U.S. judge throws out ‘mental anguish’ law aimed at cop-killer
HARRISBURG (AP) – A federal judge is throwing out a Pennsylvania law designed to prevent offenders from causing mental anguish to crime victims, calling it an illegal restriction on the right to free expression.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner ruled Tuesday against the law that was enacted quickly last year after Mumia Abu-Jamal gave a recorded commencement address to a small Vermont college. Abu-Jamal is serving life for killing a Philadelphia police officer.
Conner says the law was unlawfully purposed, vaguely executed and patently overbroad, and that legislators “fell woefully short of the mark.”
The law let victims seek civil injunctions against offenders who act in ways that perpetuate mental anguish.
It passed the House unanimously and the Senate by a wide margin, and was signed into law by then-Gov. Tom Corbett.