LETTERS/YOUR VIEW: A proper conviction

To the Editor: Many of us concede the racist history of the Philadelphia Police Department and the flaws in the city's justice system but even this does not nullify the crime Mumia committed and for which he was correctly convicted. Some of use even oppose the death penalty and would be perfectly content letting Mumia spend his life in prison. But frankly, we are disturbed to have a cop-killer as the poster child for abolishing the death penalty. What is most distressing, however, is seeing intelligent people like Weinberg duped into repeating myths of the Mumia-maniacs. Mumia was hardly an "award-winning journalist." ABC News contacted the University of Georgia about the Peabody Award he had supposedly won and officials there denied ever having granted this award to him. At the time of Officer Faulkner's murder, Mumia had been fired from his most recent radio job because of his increasingly extremist rhetoric and had to work as a cab driver. Before questioning Mumia's legal representation, please read the record. If any defendant poorly served his own defense, Mumia is the man. His own self-destructive rantings and ravings in court sunk him. And Mumia and his million-dollar defense effort have used the court system to appeal up to the state Supreme Court. Losing these appeals and multiple Post Conviction Collateral Relief hearings does not equate with being "repeatedly denied a chance for justice." The myths about the ballistics Weinberg repeats reveal how little she really knows about the case. Weinberg should take the time to investigate this point. The police did not "say the gun belonged to Mumia." He had purchased it himself, registered it in his name and was wearing a holster for it at the time of the shooting. One thing you omit mentioning, however, is why Mumia or his brother have never told their version of what happened that night. If you were falsely accused, wouldn't you want to testify? Wouldn't you expect your brother who was there to testify as well? Before you march for Mumia, why not join the widow of Daniel Faulkner the evening before? She will be having dinner with Police Commissioner John Timoney and many others who are committed to communicating the truth of what happened that night in 1981. You can get more details at http://danielfaulkner.com. Why not hear the other side of the story? Doesn't Daniel Faulkner deserve that much? There are many of us who oppose "racism, injustice and police brutality" but that does not equate with supporting a cop-killer like Mumia Abu-Jamal. Peter Watko Director, Patient Services & Ops Obstetrics and Gynecology Rally priorities To the Editor: At a university that is supposed to be attended by some of the brightest minds in this country, only 50-100 people attend a rally to stop genocide in Kosovo while over 1,000 attend a rally to protest a prohibitive alcohol policy! This is outrageous. Is this campus really full of a student body so self-centered, so ignorant that regaining the right to drink beer is more important than stopping the murder of innocent people? This apathy towards genocide is particularly distressing when one considers the large Jewish population of this University. Have we all forgotten the atrocities of the Holocaust of little over 50 years ago? I firmly believe that more students at this university need to get involved in stopping the murders in Kosovo and stop worrying about their precious beer supply. David Mandel College '02