Left-wing cause Mumia Abu-Jamal will not get a new trial for his murder conviction, although his sentence remains in limbo.  The Supreme Court refused to grant certiorari to Mumia today on his appeal based on racial composition of his jury:

Mumia Abu-Jamal has lost his bid for a new trial in the killing of a Philadelphia police officer in 1981.

The Supreme Court said Monday it will not take up Abu-Jamal’s claims that prosecutors improperly excluded blacks from the jury that convicted him of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. …

Since Abu-Jamal’s 1982 conviction, activists in the United States and Europe have rallied in support of his claims that he was the victim of a racist justice system. Abu-Jamal, 54, has kept his case in the spotlight through books and radio broadcasts.

Which kind of “activists” are those?  I wonder what Markos Moulitsas would have to say about that.  I don’t see many conservatives in the “Free Mumia” movement.

Despite the rhetoric from such activists, Mumia’s guilt is not in doubt.  Shaun Mullen, definitely a progressive blogger and a Philly journalist at the time of the murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner, has written extensively about the crime, the trial, and the aftermath.  While he does criticize the prosecution, Shaun never swallowed the Kool-Aid of a supposed frame-up.  Mumia is guilty as hell.

The Supreme Court has not ruled on the appeal of the Third Circuit’s revocation of Mumia’s death sentence.  Prosecutors want it reinstated, but thus far the Supreme Court hasn’t even agreed to hear that appeal.

Jammie Wearing Fool has more thoughts on the story.