After Troy Davis's Death, Questions I Can't Unask

by Dave Zirin
http://www.thenation.com/blog/163568/after-troy-daviss-death-questions-i-cant-unask

Folks - In honor of Troy Davis, I gave more than I can afford to the Campaign to the End the Death Penalty. at the following link. Please do the same:

http://bit.ly/qnxerv

In struggle,
Dave Zirin

1. Can Troy Davis, who fought to his last breath, actually be dead this morning?

2 - If we felt tortured with fear and hope for the four hours that the Supreme Court deliberated on Troy's case, how did the Davis family feel?

3. Why did the state of Georgia need to leave him strapped to the death-gurney while waiting for the Supreme Court to rule?

4. Why does this hurt so much?

5. Does Judge Clarence Thomas, an impovershed African American son of Georgia, ever acknowledge in quiet moments that he could easily have been Troy Davis?

6. What do people who insist we have to vote for Obama and support the Democrats "because of the Supreme Court" say this morning?

7. Why does the right wing in this country distrust "big government" on everything except executing people of color and the poor?

8. Why were Democrats who spoke out for Troy the utter exception and not the rule?

9. Why didn't the New York Times editorial page say anything until after Troy's parole was denied when their words wouldn't mean a damn?

9. Why does this hurt so much?

10. How can Barack Obama say that commenting on Troy's case is "not appropriate" but it's somehow appropriate to bomb Libya and kill nameless innocents without the pretense of congressional approval?

11. What would he say if Malia asked him that question?

12. How can we have a Black family in the White House and a legal lynching in Georgia?

13. Why does this hurt so much?

14. Can we acknowledge that in our name, this country has created hundreds of thousands of Troy Davises in the Middle East?

15. Can we continue to co-exist peacefully in a country that executes its own?

16. What the hell do I tell my seven year old daughter who has been marching to save Troy since she was in a stroller?

17. If some Troy's last words were, "This movement began before I was born, it must continue and grow stronger under we abolish the death penalty once and for all", then do we not have nothing less than a moral obligation to continue the fight?

"The death penalty system in our country is unjust and outdated."

From CBSNews.com:

The execution of death row inmate Troy Davis in Georgia shows that the nation's death penalty system is "unjust and outdated," former President Jimmy Carter said following Davis' death.

The Georgia Democrat said Thursday in a statement to The Associated Press that he hopes "this tragedy will spur us as a nation toward the total rejection of capital punishment."

Davis was executed late Wednesday night for the 1989 murder of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. His supporters insist he was the victim of mistaken identity, while prosecutors and MacPhail's family said justice was finally served after four years of delays.

Carter says "if one of our fellow citizens can be executed with so much doubt surrounding his guilt, then the death penalty system in our country is unjust and outdated."

Davis maintained his innocence until the end.

"All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight," he said moments before he was executed Wednesday night...

Carter: Davis execution shows system is "unjust"
September 22, 2011
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/22/national/main20110095.shtml

Great Quotes on Troy Davis

"If you are pro-death penalty, you should be shouting twice as loud as the rest of us about the imminent murder of Troy Davis. Otherwise, you can't claim to be supporting a stark but necessary act of justice. You're just a fan of killing people in general. There are words for people like that. None of them are nice."
Tom Chivers of the London Telegraph
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100106208/why-death-penalty-supporters-should-be-campaigning-for-troy-davis-to-be-reprieved

Troy Davis executed at 11:08 p.m. EST

Georgia inmate killed by lethal injection after last-minute appeal refused by Supreme Court
GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press
Wednesday, Sep 21, 2011
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/09/21/us_supreme_court_troy_davis/index.html

Georgia inmate Troy Davis has been executed for the killing of an off-duty police officer in a case that has drawn worldwide support over his claims of innocence.

Courts consistently ruled against him, however, and the officer's family says they finally have justice after 22 years.

Davis was pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m. Wednesday. He was put to death for the 1989 killing of Mark MacPhail. The officer was shot to death while rushing to help a homeless man being attacked by Davis and others.

Davis' global support came from high-profile advocates, including a former U.S. president, the pope and celebrities.

Shortly before, the Supreme Court late Wednesday had rejected an 11th-hour request to block the execution.

The court did not comment on its order, four hours after receiving the request. Davis' execution had been set to begin at 7 p.m., but the high court's decision was not issued until after 10 p.m.

Though Davis' attorneys said seven of nine key witnesses against him disputed all or parts of their testimony, state and federal judges had repeatedly ruled against granting him a new trial. As the court losses piled up Wednesday, his offer to take a polygraph test was rejected and the pardons board refused to give him one more hearing.

Davis' supporters staged vigils in the U.S. and Europe, declaring "I am Troy Davis" on signs, T-shirts and the Internet. Some tried increasingly frenzied measures, urging prison workers to stay home and even posting a judge's phone number online, hoping people would press him to put a stop to the lethal injection. President Barack Obama deflected calls for him to get involved.

"They say death row; we say hell no!" protesters shouted outside the Jackson prison where Davis was to be executed. In Washington, a crowd outside the Supreme Court yelled the same chant.

The crowd outside the prison swelled to more than 500 as night fell and a few dozen riot police stood watch. About 10 counterdemonstrators also were there, showing support for the death penalty and the family of Mark MacPhail, the man Davis was convicted of killing in 1989.

"He had all the chances in the world," his mother, Anneliese MacPhail, said of Davis in a telephone interview before the execution. "It has got to come to an end."

At a Paris rally, many of the roughly 150 demonstrators carried signs emblazoned with Davis' face. "Everyone who looks a little bit at the case knows that there is too much doubt to execute him," Nicolas Krameyer of Amnesty International said at the protest.

Davis' execution has been stopped three times since 2007, but on Wednesday the 42-year-old ran out of legal options.

As his last hours ticked away, an upbeat and prayerful Davis turned down an offer for a special last meal as he met with friends, family and supporters.

"Troy Davis has impacted the world," his sister Martina Correia said at a news conference. "They say, 'I am Troy Davis,' in languages he can't speak."

Correia, who is battling breast cancer and using a wheelchair as she helps coordinate rallies and other events, called on people to push for change in the justice system. Then she said, "I'm going to stand here for my brother," and got up with help from people around her.

Amnesty International says nearly 1 million people had signed a petition on Davis' behalf. His supporters included former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, a former FBI director, the NAACP, several conservative figures and many celebrities, including hip-hop star Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.

"I'm trying to bring the word to the young people: There is too much doubt," rapper Big Boi, of the Atlanta-based group Outkast, said at a church near the prison.

The U.S. Supreme Court gave Davis an unusual opportunity to prove his innocence in a lower court last year, though the high court itself did not hear the merits of the case.

He was convicted in 1991 of killing MacPhail, who was working as a security guard at the time. MacPhail rushed to the aid of a homeless man who prosecutors said Davis was bashing with a handgun after asking him for a beer. Prosecutors said Davis had a smirk on his face as he shot the officer to death in a Burger King parking lot in Savannah.

No gun was ever found, but prosecutors say shell casings were linked to an earlier shooting for which Davis was convicted.

Witnesses placed Davis at the crime scene and identified him as the shooter, but several of them have recanted their accounts and some jurors have said they've changed their minds about his guilt. Others have claimed a man who was with Davis that night has told people he actually shot the officer.

"Such incredibly flawed eyewitness testimony should never be the basis for an execution," Marsh said. "To execute someone under these circumstances would be unconscionable."

State and federal courts, however, repeatedly upheld Davis' conviction. One federal judge dismissed the evidence advanced by Davis' lawyers as "largely smoke and mirrors."

"He has had ample time to prove his innocence," said MacPhail's widow, Joan MacPhail-Harris. "And he is not innocent."

Davis' best chance may have come last year, in a hearing ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court. It was the first time in 50 years that justices had considered a request to grant a new trial for a death row inmate.

The high court set a tough standard for Davis to exonerate himself, ruling that his attorneys must "clearly establish" Davis' innocence -- a higher bar to meet than prosecutors having to prove guilt. After the hearing judge ruled in prosecutors' favor, the justices didn't take up the case.

The execution has drawn widespread criticism in Europe, where politicians and activists made last-minute pleas for a stay.

Spencer Lawton, the district attorney who secured Davis' conviction in 1991, said he was embarrassed for the judicial system -- not because of the execution, but because it has taken so long to carry out.

"What we have had is a manufactured appearance of doubt which has taken on the quality of legitimate doubt itself. And all of it is exquisitely unfair," said Lawton, who retired as Chatham County's head prosecutor in 2008. "The good news is we live in a civilized society where questions like this are decided based on fact in open and transparent courts of law, and not on street corners."

Associated Press reporters Russ Bynum in Savannah, Kate Brumback and Marina Hutchinson in Jackson, Eric Tucker and Erica Werner in Washington and Sohrab Monemi in Paris contributed to this report.

SAVE TROY DAVIS!

Contact the Georgia Parole board to reconsider their decision denying Troy clemency.

Fax: 404-651-8502

PH: 404-657-9350

Email: Clemency_information@pap.state.ga.us

Troy Davis is an African American man on who has been on Georgia's death row for the past 18 years, convicted of killing a white police officer named Mark McPhail. Now, after the Georgia Parole Board denied Troy clemency, he faces execution on September 23rd.

But something stinks of Southern Justice in the Peach state. The simple fact is that an innocent man could be careening toward a legal lynching.

HERE ARE UNDISPUTED FACTS:

1 - Troy's fingerprints didn't match those found at the crime scene

2 - There was no gun residue on Troy's fingers - in fact, no physical evidence at all connects Troy to this crime.

3 - So why is Troy on death row? Because of testimony from nine people who said that Troy pulled the trigger. But an astounding SEVEN of these nine people shave ince recanted their testimony in sworn affidavits, with several saying they were pressured to finger Troy by police (Of the two who haven't come forward, one is said to be the police's initial suspect, and the other testified that the shooter was left-handed, but Troy is right-handed).

These seven people were afraid. They were intimidated. But now they want to come forward and tell the truth in open court - that Troy Davis did not kill Mark McPhail. Yet the courts won't let a jury hear their compelling statements.

An innocent man will be put to death like a dog on September 23rd unless we stop it.

This is not justice. This is a lynching.

We the undersigned Jocks 4 Justice call upon the Governor, the Supreme Court, or any controlling authority, to stay Troy's execution. There are seven people ready to recant their testimony. For the sake of Troy, and the sake of justice, they deserve to be heard.

Jim Brown
NFL Hall of Famer
Founder Amer-I-Can

John Carlos
1968 Olympic Bronze Medalist.
1/2 of the immortal Black Power Salute
Olympic Project for Human Rights

Lee Evans
400 Meter Olympic Champion
Gold Medalist 1968 Olympics
Olympic Project for Human Rights

Etan Thomas
NBA Center
Washington Wizards
Author: More Than An Athlete

Jim Bouton
Author Ball Four
Former New York Yankee

David Meggyesy
Western Regional Director Retired; NFL Players Association (NFLPA)
Former NFL Linebacker

Jeff "Snowman" Monson
Ultimate Fighting Championship

Walter Beach
Former NFL Player
Cleveland Browns

Clifton McNeil
Former NFL Player
Cleveland Browns, NY Giants, SF 49ers

Walter "The Flee" Roberts
Former NFL Player
Cleveland Browns

Lester Rodney
Oldest Living Sportswriter
Sports Editor
Daily Worker
1936-1958

Scoop Jackson
Sportswriter
Espn.com

Dennis Brutus
Former Director of SANROC (the South African Non Racialist Olympic Committee)
Professor emeritus Africana studies. University of Pittsburgh

Leonard McNeil
Councilmember, City of San Pablo, CA
Former draftee Philadelphia Eagles
1968 Olympic Boycotter

Ron Davis
South African Attache 1996 Olympics
Former National Coach in Nigeria

Doug Harris
Former Executive Director
Athletes United for Peace

Walter Beach
Former Cleveland Brown
Executive Director Amer-I-Can

Dave Zirin
Sportswriter, the Nation
Author A People's History of Sports in the United States