Letter to President Biden

 

Jerry W. Ward, Jr.

1928 Gentilly Blvd.

New Orleans, LA 70119

 

 

March 26, 2021

 

 

President Joseph R. Biden , Jr.

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D C 20500

 

Dear President Biden:

 

I implore you to pardon Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was given a death sentence in 1982 and who has spent almost four decades appealing what is considered in international circles to be a gross miscarriage of the rule of law.  Mumia (Inmate ID AM8335) is suffering from  heart issues, COVID-19, the lingering effects of Hepatitis -C and skin eruptions that cause exposed wounds.  After 39 years of incarceration, he deserves a chance to live his final days in dignity.  A pardon is a matter of great urgency.

 

 I predicate my request on the belief that you are a compassionate person, that a briefing from White House staff about his case would persuade you to issue a pardon as an act of Catholic mercy.  Your doing so would transform beautiful words from a Shakespeare play into magnanimous action.

 

"The quality of mercy is not strain'd,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath.  It is twice blest;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes."

 

The Merchant of Venice, IV.i, lines 184-187.

 

 Your pardoning Mumia Abu-Jamal would send a signal to the world that in our nation the quality of mercy prevails.

 

 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Jerry W. Ward, Jr.

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