When Troy lost in the U. S. Supreme Court on 14 October 2008,
Georgia quickly set the execution date for 27 October 2008.

It was only stayed again due to quick action by Troy’s lawyers
to file on 22 October 2008 an appeal to the 11th Circuit.

I am concerned that Georgia might try to kill Troy quickly,
particularly if it appears that a “Global Day of Action for Troy Davis”
might take place AFTER the stay expires (such as 19 May 2009).

The course of action that I would recommend would be
for IMMEDIATE PUBLICIZED PETITIONING of PRESIDENT OBAMA
for commutation or pardon.
I think (given prior attitudes of the Georgia Board of
Pardons and Paroles and of the U. S. Supreme Court)
that President Obama is the only realistic hope
for commutation or pardon for Troy.

Tony Smith

I invite you and your readers to join other bloggers for the Global Day of Blogging for Troy Davis on May 19th. This event has been registered with Amnesty International and in just a couple of days 16 other bloggers have RSVPed with a resounding yes.

Much obliged!
SjP

And yes, I think it’s partially because a police officer was killed. I also think it’s because a white police officer was killed, and because Troy Davis is a black man. We know that black men are disproportionately placed on death row to begin with. And I’m pretty sure that most of the executions of those who were later proven innocent were of black men for crimes committed against white people. It’s not exactly a stretch.

“Troy Davis was convicted of murdering a Georgia police officer in 1991. Nearly two decades later, Davis remains on death row – even though the case against him has fallen apart. Davis’ conviction was not based on any physical evidence, and the murder weapon was never found. Since his trial, seven of the nine eyewitnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony, and one of the remaining witnesses has been implicated by nine others as the actual murderer.” from http://www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/troy-davis-finality-over-fairness/page.do?id=1011343

I am really surprised that they would execute someone based only on eye-witness reports, since these are notoriously shaky evidence. This is especially true when the case involves racialized individuals (I don’t know whether this one does). Since the only evidence here seems to be eye-witnesses, and they have since recanted or contradicted their testimony, this seems doubly weird.

I suspect that part of the reason this is going ahead is because it was a cop that died. I think it is very difficult to get a fair trial in cases where you stand accused against police, because there is quite a bit of trust in the police force among middle-class white people. And, when cops are killed there is often outrage because it is perceived as a dangerous job that saves lives.

I think it is also interesting that even though nursing is a more dangerous job than policing, and nursing also saves lives, there is much less public outrage when a nurse is injured or killed on the job.