Abu-Jamal Sues Over Pennsylvania Law Restricting Speech
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Mumia Abu-Jamal and his supporters are suing to overturn a new Pennsylvania law they says violates convicts' free speech rights.
Abu-Jamal and prisoner-rights groups filed a federal lawsuit Monday seeking to stop the law, which allows violent-crime victims to take legal action when an offender's conduct "perpetuates the continuing effect of the crime."
They're asking a judge to declare it unconstitutional.
Governor Tom Corbett signed the measure into law last month saying it's designed to curb the "obscene celebrity" cultivated by convicts like Abu-Jamal, who's serving a life sentence for the 1981 killing of a Philadelphia police officer.
The law was prompted by Abu-Jamal's pre-recorded speech last month to graduates at Vermont's Goddard College. Abu-Jamal has drawn international support for claims he's the victim of a racist justice system.
(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
You may also be interested in these news stories: