Mumia Abu-Jamal advocates blame Pa. Dept. of Corrections for his deteriorating eyesight, delaying corrective surgery

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Advocates for Mumia Abu-Jamal say that he is at risk of going blind and blame Pennsylvania corrections officials for delaying surgery to address the issue.

“He fought back against impossible conditions and we have to say the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has entirely abandoned its duties and it has to be held accountable,” said Dr. Johanna Fernandez, at a virtual news conference Friday evening.

Abu-Jamal, an award-winning journalist and co-founder of the Philadelphia chapter of the Black Panther Party, was convicted of the 1981 murder of white Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner. The case received international attention and Abu-Jamal maintained his innocence, calling himself a political prisoner. He was highly critical of what he called systemic racism in the city’s police department.

Courts have upheld the convictions through years of appeals. A federal appeals court in 2008 overturned his death penalty sentence, citing improper jury instructions.

According to Dr. Ricardo Alvarez, Abu-Jamal’s personal doctor, his eye condition resulted from complications from a 2019 cataract surgery and diabetic retinopathy, caused by overadministered steroids by corrections officials for a skin condition. The overdosing elevated his glucose levels, medical professionals said at Friday’s news conference.

Now, as his eyesight continues to deteriorate, supporters of Abu-Jamal said that prison officials delayed the 71-year-old’s corrective laser surgery by sending him for unnecessary evaluations.

“Despite knowing the urgency, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections waited until this past July … to act and then pushed surgery, the surgery he needed for a cataract complication, to an unspecified date in September,” Fernandez said.

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said the department cannot comment on medical histories or treatment plans for incarcerated persons.

Speaking in a pre-recorded message, Abu-Jamal said that his vision has deteriorated to the point where he cannot “see anything more than the masthead of a newspaper” and is unable to read or write.

“I kept it quiet simply because I wrongly believed that once I got examined and once it was clear that this was a real visual, contextual problem, that I would get a rather quick response,” Abu-Jamal said. “Boy was I wrong.”

Friday’s news conference was a coordinated effort with the movement behind Abu-Jamal’s freedom to rally supporters to pressure the Department of Corrections and prison authorities to get Abu-Jamal prompt medical intervention.

“The higher-ups in the DOC, the Philly and Pa. criminal justice establishments want Mumia not only imprisoned, they want his voice quashed. They want him dead,” said Mark Taylor, who serves as Abu-Jamal’s coordinator for Educators. “They only do what is right by Mumia when our movement, combined with legal action, make them do so.”

The Pennsylvania prison system has been sued before over its alleged inability to promptly respond to medical conditions. Roughly two decades ago, two prisoners won a $1.2 million judgment after suing the Bucks County Correctional Facility and related officials over a MRSA outbreak at the facility.