PA Gov. Signs Bill Limiting Speech That Causes 'Mental Anguish'

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Frank Rizzo had been out of the mayor's office for a year, and AVN was still about two years from being born when journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal shot Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in an exchange of gunfire at the site of a Center City traffic stop. Despite conflicting eyewitness testimony, Abu-Jamal was convicted in 1982 of first degree murder and sentenced to death, though that part of the sentence was voided and Abu-Jamal is now serving a life term in Mahanoy State Correctional Institution. Which isn't to say that Abu-Jamal has been silent all this time. He's written eight books, been published in the Yale Law Review, done a series of commentaries for NPR that were never aired, and done pre-recorded commencement speeches for Evergreen State College, Antioch College, and most recently his alma mater, Goddard College—but that may prove to be his last one. See, even after 30 years, lots of folks in Philly are still pretty upset with Abu-Jamal, first because he escaped the death penalty, and second because he's got a lot of support within Philly's black community, many of whom think he got framed for the murder. And now, all that public rage has been codified into something called the "Revictimization Relief Act," aka Senate Bill 508. "Over the years we've heard much about the constitutional rights of prison inmates when the focus should be on victims," said PA Gov. Tom Corbett as he signed the Act into law yesterday near the corner of 13th and Locust Streets where Faulkner was killed—and about six blocks from where the U.S. Constitution was debated. "This bill was meant to strengthen, to clarify, and to empower the victims." Actually, what it's meant to do is stifle speech, most notably Abu-Jamal's, but also anyone who says something that makes a crime victim feel bad. Or as the new law puts it, allows victims of a crime to file a civil suit against anyone who engages in "conduct which perpetuates the continuing effect of the crime on the victim." Or as Maureen Faulkner, widow of the victim, put it, "To be in your car, driving along in California, only to hear him doing a commencement speech on the radio, it rips open a scab." And talk about fast-tracking! Abu-Jamal was invited to give the Goddard speech on September 29; Senate Bill 508 was passed less than three weeks later, on October 16. That the bill is unconstitutional should be apparent to anyone, since nothing in the Constitution or any Supreme Court decision bans "hurt speech." "Essentially, any action by an inmate or former offender that could cause 'mental anguish' could be banned by a judge," said Pennsylvania ACLU executive director Reggie Shuford said in a statement. "That can't pass constitutional muster under the First Amendment." "The establishment of Philadelphia is using Mumia's case to silence all prisoners in the state," noted protester Johanna Fernandez. "What they're doing is they're essentially inflecting collective punishment on all prisoners in order to silence Mumia. It's a horrific employment of power in part of the establishment." Guess it's a good thing no one in a Pennsylvania obscenity case has ever testified to being a victim, or everyone who works in an adult store in the state would have to spend the workday in silence!