linksunten Archiv

Im Oktober 2014 wurde im US Bundesstaat Pennsylvania ein Eilgesetz gegen die Kommunikation von Gefangenen mit der Außenwelt eingebracht. Medial verknüpft wurde dieses Gesetz in den USA mit den Aktivitäten des Journalisten und Jailhouse Lawyers Mumia Abu-Jamal, der seit 1981 ohne Beweise inhaftiert ist. 2015 bahnt sich eine juristische Auseinandersetzung um die Verfassungsmäßigkeit dieses Gesetzes an, dass weite Eingriffe in Grundrechte von Gefangenen und ihren Unterstützer*innen bedeutet.

In einer Presse-Mitteilung berichtet das "Abolitionist Law Center" (ALC) über den Beginn der juristischen Auseinandersetzung um das Gefangenen-Knebel-Gesetz in Pennsylvania, USA.

Das ALC hat am 8. Januar 2015 eine Einstweilige Verfügung gegen das Gesetz beantragt. Sie vertreten in dieser Klage Mumia Abu-Jamal, Prison Radio, Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal, Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall, Robert L. Holbrook, Donnell Palmer, Anthony Chance und die Human Rights Coalition.

Unterstützt wird ALC dabei vom "Amistad Law Project" sowie dem "Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center" an der Northwestern University School of Law.

Die kommende Klage gegen dieses Gesetz wurde u.a. durch die starke Beteiligung an der Spendensammlung von Prison Radio möglich, die vor wenigen Tagen erfolgreich abgeschlossen wurde. Danke an die vielen, die dabei mitgeholfen haben.

Es folgt die Pressemitteilung im Original:

MEDIA RELEASE: Preliminary Injunction Filed to Prevent “Silencing Act” from Stopping Prisoners’ Speech

Abolitionist Law Center      info@abolitionistlawcenter.org

Continuing the Fight Against the Silencing Act, Prisoners and Advocacy Groups
Seek Injunctive Relief to Stop Enforcement NOW

January 8, 2015 - A motion for a preliminary injunction was filed today in the ongoing lawsuit, Abu-Jamal v. Kane, challenging a Pennsylvania censorship law intended to silence Mumia Abu-Jamal and others convicted of personal injury crimes.

The Abolitionist Law Center, Amistad Law Project, and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University School of Law filed the preliminary injunction motion to stop enforcement of the law. The law firms represent Mumia Abu-Jamal, Prison Radio, Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal, Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall, Robert L. Holbrook, Donnell Palmer, Anthony Chance, and Human Rights Coalition in the lawsuit filed November 10, 2014 against Attorney General Kathleen Kane and Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU) filed a similar lawsuit ( http://abolitionistlawcenter.us7.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=b7743030... ) and preliminary injunction today.

The Silencing Act, also known as 18 P.S. § 11.1304, allows the Attorney General, county District Attorneys, and victims of personal injury crimes to bring a lawsuit in civil court against the person convicted of the personal injury crime to enjoin conduct that “perpetuates the continuing effect of the crime on the victim”. The actions that could prompt a lawsuit include “conduct which causes a temporary or permanent state of mental anguish.”

“This law is unconstitutional,” said David Shapiro of MacArthur Justice Center. “The facts are on our side and the law is on our side. The Silencing Act targets a huge amount of constitutionally protected speech based on who is speaking.”

After a prerecorded commencement speech by journalist and prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal was played for graduates at Goddard College in Vermont, the Pennsylvania legislature passed and outgoing Governor Corbett signed into law the Silencing Act on October 21st, 16 days after the commencement speech.

Abu-Jamal has spent 33 years in prison, 29 of which were in solitary confinement on death row after being convicted at a 1982 trial that Amnesty International said “failed to meet minimum international standards safeguarding the fairness of legal proceedings.”

Robert L. Holbrook, who is serving a death by incarceration, life without parole, sentence he received as a child, had this to say about the law: “there are people in prison who will stop writing, stop publishing, stop speaking out because of this law.”

“Silencing prisoners is one more way of dehumanizing them,” said Amistad Law Project ( http://abolitionistlawcenter.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b7743030d... ) Policy Director Nikki Grant. “We need the voices of the marginalized to shed light on injustice.”

Plaintiffs’ Brief in Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction in Jamal v. Kane ( http://abolitionistlawcenter.us7.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b7743030... )

Contact:

Noelle Hanrahan   globalaudiopi@gmail.com @gmail.com
001 - 415-706-5222

Bret Grote     bretgrote@abolitionistlawcenter.org
001 - 412-654-9070

Ashley Henderson    hley@amistadlaw.org

001 - 215-310-0424

David Shapiro     david.shapiro@law.northwestern.edu    
001 - 312-503-0711