On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to review the murder case of 54-year-old Mumia Abu-Jamal, an ex-Black Panther activist currently on death row for the killing of a White police officer in 1981, reports Reuters.

In his claim presented to the Supreme Court, Abu-Jamal alleged the prosecutors in his case unfairly excluded Blacks from being on the jury. This is at least the third appeal from Abu-Jamal that the high court has rejected. 

His conviction was upheld by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, but the court also ruled that he can’t be put to death until he gets a new hearing because of the flawed jury instructions given during his trial, reports Reuters. The Supreme Court only handed down a ruling on his conviction and has not acted on the state’s appeal to put the death sentence back in place.

Abu-Jamal was convicted in 1982 of shooting and killing 25-year-old Daniel Faulkner, a Philadelphia police officer, after he pulled over his brother during a traffic stop. In the years since his conviction, Abu-Jamal has consistently maintained his innocence, and his case has received worldwide attention from Black and anti-death penalty activists who believe his conviction and sentencing were driven by race.  During his time on death row, he’s written several books.