海角大神

Pennsylvania has set the stage for a new debate about the rights of crime victims versus the rights of criminal offenders.

Gov. Tom Corbett (R) signed a swiftly passed bill into law Tuesday, the first in the country to give crime victims (and prosecutors acting on their behalf) the right to seek an injunction against offenders on the grounds that their speech or actions would perpetuate the continuing effect of the crime, including causing 鈥渕ental anguish.鈥�

The law developed in reaction to Mumia Abu-Jamal鈥檚 Oct. 5 commencement address to Goddard College in Vermont, via a recording from prison. (The college holds about 20 commencements throughout the year for its various degrees, and students invited Mr. Abu-Jamal to give this address).

Abu-Jamal was convicted for the 1981 killing of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. He was originally sentenced to death row, but a later court case changed his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Abu-Jamal had briefly attended Goddard College and later earned his degree from the school while in prison. He has maintained his innocence, written books and given radio commentaries about racial justice, and gained supporters around the world who believe he should be released from prison.

At the signing of the Revictimization Relief Act Tuesday, Governor Corbett was flanked by police officers, victims鈥� advocates, and Faulkner鈥檚 widow, Maureen Faulkner.

Mrs. Faulkner 鈥渉as been taunted by the obscene celebrity that her husband鈥檚 killer has orchestrated from behind bars,鈥� Corbett said. 鈥淭his unrepentant cop killer has tested the limits of decency, while gullible activists and celebrities have continued to feed this killer鈥檚 ego at the expense of his victims.鈥�

Civil liberties experts will likely challenge the law in court. 鈥淚f the First Amendment means anything, it鈥檚 that government officials can鈥檛 silence people they don鈥檛 like,鈥� says Vic Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, in a Monitor interview. It would even apply to people who have served their sentence and been released, he says.

鈥淲e think this law is pretty clearly unconstitutional and is just a result of election-year pandering,鈥� Mr. Walczak says.聽

With roughly two weeks before Election Day, Corbett is behind in the polls.

Abu-Jamal, in a comment Monday, cited the Supreme Court case Snyder v. Phelps, which ruled that a controversial pastor could protest matters of public concern on public streets near funerals. 鈥淭hey said that the First Amendment trumps emotional distress,鈥� Abu-Jamal said, as reported by the independent news program 鈥淒emocracy Now.鈥�

But Jeffrey Dion, deputy executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, says the law strikes the right balance: 鈥淭he law does not prohibit prisoners from speaking out,鈥� but by allowing victims to bring a civil claim, a judge can then look at the context and weigh all the factors and balance them out,鈥� he says.

He compares it to protective orders for victims of domestic violence, which can enjoin the accused from communicating with victims and going to their homes or workplaces.

If the Pennsylvania law does withstand court challenge, 鈥渋t鈥檚 a new tool for a lot of victims who are directly harassed by perpetrators from behind bars, and they really had very little recourse prior to this,鈥� Mr. Dion says.

Advocates鈥� for prisoners鈥� rights say the law will not only hurt offenders, but also journalists and the public.

鈥淥ur society really has this incredible incarceration addiction. And we need to know, as journalists, what鈥檚 going on inside.鈥� [This law] affects our ability as a community to get the information that we need,鈥� said Noelle Hanrahan, the founder of Prison Radio, who has distributed Abu-Jamal鈥檚 commentaries, during an interview on the 鈥淒emocracy Now鈥� program.

Goddard College鈥檚 spokesperson, Samantha Kolber, said in a statement that the college was surprised by the legislature鈥檚 action.

鈥淪ilencing any portion of the population, even if many people do not want to hear from them, is a slippery slope,鈥� she said.聽

In an Oct. 1 letter to Goddard, Les Neri, president of the Fraternal Order of Police in Pennsylvania, told the story of Danny Faulkner鈥檚 life as a police officer and family man. During the commencement address, he wrote, 鈥淚 hope they鈥檒l think of Danny's聽commitment to serve his community. I hope his story inspires them.鈥�