Sojourner's Place

troy davis: a call for clemency  

Posted by SjP in ,

Is the State of Georgia set to put an innocent man to death? The answer to this question is YES, unless Georgia Governor Perdue intervenes.

Troy Anthony Davis has been held on Georgia's Death Row for nearly 2 decades. Convicted of the murder of murder of Police Officer Mark MacPhail. Despite the facts that there was no physical evidence tying him to the murder, no murder weapon was found, and 7 of the 9 witnesses have recanted or contradicted their own testimony appeals to the highest state and federal courts - including the US Supreme Court - have all refused to hear or denied requests for a new trial.

Most recently, the Georgia Board of Pardon and Paroles has voted to deny clemency even though the Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, Leah Ward Sears, in a scathing dissent wrote:



If recantation testimony, either alone or supported by other evidence, shows convincingly that prior trial testimony was false, it simply defies logic and morality to hold that it must be disregarded categorically. A judge should consider the new evidence.
Amnesty International, the organizer of this Global Day of Action for Troy Davis, further states that:

...The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony...Many of these witnesses have stated that they were pressured or coerced by police. One of the two witnesses who has not recanted or contradicted testimony is Sylvester Coles, the principal alternative suspect. Nine individuals have signed affidavits implicating Sylvester Coles. Troy Davis has never had a hearing in federal court on the reliability of the witness testimony used against him.
So, what happens now? Troy's 30-day stay of execution expired on Friday, May 15, 2009 and as such Governor Perdue holds his life - possibly the life of an innocent man - in his hands. As indicated in the online petition to the Governor, he alone has the power "to see to it that the death sentence of Troy Davis is commuted, in order to ensure that Georgia does not put to death a man who may well be innocent."




Sojourners, I urge you to join us in this call to help save the life of a man who may be innocent. You may do so in a number of ways, joining thousands throughout the United States and the world, to bring focus to the empending execution of Troy Davis. Write a post, visit other bloggers participating in this registered Amnesty International blogging campaign, sign the online petition, or see what's been organized in your state or country. Time is running out...but, it has not run out!

Much obliged to the following Sojourners for participating in this Global Blogging Day of Action for Troy Davis:

African American Political Pundit – AAPP aka LN Rock
AfroSpear Think Tank - Asabagna Alatentou
Christina C. Marus - Facebook
Eddie Griffin (BGSA) – Eddie Griffin
Electronic Village – Wayne Hicks
Fresh & Fab - Fandf Adrian
InkogNegro 1.95 - David Parrish
Michael Leo Owens – Facebook
Michele Queyroy – Facebook
My Brown Eyed View – Ms. Lady Deborah
On the Black Hand Side – Vanessa Byers
Regina’s Family Seasons – Regina Seaman
Roland S. Martin - Facebook
Slant Truth - Kevin Elliott
The Field Negro – Wayne Bennett
Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty - Facebook

Obliged to you for hearing me,
and now old SjP ain't got nothin' more to say...
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
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This entry was posted at Tuesday, May 19, 2009 and is filed under , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the .

7 sojourners hollin' back

Anonymous  

I'll be blogging on this as well. Thanks for the information.

I strongly believe Spiritual Response Therapy (SRT) can help in this kind of case.

Well done for raisng this.
Zhana

May 19, 2009 at 6:45 AM

I blogged for justice for Troy on daddyBstrong.blogspot.com and linked you and Electronic village. I mentioned how you and the villager made us aware of the issue, kept us updated and let us know what we could do to help. Thanks, Sister.

May 19, 2009 at 9:16 AM

Thanks Sojourner.
This is exactly the reason why I am not a supporter of the death sentence.

I also posted.

May 19, 2009 at 9:33 PM
aban3  

I have found myself very "involved" with the Troy Davis case since last september and 8 months later, I am shocked that the general public in USA still knows so little or nothing at all about Troy Davis! To the general public's credit,sadly, the medias have been less than helpful in the matter.
The rest of the world seems to be much more informed and involved!
Ostrich policy in America?
I firmly believe that as long as all issues revolving around Mr Davis'case; absolute reliance on eyewitness (mis)identification, procedural misconducts, false and coerced testimonies, wrongful convictions, recognition and acceptance of uncovered new evidences by the various courts/boards, death penalty etc. will be addressed... we Americains stand little to no change to see justice for the thousands of innocents presently incarcerated...while with the same issues as above listed, hundreds literally get away with murder!
It is truly "pathetic" to have to rely upon God and prayers to sort us out of the mess we created!

May 19, 2009 at 10:06 PM

Thankyou for gathering us to participate in this Day of Action for Troy Davis. Our combined energies with those of any participating in Amnesty International's call for action made a difference I'm sure. Even the man who has the power to free Troy Davis has a shred of conscience I imagine. Enough focus on him with truthful pressure can cause him to wake up and do the right thing.

I hope everyone will pray , meditate, send letters to the governor, and continue to blog and/or tweet for Troy.

Shine bright Sojourner
-PZ

May 20, 2009 at 7:23 AM

thanks for saharing.........its really nice bkog.

May 21, 2009 at 3:37 AM

I missed the day of action, but just posted on Troy Davis at WSATA and included an excerpt from Herbert's op ed in the NYT.

This is the kind of story that makes the blood boil, but since I used to live in Georgia and have seen similar injustice down here in Louisiana, I'm sad to say I'm not surprised. Maybe our children will live in a world where this becomes unheard of.

May 25, 2009 at 6:41 PM
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