Category: death penalty

International Day of Solidarity for Troy Davis

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See below for information on the International Day of Solidarity for Troy Davis. Thanks to Laura Moye of Amnesty International USA for providing this information. MW

Stand Strong, Stand Together for Troy Davis this Friday, September 16!

This Friday, September 16, is the International Day of Solidarity for Troy Davis.

We need you there. Troy needs you there.

We chose this date because the following Monday, the Georgia Board of Pardons & Paroles will hold Troy’s final clemency hearing – our final chance to prevent Troy Davis from being executed.

On Friday, September 16th we need everyone pouring out onto the streets to demand justice for Troy Davis. We want to see pictures, local news stories, Facebook posts, videos, blogs, tweets and re-tweets on Twitter and any other visible signs of solidarity for Troy.

To make the biggest impact, we’ll need to join together.

If you know of public events happening in your U.S. city, then please add them to our public listing! Or to find a public Troy Davis Solidarity event taking place in your city, check back at our event listing that will be available in the next few days!

Here’s how to add a Troy Davis solidarity event to our public listing:

  1. Visit our Submit Your Event page
  2. Be sure to add a descriptive title for your event that includes “Troy Davis Event”
  3. In the Description, please include any details about your event including location, type of event (film screening, rally, vigil, etc) and any special information such as parking.

The outpouring of support you’ve shown for Troy Davis so far has been phenomenal – more than 100,000 of you have signed the petition for clemency and nearly 500 events have popped up in small towns and big cities alike all over the United States. Supporters from countries in the U.K., France, Denmark, Brazil, Hong Kong and Australia have also joined in to lend their voices.

The growing range of scholars, world leaders and prominent figures who are also demanding justice – including former President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, John Legend, R.E.M., Russell Simmons, Mia Farrow, Indigo Girls, a former Governor of Texas and a former Member of Congress from Georgia – is simply awe-inspiring.

Momentum is building, but the biggest hurdle lies ahead.

Thank you for standing with Troy Davis!

Laura Moye
Director, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign
Amnesty International USA

Rick Perry’s Texas: 234 executions and counting

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by Melanie Wilmoth

Under Governor Rick Perry’s leadership, the state of Texas has executed a shocking number of individuals (234 to be exact). When this fact was mentioned at the GOP debate on Wednesday evening, it was welcomed with cheerful applause.

Perry went on to defend his record of executions stating:

“Texas has a very thoughtful, a very clear process in place of which when someone commits the most heinous of crimes against our citizens, you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you’re involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas, and that is, you will be executed.”

Although the death penalty was mentioned in the debate, no meaningful discussion occurred. For example, nothing was said about the moral issues surrounding capital punishment. Nor was there mention of the fact that the death penalty disproportionately affects poor people of color, or that research suggests that capital punishment does little (if anything) to deter crime. Moreover, there was no talk of the number of individuals who are wrongfully convicted and even wrongfully executed by the dysfunctional Texas justice system. (more…)

Three ways to help Troy Davis

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If you’re wondering how to respond to Georgia’s scheduled September 21st execution of Troy Davis you’ve come to the right place.  Thanks to Courtney-Rose Harris of the NAACP for providing this information.  AGB

Three ways to help Troy Davis and his family

The Georgia Board of Pardons & Paroles will determine Troy Davis’ fate on September 19 during a final clemency hearing.  As NAACP President & CEO Benjamin Jealous said, “Time is running out, and this is truly Troy’s last chance for life.”

Now is the time for action!  The NAACP (in partnership with Amnesty International) began the TooMuchDoubt campaign Tuesday.  There are three easy ways that people can support Troy Davis.

1. Sign the petition to the Board of Pardons and pass this on to your friends and family. Each name means a more united front for justice:

2. Send a message of support to Troy as he fights for justice on what may be the final days of his life.

3. Make sure everyone knows about this injustice. Spread the word on Facebook and Twitter (hashtag #TooMuchDoubt) so that Troy Davis’ story can be heard. We still have a chance to save his life, but only if people are willing to speak out against injustice.

The NAACP will also be on the ground mobilizing our members and allies in the state of Georgia as Davis’ hearing date approaches.   On September 15 we will hold a rally at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA.

It’s clear that there is no justice in executing a man when there is just too much doubt. We are certain that with this information your readers and supporters will be more than compelled to support Troy Davis.  Feel free to reach out to me at 443/676-7503 or crharris@naacpnet.org with any questions.

Courtney-Rose Harris

NAACP Connect Project Specialist

New Media Department
1156 15th Street NW, Suite 915
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 463-2940 (O)

Execution date set for Troy Davis

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Larry Cox addresses Troy Davis rally in Atlanta

By Alan Bean

Now that the state of Georgia has established a September 21-28 window for the execution of Troy Davis, organized support for the Georgia defendant will ramp into high gear.  Amnesty International, the organization most closely associated with the Davis case, will be coordinating the opposition.  Executive Director Larry Cox has issued a brief statement which includes this important piece of historical context:

The Board stayed Davis’ execution in 2007, stating that capital punishment was not an option when doubts about guilt remained.  Since then two more execution dates have come and gone, and there is still little clarity, much less proof, that Davis committed any crime. Amnesty International respectfully asks the Board to commute Davis’ sentence to life and prevent Georgia from making a catastrophic mistake.

Laura Moye, the AIUSA attorney closest to the Davis case, released this statement:

It is because of cases like Troy Davis’ that support for the death penalty has dropped significantly in this country. The possibility of human error is far too high, and the chances of executing the innocent are far too real.

 

Order signed for Sept. execution of Troy Davis

By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia is scheduling the execution later this month of an inmate who has won widespread support for his claims of innocence in the 1989 slaying of a Savannah police officer, his attorney said Tuesday. (more…)

It’s still hot as hell on Parchman’s death row

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By Alan Bean

The visitors center at Parchman on a rainy day

This post is several years old, but as the day of vindication for Curtis Flowers approaches its important to remember what death row Mississippi style is all about

A few weeks ago, I visited Curtis Flowers in Parchman prison.  I was in the midst of a nine-day civil rights tour, but I had arranged to meet Lola Flowers, Curtis’ mother, on a Tuesday morning.  Rain clouds dominated the sky as I pulled into the parking lot at the visitors’ station but the rain was holding off.  Lola and I entered the facility making sure to carry nothing with us but a driver’s license and our car keys.

The last time I had tried to visit Curtis I was refused entry–someone had forgotten to add my name to his visitation list; this time everything went smoothly.  After going through the standard security screening (just a little bit more intrusive than what you encounter at the airport), we climbed into a mini-van with other visitors and drove deep into the massive expanse of Parchman prison.

Parchman had been created in 1903 Under the leadership of Governor James Vardman, the man they called “the White Chief”.  It was essentially an old-time cotton plantation set on 20,000 acres in the Mississippi Delta. No walls surrounded the plantation because there was literally nowhere to run. Flat Delta cotton fields stretched for miles in every direction. It was Vardman’s intention that Parchman Farm be run “like an efficient slave plantation,” so as to equip young black men with the “proper discipline, strong work habits,and respect for white authority.” (more…)

European Union supports commutation for Troy Davis

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Baronness Catherine Ashton

By Alan BeanNo one was particularly surprised when Jesse Jackson called on the state of Georgia to commute the death sentence against Troy Davis.  Now the European Union is going to bat for Davis.  According to the Canadian Press, the EU is concerned that an innocent man may soon be scheduled for execution.

Popes and former presidents have previously gone to bat for Mr. Davis and this isn’t the first time the European Union has expressed its concerns about the case.  International outrage over this case is understandable–the United States is the only western democracy that uses the death penalty.  It’s a key ingredient of what Sarah Palin calls “that American exceptionalism”.  (more…)

Why Georgia WON’T execute Troy Davis

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By Alan Bean

-Can a system that routinely gets it wrong justifiably execute anyone?-

Predictions are always dangerous, but I am quite confident about this one.  The state of Georgia will NOT execute Troy Davis. 

Why am I so sure about this?  Because public officials are averse to embarrassment.  Politicians will back away from a sinful decision for the same reason they generally adopt a tough-on-crime stance–it’s the easiest way to go.   (more…)

Laura Moye of Amnesty International discusses the Troy Davis case

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The state of Georgia will soon be announcing an execution date for Troy Davis even though the state’s case has largely disintegrated.  

Troy Davis with family members

Our Friends at Angola 3 News have published an informative interview with Laura Moye, director of the Amnesty International USA Death Penalty Abolition Campaign that addresses most of the questions this tragic case inspires and holds up the Davis case as a symbol of a broken system. You can sign an Amnesty International petition and a Color of Change petition calling on Georgia officials to back away from their date with death. 

 

Troy Davis Execution Date Expected Anytime –An interview with Laura Moye of Amnesty International

Laura Moye is director of the Amnesty International USA Death Penalty Abolition Campaign. In this interview, Moye talks about 42-year-old Troy Davis, an African American who has been on death row in Georgia for over 19 years—having already faced three execution dates. The continued railroading of Davis has sparked outrage around the world, and public pressure during the last few years of Davis’ appeals has been essential to his survival today. (more…)

Will Georgia execute Troy Davis?

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By Alan Bean

This article by Amnesty International’s Brian Evans provides the most concise status report on the Troy Davis case I have encountered.  According to judge William T. Moore, Mr. Davis failed to prove his innocence.  Meanwhile, the essential features of the state’s case have crumbled to dust.  Will the State of Georgia execute Troy Davis because he can’t prove his innocence to a legal certainty?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to commute his sentence to life without parole so his attorney’s can continue the fight? (more…)