Earlier tonight, the United States Supreme Court denied a request of a stay of execution for Troy Davis. The state of Georgia then promptly executed him by lethal injection at 11:08pm Eastern Standard Time.
Troy Anthony Davis was convicted in 1989 for allegedly killing an off-duty police officer. Since that time, seven of the nine witnesses that testified against Davis have recanted their testimony, admitting that they committed perjury on the stand despite swearing an oath to tell the truth. Serious doubts were raised about this case and many high profile legal minds and politicians called for re-opening the case. Law enforcement officials in Georgia had doubts about the case and thought it should be re-opened. Even Bob Barr, a proponent of the death penalty, said the case should have been re-opened.
The fact is, the U.S. Justice System FAILED Troy Davis. The possibility of Davis being innocent of the crime for which he was convicted was high. When innocent people are killed, we call that murder. The state of Georgia, the Georgia Supreme Court, and the US Supreme Court are all guilty of murder. When there is even a shadow of a doubt that a condemned man may be innocent, you err on the side of justice and halt the execution. You re-open the case and re-examine the facts. But that was not done.
This was a serious miscarriage of justice that we witnessed tonight. It will make people re-think their position on the death penalty. It will change the procedure for handling witnesses and it will reverberate throughout the American Justice System. Putting a man to death is an irrevocable act. Even if Davis was proved innocent now, it wouldn’t matter. This case united people of all walks of life and political affiliations. Perhaps the only people in America who cheered this execution was the Tea Party and Rick Perry, but most people banded together to stop an injustice from occurring in this nation; a nation that is supposed to value justice for all. Justice was not served tonight. It was brutally ignored and a man who was probably innocent has been killed. Even the highest court in the country made a mockery of justice. The Supreme Court is supposed to stand for justice and tonight, they let a potentially innocent man die.
Troy Davis is dead. Even if he were found to be innocent now, it’s too late. A severe blow has been delivered against justice. Of all the values we hold most dear, justice was the one value that we believed in most of all and now our faith in our system of justice is shaken. The state of Georgia, the Georgia Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court of the United States should all be ashamed of themselves. This was an execution that never should have happened. They have blood on their hands. And that should haunt their consciences to the grave.
To all the people who are trying to turn the tables and say “Oh…where were all the protesters when a white man was executed?”
Blah blah blah. That’s what you sound like. The people who think this way are so sheltered, you think that bc you have a minority friend that gets you an “I’m not racist” badge? Please, you’re worse than the people who admit they’re racists, bc even if their views are medieval and juvenile, at least they have enough self-awareness to own up to stuff.
This case was NOT about race. It was about innocence vs. Guilt and how the judicial system failed a potentially innocent person, despite his race. And let me touch upon race once more, since so many of you are obsessing over it. If you think Davis had a lot of protesters, can you even begin to imagine this scenario with reversed races? Say a white man was convicted of murdering someone and that since the conviction, loads upon loads of evidence was proven to be unsubstantial and it seemed likey that this white person was innocent. Then let’s say that he is executed. The number of angry Americans would’ve quadrupled. So please, go pretend to be all worldly and intelligent somewhere else.
ok not to sound like an asshole, but HUH? ok you have a white supremacist who apparently DID the crime he died for and comparing him to a black man who was possibly innocent and at least 7 people stepped forward to admit that they lied under oath and that their original statements were coerced in the first place by police officers running the investigation? um…ok.
Exactly. Just some silly people who are dumb enough to believe the racist rhetoric they hear on Fox News trying to play the “minorities are given special treatment” card when it’s the other way around, in reality. They live in a bubble.
Regarding the execution of the white man in Texas. The white admitted to what he did AND SAID HE WOULD DO IT AGAIN. That is why you saw no protests
My point is, if you are opposed to capital punishment you should be opposed to all capital punishment,
My point is that If you are opposed to capital punishment you should oppose all ececutions.
I assume he is referring to the white supremacist who, along with two other men, dragged a black man behind their truck (among other things), dumped his body and then went to a BBQ http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/218189/20110922/white-supremacist-executed-hate-crime-murder-black-man-texas-dragging-lynching-james-byrd-lawrence-b.htm
http://news.yahoo.com/1-texas-executes-man-race-motivated-dragging-death-004337811.html
this is the link to Lawrence Brewers execution in Texas last night. Lawrence Brewer was a worthless piece of shit who should’ve never seen the inside of a jail cell, no that does not mean what you think, when the cops found him with the bloody chain in the back of his truck he should’ve been quietly executed for the murdering piece of filth that he was.
I’m not certain of Troy Davis is guilt or innocence, I do know he had a number of appeals and nobody ever found any reason to reverse the verdict. If the witnesses lied why did they not come forward? But Davis’s guilt or innocence has nothing to do with my question, and neither does Lawrence is guilt or innocence have anything to do with my question, what I’m curious to know. Where was the Pope and where was Jimmy Carter and where was amnesty international when they were putting that piece of filth in Texas down, it appears to me that there is some bias, if one man’s life is worth 50 million people protesting to save it then another man’s life is worth basically the same. If you are going to protest one execution for any reason why did you not protest all executions. Doing a Nexis search of articles on amnesty international protests of execution they have been 90% black or female.
I’m basically questioning the incongruity of protests.
I do want to thank you for responding to me, I always appreciate an opportunity to correspond with someone on the other side of the issues, thank you
Danny Ray
boonhogganbeck@yahoo.com
As far as I’ve seen, the protesting on the behalf of Troy Davis wasn’t actually entirely “anti-death penalty.” This wasn’t a case of 50 million people going to bat for him just because he was facing death; it was because he was facing death with reasonable doubt cast upon his case.
I won’t say that there weren’t protesters who were purely anti-death penalty. Naturally you’re going to have some of them in there, but the majority of the protesting wasn’t as much about the sentence as it was about the disputable case that was built against Davis and the revelation of the witnesses recanting later on.
There wasn’t the same public outcry because Brewers had openly admitted to his crime and spoke of doing it again. There was indisputable evidence in the Brewers case and it was clear that he was a menace to society. I’m sure you could’ve gotten the die-hard anti-death penalty protesters to fight it, but with a high profile (and much more easily defensible) case like Troy Davis, they likely decided to pick the case that wouldn’t make their cause look the most like a joke.
What people are outraged about isn’t that the state still executes people; it’s that the state may have willingly executed an innocent man rather than err on the side of caution and at least grant a temporary stay to re-examine the case. Worst case scenario for Davis, they would’ve re-examined the evidence and upheld the conviction and sentence. Worst case scenario for the state, they realize they bungled something and Davis’ sentence is either reduced, commuted or pardoned. In any case, taking the time to re-examine the case wouldn’t have been such a major issue.
Americans have built up in their collective consciousness that the justice system is about justice. Whether they knowingly accept that it’s clearly broken or not, at least somewhere subconsciously they want to believe that the system isn’t out to screw them rather than admit it made a mistake. This case shook their faith, and rightly so.
If you want to really try to come to grips with it, think of it this way. If you were wrongfully convicted of a crime and sentenced to die, and your one avenue for reprieve was snuffed out despite sufficient reasonable doubt to re-examine the evidence, wouldn’t you feel wronged? Would you really be mad that the confessed child rapist/serial killer/whatever in the next cell isn’t getting any public outcry for justice?
:-)
Seven of the nine witnesses whose testimony helped convict Troy Davis have since recanted their testimony, or have stated that their testimony against him was obtained by police coercion. Several of the original trial jurors have stated that if they had known what they know now at the time of the original trial, they would never have voted for Davis’ conviction–this in a country which vaunts a criminal justice system under which guilt must supposedly be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Despite all of the above, the State of Georgia decided to proceed with Davis’ execution, and the United States Supreme Court, now a body which demonstrably pays only lip-service to the law, let alone to justice, declined a last-minute appeal, and Troy Davis, who may well have been entirely innocent of the crime with which he was charged was executed.
Earlier yesterday the President of the United States went before the UN General Assembly to once more deny the Palestinians their rightful homeland, to cynically support the Israeli thugs who have denied the Palestinian not only their homeland, but any semblance of good-faith negotiations for two decades, all in the quest for Jewish-American votes for the upcoming 2012 election.
Congratulations to all concerned. The United States of America has now become a rogue, terrorist, police state akin to Iran or North Korea. The entire system of governance in the United States has finally shown itself for exactly what it is: a venal, corrupt clique of apparatchiks for which such concepts as justice and even common human decency have long since lost any meaning.
The rest of the world should consider itself suitably warned.
You are aware that simply being black often increases the chances that you’ll be convicted in the American legal system, but Heaven forbid it ever benefit someone!
No, no. That privilege is only reserved for white people, right? You don’t care at all about fairness, you’re just upset that for once maybe a minority actually benefited from their skin color.
I have a question I have been wondering about, the state of Georgia executed Mr. Davis, whether he was guilty or not, I really don’t care, but millions of anti-death penalty protesters were out in force. But at the same time the state of Texas executed a white man for killing a black man yet I have seen no articles about how his life should be spared etc, etc, what’s the difference? both were judged and executed , why no regret for both?
Let me ask a few particulars about the case you’re referring to. Can you give us a link regarding the case? Hard to judge on just the information that someone died, and that they were different races.
Was there a sufficient amount of evidence used to convict this man, or was there a reasonable doubt? Was the evidence that WAS used almost entirely recanted? Did the State of Texas mention at any time that they weren’t entirely sure justice had been served in his case and that it should have been re-opened? Is there as much reasonable doubt as there was in the Davis case?
I’m not asking to be belligerent, these are honest questions since I genuinely don’t know what case you’re referring to. If the case is such that indeed, the same level of doubt could be cast on this other case then it is indeed a travesty much like the Davis case and deserved the same level of scrutiny and attention. However, if the man was proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt, with more than a few witnesses (most of whom recanted) for evidence, then I’d have to say no.
In the end, your question sounds entirely like you’re basing the entire fight to save Davis around the fact that he was black, instead of the fact that he was likely innocent. If this other man was indeed just as likely to be innocent, then two sins against justice have been carried out, one of which received less attention then it deserved.