The Post I Prayed Not to Have to Write

Tomorrow an innocent man will be executed by the State of Georgia.  The final clemency appeal for Troy Davis was turned down by the Georgia's Board of Pardons and Paroles after listening to testimony Monday.  The testimony included that of one juror who says that had she known at the time of the trial what she knows now (see below - ballistics report), she would never have voted to convict.  The Board has the sole authority in Georgia to approve or deny clemency.

Troy Davis was convicted for the murder of a policeman coming to the aid of a homeless man who was being attacked.  His lawyers maintain and the evidence is overwhelming that it is a case of mistaken identity and that another man fired the shot that killed the officer.

For those unfamiliar with the case:

• There is no physical evidence linking Troy Davis to the crime.  The only piece of physical evidence presented at the trial has been found to be false.  Specifically, the ballistics report, which purported to link the bullet fired at the crime scene with a gun fired earlier at a party, was wrong. 
• No murder weapon has been found.
• The police and prosecution staged a re-enactment of the crime for the eyewitnesses and allowed them to speak among themselves.  Of the nine eyewitnesses that participated in this illegal charade, seven have since retracted their testimony.  One of the remaining two eyewitnesses holding to his story has been accused of bragging about committing the murder.

Appeals for clemency have come from former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Reagan's former FBI director, a Georgia Supreme Court Justice, the European Union and many others.  More than a million people signed petitions asking for clemency.

Neither the facts nor the testimony nor the appeals were enough to sway the Board.  So tomorrow, Wednesday September 20, the State of Georgia will murder an innocent man. 

It is long past time that the United States joined the rest of the civilized world and abolished the death penalty.  In 2010, only China, Iran, North Korea, and Yemen executed more people than the United States. 



The death penalty has never been shown to be a deterrent to crime.  Numerous innocent people have been executed.  And in modern society an alternate exists - life without parole.  There is a strong moral dimension to this.  How can one justify the morality of killing someone who is already imprisoned and poses no threat?  The Catholic Church has, for years, taken a strong stand against the death penalty and American bishops are opposing it.  Although sentiment in our country has been steadily growing against the death penalty, a majority of Americans, a supposedly religious nation, still support it.  (Remember the cheers for Rick Perry at the Republican candidates' debate when the number of executions under his regime was noted by the moderator.)  Until they change their attitude, tragedies such as the execution of Troy Davis will continue to happen.