Teacher fired over student notes to sick inmate files lawsuit

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A former teacher has sued a New Jersey school board that fired her after her third-grade class wrote get-well letters to a sick prison inmate convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer.

NJ.com reports a judge has scheduled a Sept. 2 hearing to discuss allegations made by former Orange teacher Marylin Zuniga in an attempt to get her job back. The lawsuit was filed in June.

Zuniga claims the board violated state law by firing her in May after discussing it in private. She says she requested a public discussion.

The letters were delivered to Mumia Abu-Jamal in prison. The former Black Panther is serving a life sentence for the 1981 killing.