The case against killing Troy Davis, a black man, is simple but fundamental: his guilt was not established beyond a reasonable doubt. For judicial murder to have a claim to moral justification, it must not be influenced by revenge, bigotry, mistake or any other factors except those establishing an unjustified homicide with malice beyond reasonable doubt. But reasonable doubts have arisen since his conviction for a 1989 murder of a white police officer. Seven substantial doubts, in fact. For seven of the nine witnesses against him have since recanted their testimony. There is only circumstantial physical evidence implicating Troy Davis*. What is against Troy Davis is the fact that he was a black man convicted of murdering a white police officer in Georgia. It is undeniable that race plays a role in capital cases. That fact was driven home by the stay recently granted Duane Buck on death row in Texas. His guilt for a double murder is not questioned, but a state psychologist told jurors at Buck's trial that black people were more likely to be dangerous in the future. Texas is a state that prides itself on the number of executions it conducts. Its governor, now running for president, has signed 235 death warrants and said during a debate
he has no doubts about his actions. He should. The former governor of Illinois commuted 167 death sentences citing doubts about the rectitude of the death penalty system. Another fact is that 138 people have been released from death row because a technology, DNA testing, has exonerated them of the capital crimes alleged against them. Nevertheless, the system of capital punishment is set on "go" for cop killers to reinforce the authority of the evolving police state; no wonder the Georgia board of pardons denied Davis' request 3 to 2 for executive clemency. Troy Davis is a textbook example of why the death penalty should be discarded, once and for all. No system of ultimate retribution this fallible should be allowed to continue. Three times Davis has been to the brink of execution in four years. He will have to face death yet again because the U.S. Supreme Court
was asked to examine why Troy Davis must die. The macabre rituals to save condemned prisoners from state murder are retched to watch. To repeatedly experience them with your life in the balance has to qualify as "cruel and unusual" punishment.
*shell casings from another shooting by Davis matched casings found at the murder scene according to the testimony of a ballistics expert. No murder weapon was found.