Video: Mumia Abu-Jamal speaks from prison — Life after death row

Democracy Now recently had an exclusive interview with Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of the killing of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.

Abu-Jamal has been in jail for decades and last year the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set aside his death sentence. They found that jurors in the trial were given confusing instructions that encouraged them to choose the death penalty rather than a life sentence. Digital Journal reported on the change of sentence in December 2011. Mumia Abu-Jamal is still fighting to win his release from prison. There are allegations of judicial misconduct and racial bias in his court case. A movement called "We want freedom" has for a long time argued racism by the prosecutors and trial judge in the court case that led to Abu-Jamal's conviction. During the trial a court reporter overheard Judge Albert F.Sabo say in chambers: "I’m going to help them fry the nigger." Abu-Jamal says. "We didn’t know about it until years later, but when we put this into our papers, our filings, it has been essentially ignored by every court it’s come in front of. How is that possible? And so, I mean, that’s certainly one indication, as you can see, one example of an unfair system." The video records a telephone conversation between Mumia Abu-Jamal and interviewers at Democracy Now. Actor Danny Glover joins the interview.