Supporters of Mumia Abu Jamal, the nation’s best known political prisoner, held a press conference last Thursday demanding medical treatment for his damaged arteries, yet Pennsylvania prison officials refused to even confirm that heart surgery was scheduled. Abu Jamal will mark his 67th birthday on April 24. Dr. Ricardo Alvarez, Abu Jamal’s longtime physician, noted that “in some states, close to 20 percent” of the prison population are elderly.