I was surprised by Mary Beth Crafts' response to my March opinion letter regarding Dan Flood's criticism of Sen. Coons' vote against Debo Adegbile. Her last sentence asked “And, if Mr. Flood is not entitled to chide others for their views,' why are you?” It is obvious to me that Ms. Crafts did not read my letter since I said in my letter, “Because we live in America, Mr. Flood is entitled to his views.”
As Ms. Crafts pointed out, Mr. Flood is not a reporter. However, Mr. Flood seems an ill-informed commentator on the subject of Mumia Abu Jamal's legal representation. Ms. Craft need not instruct me on the Sixth Amendment, but look to my March letter referring to my hope that “Mr. Stevenson provides the best legal representation for those on death row because that is our system of justice.”
Thirty-three years ago the true victim of this case, Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, was assassinated by Mumia Abu Jamal. At that time, my husband, too, had been a Philadelphia police officer for 17 years and was on duty that night. We are very knowledgeable about Wesley Cook's arrest, trial and his disrespectful behavior in the courtroom. We followed his appeals and Christina Swan's attempts to create an innocent persona for him with rallies overseas. Debo Adegbile was Christina Swan's superior at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and should have stopped her antics immediately. He did not.
Ms. Crafts may advocate for Mr. Flood and spew disjointed bits of a legal proceeding from more than three decades ago, but my letter was advocating for Sen. Coons' vote on a subject that my husband and I know only too well. From Ms. Crafts' response, she does not.
Shellie DiLauro
Lewes
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