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Abu-Jamal moved into general prison population for first time

Mumia Abu-Jamal has been moved into the general prison population for the first time since going on death row for the killing of Officer Daniel Faulkner.

Mumia Abu-Jamal has been moved into the general prison population for the first time since going on death row for the killing of Officer Daniel Faulkner.

Susan McNaughton, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, said Abu-Jamal was moved yesterday from the restricted housing unit at the SCI Mahanoy facility in Frackville, Schuylkill County.

In the restricted housing unit, Abu-Jamal had largely been in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day.

Abu-Jamal was convicted of the 1981 shooting death of Faulkner. His transfer into the general prison population comes after his original death sentence was overturned on appeal to the federal courts last year.

The federal appeals court ruled that the trial judge's instructions to the jury were unfairly weighted toward execution.

That ruling in Philadelphia was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in October.

As a result, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said in December that he would not re-seek a new death penalty hearing, and instead agreed to a life term.

Abu-Jamal had been on death row at SCI Greene, in Waynesburg until he was transferred to SCI Mahony, a medium-security institution, shortly after Williams' decision.

Judith L. Ritter, a law professor and director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at Widener University, and who represented Abu-Jamal in recent appeals, said yesterday in a statement:

"This is a very important moment for him, his family and all of his supporters. We are all grateful for the roles played by so many in getting him off death row after so very long."

Abu-Jamal supporters, through various websites and social networks, applauded his move into the general population, but still maintain he is innocent.

However, Faulkner's widow, Maureen, and many others, steadfastly maintain that Abu-Jamal was her husband's killer. She has denounced Abu-Jamal for "operating a cottage industry in prison."