and then there is the case of mumia abu-jamal. abu-jamal is a murder. in -- a murderer. in 1981, he gunned down a police officer named daniel faulkner in a philadelphia street. in an act of unmatched brutality, abu-jamal in front of four witnesses stood over officer faulkner as he lay dying and shot him in the face. a mountain of evidence from eyewitness accounts to forensics to his own words make it clear beyond any doubt that abu-jamal killed officer faulkner that day in december, 1981. still, abu-jamal deserved to stay in court just like any other american accused of a crime. he got his day in court. he deserved competent counsel. he got that, too. he deserved an opportunity to appeal. and he got it. in fact, activists turned it from a criminal matter, an issue of justice, into a political cause, so he received some of the best counsel in the country, and they filed appeal after appeal. all of which were rejected. but that didn't stop mr. adegbile from claiming that abu-jamal was a victim of rhythm and a corrupt -- victim of racism and a corrupt judicial system. for m

abu-jamal. the l.d.f. first got involved when they volunteered as an amucous and then later -- amicus and then later in the post-conviction proceedings. in this first phase, the legal defense fund that the philadelphia prosecutor -- or they alleged -- the l.d.f. alleged that the philadelphia prosecutors discriminated against african-american jurors in the jury selection process during the trial. after the third circuit rejected that act, the nominee submitted an amicus brief to the united states supreme court urging the court to take the case and hear the same arguments. well, thankfully the court declined to hear that case. after this effort failed in 2011, the legal defense fund signed on as abu-jamal's lead counsel for his post conviction challenges. it was at this point that the nominee again challenged the conviction in the third circuit, but this time under a different theory. the nominee argued that the jury instructions were constitutionally infirm. the third circuit agreed, and the supreme court r

mumia abu-jamal. when you focus on what was really at issue in this case, there were four federal judges, to whom were appointed by ronald reagan and one was appointed by george bush, which found there was a constitutional violation in this case involving the jury instructions, and it was appropriate for mr. mumia abu-jamal's death sentence to be altered to life without parole. merits at hand, they were involved in this case, though not primarily responsible for representing mr. mumia abu-jamal, but debo's involvement is in line with the highest tradition of our legal profession, which is affording everyone the constitutional rights afforded to any criminal defendant. several of then documents because he was the acting head of the naacp legal defense fund? >> yes, his name was on all of the briefs and he appeared on two before the third circuit court of appeals and one before the u.s. supreme court. >> johanna fernandez, the significance of the ability of the lobby of police organizations around the c

stated that he would get mamia abu jamal off of death row.mr. adegbile holds mamia abu jamal or remorseless, unrepentant cop killer in high esteem. we know this because attorneys working under adegbile's to provisions to be for public rallies held in support of my husband's killer and openly profess it was an extreme honor to represent the man who put all of baseball but in to my husband's brain as he lay on the ground wounded, unarmed and defenseless. mr. adegbile and those who support his nomination will undoubtedly argue he did not personally make such statements, he did nothing to counter or stop them. in the end like so many attorneys before him, mr. adegbile's allegations of civil rights abuse rang hollow. mamia abu jamal's sentence was overturned not because of civil rights abuses as alleged by mr. adegbile but because three judges with a personal dislike for capital punishment conveniently determined the wording in a standard form given to the jury might have confused them. debo adegbile might be a competent litigator, through his wor

"it is absolutely my honor to represent mumia abu-jamal. it is my pleasure, it is my honor to have that opportunity. and there is no question in my mind, there is no question in the mind of anyone at the legal defense fund" -- i suppose surely that includes the nominee -- "that the justice system has utterly and completely failed mumia abu-jamal and in our view, that has everything to do with race and that is why the legal defense fund is in this case. we are acutely aware that the injustices of the criminal justice system are inextricably bound up in race." and she says they all at the fund agree with that. but the district attorney, mr. seth williams, an african-american himself, said the conviction had nothing to do with race but everything to do with the plain fact that he murdered a police officer, was observed, was -- confessed and admitted it and said he hoped he died. and the jury found that, a jury with -- a biracial jury convicted him. you can say well, that's just her opinion, that's her statement o. well, she said she was speaki

the court that convicted abu-jamal. it had two african-american serving on it. there would have been a third, but the attorneys were ordered to strike that person. the order of police vehemently opposes this nomination. according to a letter written by , thisesident of the fop nomination only exacerbates the "growing division and distrust towards local law enforcement agencies." a trend that has continued now from the time that perez was leading the department of justice civil rights committee. wrote "responsible people should agree that going out of your way to defend a convicted cop killer long after it has become unequivocally clear that he was guilty and had suffered no violation of his civil rights disqualifies one from serving as the head of a division of the u.s. department of justice." the obama administration's message with the nomination is clear. it wants even more for the politicizationre of the department of justice. esther president, this is in full -- this is insulting to law enforcement officers. i stand with the fraternal order of police and opp

in a recording from prison, abu-jamal sharply criticized the senate's vote. >> it is bitter irony thatthe man nominated for the nation's highest civil rights post was denied the civil rights of due process and the human right of self-defense and this is so simply because he did to do what defense lawyers are legally and conduct -- constitutionally required to do -- defd their clients. spat upon by was vile men, taken down by lies. >> critics haved the e senate's rejection of debo adegbile could set a dangerous precedent where legal nominees are judged based on who they've defended on court. the lawmakers who voted in opposition are also being accused of racist double standards. chief justice john roberts was confirmed to the supreme court despite defending a florida mass murderer who killed eight people. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. >> and i am one among the the -- gonzalez. the pro-russia armenian -- i voted forvernment has russia. this comes as president obama and allies have unveiled a co-ord

but even mumia abu-jamal -- >> if he's so blatantly guilty, i don't understand. unfair trial?ilty people can get bad trials, too. >> but the idea that he should -- i don't understand your argument. they're saying he is getting -- there's racial injustice in the trial. why can't they prove it without racial injustice? >> my point is it was an appeal for procedural grounds. >> make your case without racial injustice. he was blatantly guilty. >> let's not relitigate the trial. is this a private fight? what i want to do is get into the politics of this and the logistics of harry reid calling this up for a vote and losing, and the cost it may cost these vulnerable red-state democrats who voted yes for this person who the national organizations, a lot of police organizations were really adamant that he not get through, and here are these vulnerable red-state democrats who cast the vote yes. not a lot of nuance in commercials. >> they're going to get hurt. they're already reeling from obamacare. they're reeling from a president whose numbers are low and in the sixth year, if the pres

that man, mumia abu jamal was convicted when he was just a kid and nearly 30 years later adigbele workedfor the naacp legal defense fund as it challenged in appeal it is constitutionality of the jury's sentencing instructions in the mumia abu jamal case. and they won. the court ruled in favor of the naacp ldf which resulted in the death sentence being vacated. he is now serving life without parole. that single appellate representation was then transformed into the basest kind of demagoguery on fox news. >> he volunteered to help out this man mumia abu jamal who was convicted of murdering a philadelphia police officer in cold blood. >> an ardent supporter of black panther and cop killer mumia abu jamal. >> a cop killers coddler. >> there's a very racial past and history of pushing racial politics through actions inside the law. >> this is somebody who represented a non-repenitent cop kill killer you know what you just saw, right? and that worked, at least so far. but one can't help but wonder if this is a standard that only applies to a civil rights lawyer trying to head the justice depar

now, adegbile has paid a price for representing abu-jamal. the nomination process would be streamlined after harry reid invoked the nuclear option, think again, to make sense of all of this from a legal and political perspective, let's bring in friend of the show patrick murphy, both an attorney in pennsylvania and a congressman. no one could be better suited to discuss all aspects of the situation than you, patrick. i look at this and i find it somewhat chilling and every american should be unnerved by what's happened. it's a bedrock principle of america jurisprudence that everyone is entitled to a vigorous defense, no matter how noxious they are. >> that's right. and you should not be expected to be confirmed by the majority in the u.s. senate if you represent the country's most notorious cop killer, and that's what happened in this case. denny faulkner in december 9, 1981, an army veteran, was killed in the line of duty by wesley cook, who then became mumia abu-jamal. he was sentenced to death -- >> a very controversial case. >> controvers

abu-jamal was shot once in the chest. campuses, touching the third rail of race and policing. when a second scheduled execution date approached in january 1999, the beastie boys and rage against the machine even headlined a free benefit concert in new jersey with rage's front man recording a song to benefit the mumia defense fund.ç to conservatives, however, mumia abu-jamal became the boogie man, the anti-american, anti-police radical on the left. this cartoon ran in the washington times when adegbile was nominated, mocking his appearance on "sesame street" with some interesting racialized visuals. adegbile did participate in the death sentence appeal as a member of the naacp legal defense fund, and that win was seen as a defeat for officer faulkner's widow, the district attorney's office and the law enforcement community, and for conservatives. beating back adegbile's nomination was couched in ideological terms today by the man who led the opposition. pennsylvania senator pat toomey, who said this at cpac today. >> no o

philadelphia officer daniel faulkner was shot five times by abu jamal, one time in the face as jamal the face of the dying officer. jamal never denied it but appealed the verdict and then appealed his death sentence with the help of a lawyer by the name of adebo adegule. she hopes to definition lawmakers to vote no since she will not have the chance to tell them herself. here is maureen faulkner, good to have you. tell me what you wanted to do, you wanted to be there and make your own statement which i think many people would expect you should have the right to do given the loss of your husband at the hands of abu jamal. >> yes, martha, over the past month i have urged the senate to please allow me to be able to speak since this was personal on a situation where my husband was so brutally murdered and this man not only defended this man that murdered my husband but championed him. and i asked to go back and was told i was not able to speak. and then last week i sent a letter. i called harry reid's office and i asked them to please not do it this week because i was not able to attend

with the nominee, he agrees with debo adegbile to go after law enforcement officials, to defend abu jamal, he was not nominated in spite of his defense of jamal, he was nominated because of it. because these folks think that mumia was innocent. it is not just a question of giving somebody their day in court. debo adegbile took on the wider cause claiming america was unjust towards people of color. it was because of this rancid racial attitude that president obama appointed him in the first place and that is why he is mad. >> and that may be why the possibility of a recess appointment is a very real one, because clearly, the president and eric holder take this as a loss and a personal affront, this vote today. talk to me about his qualifications. because that is another thing they have put on the record, as just an understood, a given. you say he is not necessarily one of the greatest civil rights lawyers in this country. >> he is a young guy, but look at some of the issues he took on. he fought election integrity measures across the country. voter id. he actually worked to keep a white st

adegbile was going to head the justice department's civil rights division despite defending mumia abu-jamal. thankfully, the vote failed, but it's not over. harry reid voted against it just so he could bring it up again. meanwhile, maureen faulkner, the wife of the slain officer, wasn't allowed to testify. that's how it works. if only she were a victim of oppression, had dreadlocks and belonged to a death cult, then she would be the cherished radical and documentaries would be made about her instead. instead, being widowed by a racist militant doesn't rate, and the white house now fumes that their guy lost. for eric holder's balkanized america, race must always win the race, and killers earn respect by living longer. we get it, every perp gets represented, that's how it's done, but this lawyer crusaded, revealing a bitter bias. it speaks to a administration steeped in its own bias. isn't the defense of mumia kind of racist? you think if mumia was white, he would be a hero, or if the dead officer was black, would he know his name? i doubt it. the great story here is maureen faulkner called a

legal defense fund, which represented mumia abu-jamal, who in 1981 was convicted of killing a philadelphia policeman. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. >> i think this particular nominee would likely not have been nominated at all but for the majority leader breaking the rules of the senate last november to change the rules of the senate, thereby lowering the threshold. this nominee, however, was so unfit for the position to which he's been nominated that even seven democrats couldn't support it. >> ifill: president obama called the senate vote a travesty. and the senate's democratic majority leader, harry reid, said the nominee was treated unfairly. >> this man did not enter a courtroom for the murderer. he didn't write a single word of any of the briefs on behalf of the murderer. he worked at the naacp. it wasn't his brief. >>> the cost of the success appeared uncertain at best. homeowners in flood-prone areas may soon get relief from higher >> ifill: homeowners in flood- prone areas may soon get relief from higher premiums for federal flood insurance. the house voted overwhelmingl

but the legal team went beyond the court of law to participate in rallies, naming a street after abu jamal clear thinking people would say that is a little bit beyond the scope of representation and pale. debo adegbile has the right to do this. jamal has the right for representation, but this was just the right nominee. >> do you think we'll get something who was in your view, somebody less radical? >> well, i hope we get more reasonable nominees in the future. and i'll tell you what really concerns me, megyn, harry reid has said for the last several years that the republicans were holding up the nominees, they had to lower the vote from the requirement of 230 years of history, to a lower vote. now that the curtain has been pulled back we can see what the problem is, the problem is in the nominees, not in the process. so if the president is going to continue to nominate people who can't even hit the low bar that is not the legacy i would hope would come from this administration. >> mike fitzgerald, thank you, sir. >>> we are following up tonight on the soldier who posted this controversial

criticism is that he had represented abu-jamal who was convicted 30 years ago of murdering a philadelphiahe anlage a get his death sentence overturned. what happened here? >> this is an amazing story. i'm the son of a detroit police officer. i have no sympathy for cop killers. but i also have no sympathy for people who knowingly ignore the constitutional right and guarantee of an attorney. these lawmakers know this. also the white house even though they're on the right side of this issue in my opinion, ham d handled the politics horribly. how is it that they did not have better preparation and people in their open party know this was coming? >> and it's something you see consistently. you saw that when the president wanted to nominate larry summers to lead the treasury. they completely misjudged democrats being against that and the same when he tried to authorize force in syria. >> interesting. thank you so much for being here. >>> coming up next, how do you deal with fixing schools when kids are dieing in the streets. a special sneak peek at the cnn original series chicagoland oig coming

he joined an appeal for a abu-jamal, a convicted criminal sentenced to death for killing a philadelphiafficer. apparently some believe his legal duty, that issagage bile' legal duty -- they describe him as a yiktsed cop killer ardent defender. joe manchin one of the democrats who opposed his nomination invoked the murder of the slain police officer saying i made a conscientious decision after talking to the wife of the victim. this is the first of president obama's nominees to be rejected under the new post nuclear option senate rules which require just simple majority for confirmation. the president released a statement calling the rejection a travesty based on wildly unfair character attacks against a good and qualified public servant. adegbile was punished for doing his job as a lawyer. as eric holder said, it's a dangerous press departmeartmenc. and indeed it is. from the ukraine to burma after the break. >>> a lot of folks on wall street waiting to see what will happen on friday when we get the jobs report for the month of february. the other thing folks are watching for is how the

his controversial role in the case of abu jamal convicted of killing a cop in 1991 has sparked controversyfor the position. joining us is the widow of that slain police officer, maureen faulkner. good morning, maureen. thanks for being with us here. >> good morning, elisabeth. >> i know you're working around the clock to get your voice heard. those 25,000 signatures that are with you in terms of at least getting out there, your resistance to adegbile's nomination and possibly confirmation for this assistant attorney general position. why won't the senate hear your voice after he has defended the man who brutally murdered your husband? >> i don't know. i have tried. i have been calling senators over the past several weeks and trying to speak with them to let them understand that this man took on the case 27 years after my husband was murdered. the legal defense fund took it on. he championed my husband, made my husband into, instead of -- somewhat of a marytr -- made the murderer into a marytr and just absolutely disgusted from it. >> abu jamal shot your husband, i believe, twice in the bac

the flames of racial tension and rallies and protests through a media campaign to portray mumia abu-jamaller as political prisoner. >> reporter: number of democrats voted no including senator bob casey. came out publicly against adegbile saying vicious murder of officer falkner and events filed in 30 years since his death left open wounds for maureen faulkner, his widow. after having met with him and as well as fraternal order of police i will not vote to confirm the nominee. white it house obviously knew this was going to be a close vote today. vice president joe biden was on site to oversee the vote and would have cast a tiebreaker had it been necessary but there were enough votes on the no side he didn't actually have to vote this time around. jenna. >> story we'll continue to watch. thank you. jon: known for his home run swing but chicago white socks car adam dunne tried out his acting chops in the off season in oscar-winning film. wait until you see how his teammates welcomed back the star player. ree >>> well adam dunn known as a fierce slugger. but he did moon lighting this year. t

anyone at the legal defense fund that the justice system has completely and utterly failed mumia abu-jamalat failure has everything to do with race. ladies and gentlemen, i agree that the justice system had failed. but it has dale -- but it has failed danny fortner and his family. [applause] imagine my shock, imagine the shock of danny faulkner's family when president obama nominated to bew of the goal of -- -- i could not let that stand without a fight. i knew that the odds of defeating his nomination on the senate floor were not very good. presidents usually get their nominees confirmed. democrats control the senate. and as you all know, in an outrageous paragraph, they unilaterally change the rules so that now senate democrats can confirm presidential nominees with just a simple majority vote without needing a single republican vote. so i knew that it wouldn't be enough to hold all the republicans in opposition to this very poor choice. we would need at least six democrats to come along with us. the odds were good. but sometimes you have to fight the fight, even when the odds aren't goo

a murder in 1981 of a philadelphia police officer who was killed after pulling over mumia abu jamal and of the people in the car with him. the officer was shot. and while he was lying on the ground shot and killed. jamal was a popular radio host, convicted of the murder it either has been long-running disputes over whether he got a fair trial, whether it -- what if any role race played. and so you have got people, celebrities across the country, really across the world -- european parliament said taken up with are not he got a fair trial and deserve the death penalty. and of the people simply think he is a cold-blooded cop killer who's been made into a celebrity. you can imagine the motion that stirs up in philadelphia. >> and the man dead -- so how did he get involved in the case? what was his involvement in the case? >> he worked at the naacp as an attorney at the legal defense fund. the legal defense fund had have a role and the case. eventually when he was the head of the legal defense fund they formally became his attorney. this was after the death penalty had been thrown out that

but opposition to his nomination also runs deeper than his defense of abu jamall.ut his work and against voting restrictions and voter i.d. if you drill down into the attacks you find things like this, quote, adegbile hales from the naacp legal defense fund, an organization that pushes radical racial agendas including attacks on racial integrity measures. senator heitkamp, you recommended the president introduce someone not so controversial. anyone who has a record will be controversial in the eyes of those who seek to impose those restrictions, and now you risk looking like you fell for a smear campaign that worked against the very values that you actually claim to stand for. indeed, they're the ones that on the very same day of a vote you championed in a fundraising e-mail saying you would work to, quote, protect everyone's right to vote. president obama called this vote a travesty and if this is the precedent that you want to set, that no one who defends controversial clients can serve in our government, can serve the public, then it's a travesty for all of us.

. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> host: you listed abu jamal as the most influential a favorite bookssing graduate student, life and death row, was very impact will, a former black panther, he had been a reporter, he was convicted and his essays on life-and-death row and race, revolution, his time as the black panther was very important in terms of looking -- one caller asked what happened to be strong activists, strong men or women, one of them, he had been one of them. he was minister information with the black panther party chapter in philadelphia. he has a great line of remembering, stokely carmichael, long and lean, very influential in terms of seeing how people who are struggling could remain resilient even in the face of these huge challenges. >> host: 202 is the area code if you want to take part in the last half of our program with peniel joseph, 585-388 zero. stenson full-time son, 3881. further out west, we will put up our social me address as we go so you can participate in that way as well. fran in toledo, ohio. you are on booktv on c-span2. >> i was wondering. i have yet