The Spirit: “Dozens of community members packed the Philadelphia Superior Court, at 530 Walnut St., on Oct. 21 in a show of solidarity for incarcerated organizer, Jerome “Hoagie” Coffey.

The hearing marked a major step in Coffey’s decades-long fight for freedom; one he has waged from behind prison walls for more than 30 years.

Coffey’s attorney, Rupalee Rashatwar, of Philadelphia’s Abolitionist Law Center (ALC), appeared before a three-judge panel to appeal a recent Post- Conviction Relief Court (PCRC) decision that denied Coffey freedom.

Rashatwar argued that the PCRC, presided over by Judge Glenn Bronson, failed to properly consider multiple constitutional violations in Coffey’s case.

‘This appeal is simple,’ Rashatwar began, speaking with steady confidence before judges Mary Jane Bowes, Anne E. Lazarus, and Kate Ford Elliott. In about 15 minutes, she outlined how Coffey’s conviction rested on unreliable evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, and ineffective legal representation: wellknown hallmarks of wrongful convictions.

The hearing was as intense as it was brief. For Coffey, who wasn’t present, and the countless supporters in the room, the stakes were enormous. Incarcerated since 1994, that hearing represented a precious chance to challenge his sentence.”

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