DON’T FREE MUMIA:  Today is the 64th birthday of Mumia Abu-Jamal–convicted murderer of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and cause célèbre of the Left.  Mumia’s conviction was in 1982, and he spent decades on death row.   Despite a massive “Free Mumia” legal and media campaign by leftwing activists and clueless celebrities, his conviction has always been affirmed.  But his sentence wasn’t.  Citing procedural irregularities in the penalty phase of the trial, a federal judge vacated the death sentence in 2001.  The case took a few more twists and turns, including an order by the Supreme Court to the Third Circuit to reconsider the decision to vacate the death penalty.  In 2011, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania decided too much time has passed to hold a trial on the sentencing issue again.  That left Mumia with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

You can say a lot of things about Mumia–like he’s a better journalist than your average convicted murderer or his image sold a lot of t-shirts.  But you can’t say he was innocent.