 In litigation before the U.S. Court of Appeals, in 1998 Abu-Jamal successfully established his right while in prison to write for financial gain.The same litigation also established that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections had illegally opened his mail in an attempt to establish whether he was earning money by his writing.When, for a brief time in August 1999, Abu-Jamal began delivering his radio commentaries live on the Pacifica Network's "Democracy Now!"