When the history books talk about Philadelphia, they speak of a “City of Brotherly Love” and “The Cradle of Liberty”. But, there’s a different side of the Philadelphia story that cries out to be told. It’s a story of racism, class bias, and politics in the application of the death penalty.

The racial discrimination in Pennsylvania’s administration of capital punishment is notorious. More than 60% of its death row population is either African-American or Latino.

Pennsylvania has the fourth largest death row in the United States behind California, Texas, and Florida. Most of the people sent there come from Philedelphia.

Philadelphia’s District Attourney, Lynne Abraham, has the chilling distinction of winning more death sentences than any other prosecutor in America. More than half (55%) of the people on Pennsylvania’s death row are there because of her.

Mumia Abu-Jamal, a well respected black journalist known for his stories on police brutality in Philadelphia, has been on death row since 1982 for a crime he did not commit. International pressure for his release continues to grow.