He has been described as “the world’s most famous death-row inmate,” but that description is no longer true. On Wednesday, prosecutors in Philadelphia said they were dropping the state’s efforts to execute former Black Panther and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal. His sentence will be converted to life in prison, without parole. District Attorney Seth Williams said it was “time to put the case to rest” for the city of Philadelphia. It was 30 years ago this week that Mumia Abu-Jamal, former journalist, was arrested for shooting a police officer Daniel Faulkner. Linn Washington is columnist for the Philadelphia Tribune, journalism professor at Temple University, and a reporter who has been following the story for 30 years.
Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you. We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
Make a gift today, and you’ll help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000!