Supreme Court Decision Rejects Death Penalty for Mumia

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Philadelphia prosecutors of a lower court ruling that declared the death sentence of Pennsylvania prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal unconstitutional. Abu-Jamal is a former Black Panther and journalist. For decades, he has argued racism by the trial judge and prosecutors led to his 1982 conviction of killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. The ruling means Mumia will be automatically sentenced to life in prison unless prosecutors attempt to seek the death penalty in front of a new jury.