Teacher suspended in NJ after class writes to convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal

ORANGE, N.J. (AP) -- A New Jersey school district has suspended a teacher for asking her third-grade class to write "get well" letters to a sick inmate convicted of killing a Philadelphia policeman.

Orange School Superintendent Ronald Lee said in a statement Friday that school administrators "vehemently deny" any knowledge of Marylin Zuniga's assignment. Lee says preliminary inquiries found that Zuniga didn't seek approval nor were parents notified.

The letters were delivered to Mumia Abu-Jamal. The former Black Panther is serving life in prison for the 1981 murder of white Philadelphia Officer Daniel Faulkner.

Abu-Jamal and his supporters claim he is the victim of a racist justice system. His family said he was hospitalized last month to be treated for complications from diabetes.

A supporter and history professor, Johanna Fernandez, said Abu-Jamal was released from the hospital, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, on April 1, and returned to the prison. She said she brought him the letters from the Orange third-graders.

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