Biography
Rodney Lamar Stewart, later known as Shakur Abdullah, was a Black Nebraska teenager sentenced to death on August 20, 1975 after a murder conviction. In a contemporary letter, imprisoned activist David Rice argued that Stewart’s race and poverty had influenced the punishment. The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld the convictions but reduced the death sentence to life imprisonment in February 1977, emphasizing his youth and lack of a prior criminal record. A 1993 opinion confirms that he was still actually imprisoned under that case. The racial-disparity allegation is Rice’s account, rather than a finding that the conviction was wrongful.
Rodney Lamar Stewart, later known as Shakur Abdullah, was a Black Nebraska teenager sentenced to death on August 20, 1975 after a murder conviction. In a contemporary letter, imprisoned activist David Rice argued that Stewart’s race and poverty had influenced the punishment. The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld the convictions but reduced the death sentence to life imprisonment in February 1977, emphasizing his youth and lack of a prior criminal record. A 1993 opinion confirms that he was still actually imprisoned under that case. The racial-disparity allegation is Rice’s account, rather than a finding that the conviction was wrongful.
The Black Panther, October 6, 1975, volume14 number3, PDF page 6; The Black Panther, October 6, 1975, volume14 number3, PDF page 24; State v. Stewart, 197 Neb.497, 250 N.W.2d849 (1977), original opinion; State v. Stewart, 242 Neb.712, 496 N.W.2d524 (1993), original opinion.
