By Justin Michael Carter

Imagine staring at a bullet traveling in slow motion toward your brain for thirty years as it inches closer and closer to taking your life. Now imagine that bullet is plucked out of the sky just before it kills you. This must be how Mumia Abu-Jamal felt on December 7th, after the Philadelphia District Attorney dropped the prosecution’s pursuit of the death penalty against him.

Whether you’re a fan of conscious rappers or you’ve ever spent any extended period of time on a college campus, you’ve probably heard the name Mumia Abu-Jamal. A former Black Panther, community activist, radio show host, and journalist, Mumia Abu-Jamal has spent the last few decades facing the death penalty for the murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner. Mumia’s supporters have argued for years that he was framed and innocent of all charges. They claim any number of acts of misconduct by the police department and the legal system is to blame for his incarceration. The Daniel Faulkner family and various law enforcement organizations have pushed back aggressively at Mumia supporters, angered by what they view as a blasphemous, decades-long campaign to lionize a convicted cop killer.

Regardless of the varied opinions on the circumstances of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s case, the prosecution’s decision to drop their pursuit of the death penalty should be cause for celebration. During his incarceration Mumia has become a leading advocate for the rights of death row inmates. He has written several books, recorded commencement addresses, and hosted radio programs while becoming a symbol for how inmates can be productive members of society even while being incarcerated from society. Mumia may have arguably found more success and fulfillment while in prison than he ever enjoyed when he was on the outside as a free man. Innocent or guilty, this is the way the system is supposed to work. Mumia can do himself and the various causes he fights for much more good alive than he ever could as a martyr.

The fact the death penalty has been dropped from Mumia’s case is a victory for our society. The United States is one of only two industrialized democracies in the civilized world that still allows capital punishment. This is shameful. There have been too many examples of foul play by the legal system and new scientific advances that could have exonerated death row inmates who have already met their fate. It is no consolation for the families of the innocent to know that their loved ones were cleared of wrongdoing after already being put to death. Even for those who are truly guilty, the death penalty denies them an opportunity to reform and make something better out of their lives. There is no way to measure the impact on the lives Mumia’s advocacy has been able to reach but we do know none of it would have been possible had he been executed years ago.

Countless studies have shown the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent to future capital punishment crimes. The death penalty may not even be the best form of punishment for monsters who may be totally unrepentant like the Jerry Sandusky’s of the world. Best case scenario is they get reformed by the system while serving life. If not, there is no better punishment for these sick men than a lifetime of stripped freedom and having to fend for one’s manhood while living out the rest of their days on the inside. Killing these people ten or twelve years into their sentence seems to be letting them off easy and much better than they deserve.

In the comic books, Batman never sentences the Joker to death. This is because he knows once he begins killing super villains he has lost his moral authority over them. As a nation, the United States has long sought to serve as a shining beacon of hope and justice, fighting for what is right on the global stage. If we are to maintain this fight then we must address this issue head on within our own borders or risk losing our moral authority internationally.
Mumia Abu-Jamal is already free. He has found enlightenment on the inside and made a contribution to the world that would not have been possible had his life been extinguished by a state ordered execution. It is high time America freed herself from the stone ages by completely eliminating the barbaric practice of capital punishment once and for all.

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