Mumia, his family and his supporters around the world had every reason and right to hope that all their hard work would pay off in persuading Clemons to follow and apply the law, as has been done in other cases involving Brady and Batson violations.

But as journalist Linn Washington Jr. has warned so many times in the past: “The fact that state and federal judges have consistently upheld Abu-Jamal’s conviction is cited as solid confirmation of his guilt. Brushed aside is the fact that judges have upheld Abu-Jamal’s conviction by skirting established legal procedure (precedence), creating new legal standards that undercut Abu-Jamal’s claims and rejecting newly discovered evidence of improprieties by police, prosecutors and even judges.” (WHYY, Dec. 9, 2022)

Despite Clemons’ rulings, the appeal process is not over for Mumia. His attorneys are currently awaiting decisions from higher state courts on additional legal filings in his case.