could be used for the same purpose.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Dawson's execution, with Chief Justice Rehnquist writing the decision saying: "We have held that the First Ammendment protects an individual's right to join groups and associations with others holding similar beliefs... Even if the Deleware group to which Dawson allegedly belongs is racist, those beliefs, so far as we can determine, had no relevance to the sentencing proceeding in this case." In other words, good ol' boy Dawson was just exercising his constitutional rights to join a white supremacist organization, and how can the exercise of his constitutional rights of free speech and free expression be used as an argument for his execution?
But the Supreme Court didn't stop there. It went on to overturn the death sentence of Dale Edward Flanagan in Nevada. Flanagan murdered his grandparents in the hope of receiving a cut of their insurance money and estate. He was arrested, tried, and convicted of the murder. But at the sentencing hearing, the prosecution introduced evidence that Flanagan was a "devil worshipper" and "as anti-Christ as it can get." Witnesses were called in to testify that Flanagan was part of a "coven" of devil worshippers.
Once again the U.S. Supreme Court was outraged. Here was a state government trying to make an emotional appeal to a jury by saying that good ol' Dale was a devil worshipper. Worshipping the devil is protected by the constitution under freedom of religion. This time the Supreme Court didn't even bother to have a hearing. It overturned Flanagan's death sentence and sent the case back to Nevada, citing their decision in the Dawson case.
But what happened when Mumia Abu-Jamal appealed his death sentence to the U.S. Supreme Court? The facts were the same. The prosecution had introduced his previous membership in the Black Panther Party as well as his written and spoken political statements (none of which were relevant to the case). Was the Supreme Court shocked? Did it say, "You can't sentence Mumia to death on the basis of his exercise of constitutionally protected rights"? No, the U.S. Supreme Court wouldn't even hear Mumia's case!
This is a court that meets in secret, answers to no one, and doesn't have to give reasons for its actions. In highly political cases like Mumia's, its decisions have nothing to do with "facts" or "law" or "justice." Constitutional rights shield white supremacists and devil worshippers - not Black revolutionaries or any who speak for the oppressed and threaten the system.
Real justice comes about only when the people demand it in a way that cannot be ignored.
Sources: Dawson v Delaware and Flanagan v Nevada (U.S. Supreme Court, 1992), Dawson v State (Deleware Supreme Court, 1990),Flanagan v State (Nevada Supreme Court, 1991), and Commonwealth v Abu-Jamal (Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 1989).
Arm yourself with the truth. Get the full set of Mumia Fact Sheets from your local Free Mumia Coalition or from Refuse & Resist!
Download a 120K PDF file of this Fact Sheet use Adobe Acrobat to print a 300 dpi repro quality version to a PostScript printer.
Mumia Index | Mumia Events | R&R Main Page
Contact Refuse
& Resist!
305 Madison Ave., Suite 1166, New York, NY 10165
Phone: 212-713-5657
email: info@refuseandresist.org