I’ve been following the case of Officer Daniel Faulkner for years.
I believe, along with such notoriously conservative sources as Vanity Fair and Salon, that Mumia Abu-Jamal killed Officer Faulkner. I believe that anyone who maintains otherwise, in the face of all the evidence against Abu-Jamal, is delusional. I can respect the people who said “Mumia Abu-Jamal shouldn’t be executed because nobody should be executed.” I understand that position, and respect the intellectual consistency of it. I can’t respect anyone who says “Mumia Abu-Jamal shouldn’t be executed because he should be walking around free because he didn’t do the crime.” The evidence is too overwhelming.
The district attorney in Philadelphia has decided that he’s not going to seek a new sentencing hearing for Abu-Jamal. He will remain in prison for the rest of his life, instead of being executed for killing Officer Faulkner.
I’m torn by this. I believe Abu-Jamal deserves to be executed. I know I’ve threatened to write a longer post about my views on the death penalty (and I will do that some day). People I respect a great deal argue against the death penalty. I’ve given a lot of thought to their arguments, and I’ll admit I’m about 51% in favor, 49% against.
What it comes down to for me is that I believe some people do things so awful to other people that they deserve to die. I believe Ted Bundy deserved to die. I believe Ronald Clark O’Bryan deserved to die. And I think Abu-Jamal deserves to die.
But Officer Faulkner’s widow supports the decision not to pursue the death penalty again. Good enough for me. May Abu-Jamal vanish back into well deserved obscurity, and may he die alone, unmourned and unloved.