Act Now to Save Mumia’s Eyesight and to Demand His Release!
Directed to: Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf,
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel,
SCI Mahanoy Superintendent Theresa A. Delbalso, Dr. Courtney P. Rodgers
Mumia’s vision has rapidly deteriorated. It has been confirmed that Mumia currently suffers conditions that seriously threaten his eyesight. These include glaucoma, a vitreous detachment and cataracts in both eyes. This threat seriously jeopardizes his life and well-being, as well as his journalistic profession.
An outside eye doctor is recommending surgical procedures to remove the cataracts on both eyes, but SCI-Mahanoy Doctor Courtney Rodgers is delaying scheduling the needed examinations and surgeries with Mumia’s outside ophthalmologist. Rodgers works for Correct Care Solutions, a notorious for-profit prison and immigration detention medical company that, according to the Project on Government Oversight, has been sued at least 1,395 times with complaints alleging a range of charges, including wrongful death, malpractice and inadequate healthcare.
Meanwhile Mumia faces increasing nerve damage to his eyes. He is unable to read or do other things requiring normal vision. This delay echoes the years of delays Mumia experienced getting treatment for hepatitis C. By the time the DOC was finally forced by Federal Court to treat Mumia with the Hep C cure, it was too late to prevent cirrhosis of the liver.
African Americans are 1.5 times more likely to develop cataracts than the general population and five times more likely to develop related blindness.
Not only is his overall health deteriorating as he is threatened by permanent blindness, his failure now to receive the immediate attention he requires is cruel and unusual punishment, especially as an innocent man who has been unjustly incarcerated for almost four decades.
Furthermore, considering his multiple ailments and the threat of blindness, we demand that Pennsylvania officials allow a real and humane “compassionate release” now, not the “fake compassionate release” of transfers from prison to care facilities that Pennsylvania will only grant when a prisoner is within a year of dying. Mumia’s family, friends and supporters are ready now to provide the healthcare Mumia requires if he were home.
Mumia is not alone in enduring these cruel and unusual assaults on the health of those ageing and ill behind prison walls. According to Bureau of Justice statistics, over 130,000 of U.S. prisoners are elderly, a 400 percent increase between 1993 and 2013. Mumia himself has noted the significant number of those confined at his own prison who suffer similar life-threatening illnesses that require immediate attention. Across the nation elderly prisoners experience a torturous journey toward the end of their lives without any “compassionate release.” Once again, as we fight for Mumia’s right to treatment and for his release, we fight for the freedom of all the imprisoned from mass incarceration’s cruel and unusual conditions.
Take Action:
- Sign the petition at:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/emergency-appeal-for-mumias-health
- Call Dr. Courtney P Rodgers (570) 773-7851 and SCI Mahanoy Superintendent Theresa A. Delbalso (570) 773-2158
- Call Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf (717) 787-2500; PA DOC Secretary John Wetzel (717) 728-2573; Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (215) 686-8000
Tell them to:
- Approve Mumia’s cataract surgery immediately!
- Release Mumia Abu-Jamal NOW because he can receive better healthcare outside of prison and also because he is an innocent man!
Write to Mumia at:
Smart Communications/PA DOC
Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM-8335
SCI Mahanoy
P.O. Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733