UPDATE!!!!!!
U.S. SUPERME COURT STAYS GEORGIA EXECUTION
this just in from Laura Kagel at Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty:
We will know on Monday whether the Supreme Court will hear his appeal or if the execution will go forward. Check www.gfadp.org and www.troyanthonydavis.org for updates.
******
many of you may have read my recent post entitled forensic innocence in which i brought to your attention the number of individuals currently caught in the tangled web of the united states justice/correctional system that not only continue to proclaim their innocence,, but who could be,, and are being,, exonerated due to the presence of forensic evidence that will in fact prove that they are innocent of the crimes that they have been wrongfully convicted of by our faulty/over zealous judicial system….
today i would like to bring your attention to a case in which unfortunately,, no such forensic evidence is available.. that of troy anthony davis, a black man,, convicted of killing a white police officer seventeen years ago in savannah, georgia… there was no physical evidence brought to light in the trial.. none.. thus the unavailability of forensic evidence to prove or deny his innocence at this late date… mr davis was convicted, strictly on what has come to be know as “eyewitness testimony”.. to date 7 of the 9 non corrections witnesses for the prosecution,, have recanted their testimony,, many stating “in sworn affidavits that they were pressured or coerced by police into testifying or signing statements against Troy Davis.”
and yet he is scheduled for execution today at 7PM eastern…. “how could that be???” you ask yourself.. (and if you are not,, i highly suggest you should be…)
rethabile masilo, the author of one of my favorite poetry (and much much more!!!!) sites on the web, poefrica,, brought this insanity to my attention just this morning.. he suggested that we write what has commonly come to be known as an american sentence a (17 syllable (often political) statement) “for troy, or about the failure of the justice system in the United States, and post it today on your blog. It may not save Troy from death, but it may raise some awareness about what is wrong with the picture of people dying for no reason.” he also sited numerous links to sites that have written posts in the recent past trying to bring troys case to the fore of the public consciousness…
as i read thru all of the posts i could not help but remember the immortal words spoken first by Martin Niemöller, in his poem, “first they came….”
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.
i for one, am truly ashamed i was unaware of this case until today.. i find my ignorance unacceptable.. i might not be able to do more today,, or more for troy,, but i am going to spend some real time over the course of the next few days reading and assimilating information on the subject of wrongful death in the american justice system.. i can no longer deny the kinship i feel to those men and woman that stand wrongfully accused.. the time has come for me to get involved..
i believe the only real entitlement we as humans can lay claim to at birth,, is a little something called common sense.. and as i employ mine,, it becomes increasingly impossible for me not to realize that given the right set of circumstances,, it could (and very well might some day) be me,, for which they come…..
******
my american sentance entitled, a fair trial…. is now available on just paisley……
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:48 am
You’re great, man. Thank you for this, and much more.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:34 am
georgia was founded on a penal colony
so sad
September 23rd, 2008 at 11:55 am
I cannot remember the day of the week, but it had to have been shortly after President Kennedy’s assassination and the shooting Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby that, had Oswald escaped and disappeared, I believe I might have gone to the police swearing I saw him in Scranton, Pennsylvania working at a recycling plant. If there was ever a man who looked like Oswald’s “clone”, it was the young man who unloaded my car. Eyewitnesses should never be relied upon for identification of a person on trial.
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I’m not sure your ignorance of the case is unacceptable. It’s impossible to know of every such case at every given moment one is happening. What is more important is to carry the fight and convey the message of injustices in a general sense.
Does this not raise questions about the death penalty?
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:42 pm
This whole situation sickens and saddens me …
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Stayed.
Good work.
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:17 pm
J, I’m from Georgia, and I didn’t know about it! I never watch the local news, and I don’t read the local paper.I guess I better start reading my local headlines.
At least his execution was stayed but it’s tragic, what he has had to endure.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:40 pm
I signed the Amnesty International petition to get his execution stopped but it was obviously too late. This just isn’t right. God help us all.
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:09 pm
The system is obviously flawed and it is so scary. Two years ago I got rear ended while stopped in the middle of traffic. Clearly, the teen driver was looking anywhere but on the road. From the scene of the accident, the cops immediately thought it was a no-brainer until someone came out of nowhere and claimed she saw me cut the guy off. I thought she’s either a liar or she probably saw something else in a vague. She could’ve caused me to be at fault here totally when the truth is, I was the victim. Even though the officer really believed I wasn’t at fault, because a witness appeared, I had to be charged. It’s the law! He even admitted to me that witnesses can lie all they want and as long as they stand by their testimony, there’s not a thing you can do about it. Luckily, she didn’t show up in court to testify and the case was dropped.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:33 am
paisley,
Is it common sense to think that we can be aware of every injustice in the world or even our country?
If and when we become aware, we do have a responsibility to add our voice in opposition.
While I think the death penalty justified in certain circumstances, I think human fraility makes us over zealous in it’s imposition and should therefore take it off the table in the abscence of irrefutable evidence. Eye witnesses are not irrefutable.
Speaking out against a flawed system is a good thing. Deciding guilt or innocence from afar, less so.
rel
September 24th, 2008 at 3:55 am
Still in chains, some things remain the same, walk with me, pray, and set me free.
September 24th, 2008 at 5:42 am
http://www.innocenceproject.org/
The Innocence Project works to free prisoners wrongly convicted by requesting retests of DNA evidence. To date they have overturned 220 convictions but many states and most jurisdictions refuse to open old cases due to the cost.
September 24th, 2008 at 6:57 am
I thought of you this morning when the news in texas reported a reprieve for Troy. Before your post, i was completly unaware. thanks for opening my eyes and the eyes of others. hopefully now the supreme court will find justice.
On a personal note, regardless of this mans guilt or innocence, i personally do not believe in the death penalty.
I sat on the fence a long time about it…as people ranted “what if your child, mother, brother, ect., had been murdered, you would want revenge.” They are right…i would want it, but it is not my right. Tolkien wrote once about killing those that deserve to die, “Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”
that got me off the fence.
peace to you jodie, and all your readers…jorc
September 24th, 2008 at 7:17 am
I rued the day the death sentence was abolished in my country, believing it to be a powerful deterrent, but when there are gross errors in judgement and innocents are wrongly incarcerated, that is bad enough, and when they are wrongly executed (as many have been and many will be) then the whole system has to be reviewed. There will always be witnesses who want their moments of fame with no thought of the consequences of their actions, but the real failure of the system is juries.
I have done jury service and unless there is 100% evidence that the accused committed the crime then I believe it is far better to err on the side of caution and let the accused go; I couldn’t have a man’s freedom or life on my conscience if I didn’t believe conclusively he was guilty.
Rose, most states and jurisdictions probably refuse to open up old cases because they don’t want to be proved wrong!
September 24th, 2008 at 8:15 am
so he was executed yesterday? this is just the precise reason why I’m against execution. I mean let’s pretend its a pedophile, cut his privates off, knock yourself out…incarcerate for life…but don’t execute him, would if he’s innocent? who would want that blood on their hands? not me….
September 24th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
[...] "i believe the only real entitlement we as humans can lay claim to at birth,, is a little somet… [...]
September 25th, 2008 at 4:58 am
I’m afraid I must claim ignorance of this case! I really am surprised I can’t even recall hearing anything about it! And I thought I was fairly tuned in to things like this on the world scale! Thank you for this information and raising my awareness!
September 25th, 2008 at 5:35 am
Hi Jodi, I saw the news about this yesterday and was pleased to see this man may get justice. The legal system is so corrupted - cops and prosecutors vying for promotions and pay raises - it’s ridiculous. It also makes life harder for those honorable people trying to do their jobs honestly. I hope he goes free.
Please come read my new fiction…it’s so strange!!!!
September 25th, 2008 at 11:53 am
i took a criminology course a few years back. it was very educating. simply, the death penalty does not work. it does not work because too many innocent men (more so than guilty ones) die. and who are the majority of these men? blacks. and who are the majority of men on death row? blacks. revenge is a powerful emotion and justice, whether just or not, must be had, even at the expense of innocent heads. i can’t even read about stuff like this because it angers me.
September 28th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I cant even fathom what that man must be going through …..
September 28th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Amen Paisley. I recently put a quote on my site, provided by another:
The only thing required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. (paraphrased from recollection, may not be accurate)
(I found you over at Cordie’s)
Surface Earth
September 29th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Hello Ms. Paisley! This may be the first time I’ve been to this blog rather than the poetry one. I love it. Very thoughtful. Our justice system would be great if people weren’t so self-serving; police want to close their cases, prosecutors want to improve their records, supposed witnesses want their 15 minutes…not to mention the nefarious motivations some have. You may be interested in some documentaries: The Thin Blue Line, Brother’s Keeper, Paradise Lost 1 & 2.
Anyway, I stopped by to thank you for your kind comments and to invite you to come over and enter my 100th post give-away contest.
Laurie
P.S. btw, France elected a socialist leader a few years back - sans revolution - I have no idea how it altered their country, or if it did at all.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:45 am
Hello Paisley,
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a “Stay Of Execution” to keep Mr. Troy Davis from dying last month for a crime he did not commit. God willing, Troy will get the jury trial he deserves that will set him free.
Manchild