By Alysha Riley
In the wake of the senseless execution and killing of Troy Anthony Davis, there is a chilling sense of hurt that looms over not just the African American community but also the world at large. While thousand of his supporters stood outside the walls of the Georgia prison, where Davis was scheduled to die, praying, singing songs of hope, and holding signs that read “I Am Troy Davis”, the Supreme Court held his fate in balance. However, to no avail although there was a delay put forth by his attorney for a stay, the inevitable happened. The state of Georgia put Troy Anthony Davis to death, and he was pronounced dead at 11:08PM Thursday night on September 21, 2011.
The hurt of this act of shear barbarism has left a deep hole in the hearts of many Americans who believe that capital punishment is wrong, and left even a bigger hole in the hearts of those who believed in the American Justice system. It left us stunned, and exasperated every bit of hope that we had for a system we thought would work. The execution of a man that was convicted based on; flawed evidence, no physical evidence that linked him to the crime, with 7 out of 9 nine witnesses recanting their testimony and 3 jurors begging to spare his life cut us hard. With reasonable doubt screaming from every angle, showed us why there is no doubt that our system of justice is severely broken.
As we are left asking ourselves why, and how the highest court in the land could get this so wrong. Yet, I am reminded of a passage of scripture from the bible that says “We are competent as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit, for the letter kills but the spirit gives life” (2Corinthians 3:6). In that, it is apparent that the highest court adhered to the letter of what they believed was constitutionally correct and not the spirit of moral decency of what the constitution represents. Troy Anthony Davis was convicted and sentence to die Guilty with reasonable doubt.
Proponents of capital punishment would want you to believe that justice was served, but I still ask the question whose justice? If it was the intent of the state to truly serve justice then there is no way they should have carried out an execution without examining all the evidence and providing him with a good attorney. Instead, Troy was given public defenders who were incapable of adequately defending him. There were occasions when they ran out of money to provide for his defense. I ask you whose justice? But the state of Georgia wants you and I to believe that they executed judgment on a guilty man, but based on what?
The only thing that Troy Anthony Davis was guilty of was being a poor black man that couldn’t afford an attorney like Robert Shapiro or F. Lee Bailey to head up his legal defense. The state of Georgia has executed more blacks in cases of black on white crimes then more whites in cases of white on black crimes that resulted in deaths.
According to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education report by the Criminal Justice Project, it reported that there are 38 states that support capital punishment, 3,251 inmates on death row in which African American men make up 41% of that number (Death Row in the USA , 2011). If capital punishment is supposed to be a deterrent for murderous criminal behavior, then why are there so many inmates on death row? The truth is, that prisons and capital punishment serve as the state's greatest agent in ethnic cleansing. The amount of African American men in prison is highest among all other minorities and the rate of recidivism for black men in 1994 stood at 51. 8% Langan, Patrick A.; Levin, David J. (June 2, 2002). Furthermore, more black men have been convicted of crimes based on circumstantial evidence than men of other ethnicities, due to DA pressuring witnesses, and coheres guilty pleas. If the prison system was designed to be a system of redemption and a path back to society and the death penalty a deterrent to murder, then something is definitely wrong with this picture of the justice system.
If the justice system was ever to prove that the system works, they failed in doing so on December 13, 2005 when the state of California executed its greatest testimony to the penitentiary redemptive process, Stanley Tookie Williams. Stanley Tookie Williams III was the co-founder of the notorious L.A street gang the Crips. He was convicted of shooting a convenience store clerk and a motel owner, along with his daughter and wife then sentenced to four death sentences in 1981. During the 24 years Williams spent in San Quentin on death row, something monumental occurred, true redemption. Williams became an award-winning author of over nine children books, and he was a major influence in the truce between the Bloods gang and the Crips. He was also nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Prosecutors could not link him physically at either crime, but based on priors and his notorious street reputation he was found guilty. Even though, several witnesses recanted and notable individuals supported his innocence, clemency was rejected by the state of California and they executed him on a case based on circumstantial evidence. Six years later, here we are with another, African American man, Troy Davis, put to death by the same sword of capital punishment based on circumstantial evidence.
As Troy laid on the gurney awaiting the single prick from the needle of lethal liquid that would end his life, he raised his head and proclaimed his innocence. He also told all who were there to witness his final moments not to stop seeking the truth. In his immortal letter from death row, he admonishes us to fight to end the death penalty. Troy said in his letter, “It is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city-by-city, state by state and country by country. I can’t wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form, I will one day be announcing,
“I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!”
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