Mumia Abu-Jamal Granted Hearing Over Prison Medical Care
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Former death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal has been granted a federal court hearing in Pennsylvania over the medical care he's received for hepatitis C and other health problems.
Mumia spent 30 years on death row in the 1981 slaying of a Philadelphia police officer before the sentence was overturned.
The former Black Panther is now serving a life sentence at a state prison in Schuylkill County.
Mumia's lawyers say he was denied proper medical care both in prison and during a hospital stay this year at Geisinger Medical Center. But they say the issues stem from a medical dispute and not any indifference toward Mumia's well-being.
U.S. District Judge Robert Mariani has agreed Tuesday to hear evidence and arguments on the matter Dec. 18 in Scranton.
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