The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear more than 2,000 pending appeals that would grant a new trial for former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal. The former Pennsylvania radio journalist was convicted 27 years ago of killing Daniel Faulkner, a Philadelphia police officer, and has been on death row ever since. Abu-Jamal’s death sentence was overturned in March by a federal court in Philadelphia, but the Supreme Court judges voted 2 to1 to uphold his conviction. His case has drawn many prominent supporters who back his belief that he is innocent and a victim of receiving a racist trial, where a jury of ten Whites and two Blacks convicted him of capital murder.
The 53-year-old has written various books while in prison, and has since attracted worldwide attention.