At odds with White Power: “Hurricane” Carter and Mumia Abu-Jamal
Rubin Carter and Mumia Abu-Jamal
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At its crescendo, the Star Spangled Banner trumpets to the world that the US is the “land of the free.” But according to a report, the US has 1.9 million people incarcerated, 803 000 people on parole, and 2,9 million people on probation.
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter and Mumia Abu-Jamal are two names that have become synonymous with the struggle for justice and equality within the American criminal justice system. Systemic racism, classism, and political bias have contributed to the wrongful convictions of individuals, particularly those from marginalized communities.
The cases of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter and Mumia Abu-Jamal are object lessons in how unjust incarcerations are visited on the poor, black, and working class. It shines a light on how the system has failed to uphold the principles of fairness and impartiality that are meant to guide its workings. It demonstrates that the carceeral system in the US is nothing more than the systemic successor to slavery.
By examining Carter and Abu Jamal’s experiences within the US justice system, we gain a deeper understanding of how race and class prejudices have perpetuated the injustices that continue to plague US society.
The journalist and the boxer: Two activists
Both Rubin Carter, and Mumia Abu-Jamal were Black men from working-class backgrounds. The immutable characteristic of their race, and the systemic nature of race and class prejudice put them on a collision course with the justice system.
Carter was a professional boxer in the 1960s, a time when boxing was one of the few sports where Black people could achieve success and recognition. He was a talented athlete and was on track to become a world champion until his arrest and conviction for a triple murder at a bar in Paterson, New Jersey in 1966. The case against Carter was flimsy, with allegations of police misconduct, racism, and issues with eyewitness testimony. Carter maintained his innocence throughout his imprisonment, which lasted for nearly 20 years until he was exonerated in 1985.
Mumia Abu-Jamal, on the other hand, was a journalist and political activist who had a long history of activism and organizing around issues of police brutality and racial inequality. Abu-Jamal was a vocal critic of the Philadelphia police department. He had been targeted by law enforcement for his activism in the past. In 1981, he was convicted of killing a police officer in a highly controversial trial that was marred by allegations of police misconduct, witness intimidation, and racism. Abu-Jamal’s political affiliations and activism played a significant role in his case, with many arguing that he was targeted and convicted because of his outspoken criticisms of the police.
READ MORE: FREE MUMIA! IRVIN JIM WRITES TO US JUDGE
Public perceptions
The cases of Rubin Carter and Mumia Abu-Jamal garnered significant attention from the public. Many people weighed in on the controversies surrounding their convictions.
In the case of Carter, his story became widely known through Bob Dylan’s song “Hurricane,” which detailed his experiences and advocated for his release. The song helped to raise awareness about the issues of racism and police misconduct within the criminal justice system and brought Carter’s case to a broader audience.
Similarly, the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal received widespread attention from the public, particularly within activist circles. Abu-Jamal was a victim of a flawed system and a symbol of the broader issues of racism and injustice within the criminal justice system.
The cases also generated significant controversy and divided opinions, mainly along the lines of race and class. Mainly white individuals and institutions saw Carter and Abu-Jamal as guilty of the crimes for which they were convicted and argued that the legal proceedings had been fair. Others, mainly Black and poor who were subjugated to systemic discrimination as a daily lived experience, saw them as victims of a deeply flawed and biased system and advocated for their release.
Carter’s time in prison and his release
Rubin Carter spent nearly 20 years in prison, much of it in maximum security facilities. During this time, he continued to maintain his innocence and worked with lawyers and advocates to appeal his case.
On the 7th of November 1985, having served nearly 19 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Rubin Carter was released. His convictions were overturned due to a violation of his constitutional rights.
Carter was not technically exonerated in the traditional sense, but rather his convictions were overturned in a legal sense. In 1985, a federal judge granted Carter a writ of habeas corpus, which means that he was unlawfully imprisoned and should be released. This was due to evidence that was improperly obtained and unreliable, a violation of Carter’s constitutional rights.
The ruling did not declare Carter innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted, but rather that he had been denied a fair trial. However, the prosecutor declined to re-try Carter, and he was released from prison in 1985 after serving 19 years.
He continued to maintain his innocence and worked to clear his name. In 2000, he and co-author Ken Klonsky wrote a book entitled “The Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter,” which argued that he was wrongfully convicted. Additionally, in 2004, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that Carter’s convictions were unconstitutional due to racial bias in the original trial.
After Rubin Carter’s release, he became an advocate for the wrongfully convicted and worked with organizations such as the Innocence Project to help exonerate others who had been wrongfully convicted.
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter died on the 20th of April 2014 in Canada, a free person.
Free Mumia!
Mumia Abu-Jamal’s legal challenges lasted for over 30 years and involved appeals at both the state and federal levels. He also received support from advocates and celebrities, including the likes of Nelson Mandela and Angela Davis. The media played a significant role in Abu-Jamal’s case as well, with coverage and public opinion influencing the outcome of the legal challenges.
Like Carter, Abu-Jamal has faced an increasingly steep road to freedom. Lately, he has been denied the right to appeal his case.
READ MORE: MUMIA ABU-JAMAL DENIED APPEAL
Amnesty International has said that “numerous aspects of this case clearly failed to meet minimum international standards”
The most recent appeal relates to six filing boxes marked with Mumia’s name that were found in a storage room in the Philadelphia district attorney’s office in December 2018. The existence of the boxes were only disclosed to Abu-Jamal’s lawyers the following month, many decades into his incarceration.
His lawyeras argue that boxes contained new evidence that was never disclosed, showing that Mumia’s conviction was tainted.
One of the documents found in the boxes is a handwritten letter sent from one of only two witnesses at the trial, a man named Robert Chobert, who claims to have seen Abu Jamal fire the weapon at the police officer. The letter says “I have been calling you to find out about the money own (sic) to me,” and “Do you need me to sign anything. How long will it take to get it.”
No other evidence directly connects the Mumia to the crime.
Abu-Jamal’s lawyers argue that the letter indicates that Chobert “understood there to be some prior agreement or understanding between himself and the prosecution, such that the prosecution ‘owed’ him money for his testimony”.
The second witness who testified she had seen Abu-Jamal shoot Faulkner was Cynthia White, who had 38 previous arrests on her record. She was in prison in Massachusetts at the time of the trial, and had five current criminal cases pending against her.
Flaws in the US Justice system
The cases of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter and Mumia Abu-Jamal illustrate the many flaws and injustices within the American criminal justice system. Both people were convicted of serious crimes and faced immense challenges in attempting to overturn their convictions. Both of them have spent decades trying to overturn the injustice, due to the circumstance of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong skin colour.
Despite these challenges, they both advocated for the rights of the wrongfully convicted and brought attention to issues of police misconduct, judicial bias, and racism within the system.
The cases of Carter and Abu-Jamal highlight the urgent need for reform and greater accountability within the criminal justice system. Their stories serve as powerful reminders that the fight for justice and equality is ongoing and that much work remains to be done.
