Troy Davis was executed today. For those unfamiliar with this case, Troy Davis was convinced of murdering a police officer in Savannah, Georgia, in 1989 and sentenced to the death penalty in 1991. The execution itself had been delayed several times until finally happening tonight.
There is doubt behind Troy’s guilt. Seven of the nine witnesses have recanted their testimonies. The theory behind interrogation and eyewitnesses in the field of legal psychology tells you that people can be persuaded to believe almost anything easily, and in fact some of these witnesses were coerced to testify against Davis.
But the thing that really bothers me is watching the online reactions. People are casting blame on the entire state of Georgia. I know many of them are referring only to the folks who caused this travesty to happen, but seeing those call out everyone in Georgia disturbs me. Lots of Georgia residents, including me, didn’t want this to happen, and now Georgia’s known as the state that executed a potentially innocent man to people all over the country–no, world.
Dear rest of the world,
We didn’t want this to be.
Love, Georgia’s good folks.
So tell me. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Isn’t that what our justice system is supposed to be based on?
2 replies on “The Troy Davis execution”
I’m not even sure Davis was innocent, but I am sure that’s beside the point. Even supporters of the death penalty should have qualms about inflicting the ultimate punishment on someone convicted with scant physical evidence. The fact that Davis was denied appeal as well as refused a stay of execution by the SCOTUS makes it obvious he was denied due process.
Exactly. I’m not qualified to speak of his innocence or guilt either, but this execution was not done before every possible avenue was investigated. Innocent or guilty, Troy Davis was definitely denied due process. I hope we as a society really examine what happened here.