Blog for Democracy

Hail Mary Pass from Our Hero Rep. Lewis

I’m just so angry and frustrated by this and just dread what I might see every time I hit refresh on the docket to see if they’ve made a decision. I just can’t believe an innocent man might be murdered today. John Lewis today issued the following press release:

For Immediate Release Contact: Brenda Jones

September 23, 2008 (202) 226-4673

Rep. John Lewis Seeks to Stay

Execution of Troy Anthony Davis

“Today is a dark day in the state of Georgia and the nation. Today a man named Troy Anthony Davis, a man who may be innocent, is scheduled to be put to death in Georgia at 7 PM.

“There is no question that the murder of a police officer deserves the strongest penalty, but the seriousness of the crime cannot justify the execution of an innocent man. The government does not give life, and especially when there is far more than a reasonable doubt, I do not think it has the right to take life away.

“How is it that the greatest nation on earth, a nation that will send its soldiers into war to defend the cause of justice and freedom around the world, does not have the will to spare this one man’s life until justice can be done?

“The U.S. Supreme Court has said it would hear the case – six days after Mr. Davis is scheduled to be executed. My understanding is that extraordinary efforts are being made by Mr. Davis’s legal team to appeal to Justice Clarence Thomas, designated to hear emergency stays of execution in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“I have put in a call to President Bush hoping against hope that he might respond, but in spite of these efforts I think the picture is very grim. We still have a chance to preserve our integrity as a nation. We still have a chance to demonstrate our commitment to justice.

“There are people who still have the power to spare Mr. Davis’s life, at the very least until new evidence in his case can be heard before a judge. Martin Luther King Jr. used to say, ‘The time is always right to do what is right.’ I am continuing to work, hoping, and praying that one of the officials in Georgia or someone at the federal level who has the power to intervene will decide to do what is right.”

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Comments

39 responses to “Hail Mary Pass from Our Hero Rep. Lewis”

  1. RuralDem Avatar
    RuralDem

    Zaid,

    You really have some issues, seriously. Quit fishing for something that is not there.

    I’ve already stated why I used the Williams case.

    It’s not hard to see the link between the two cases, MEDIA ATTENTION.

    You can do better, really.

  2. Zaid Avatar
    Zaid

    I’m sorry, but when someone comes in and start’s insulting Davis pulling random crap out of his ass and then automatically brings up a gangster in LA who was completely different in every other way, I’m thinking their racism isn’t exactly so subtle anymore.

  3. innerredneckexposed Avatar
    innerredneckexposed

    Zaid: STFU.

    Next time you’ve got a thought, let it go.

  4. Zaid Avatar
    Zaid

    “I just think SOME within the anti death penalty movement tend to jump at any case without any ounce of care for the person being put to death, or the family of the victim.”

    Seems to me like your prejudices took over before you decided to think out the problem.

    I wish Davis wasn’t black so that you would maybe not say such ignorant things in this topic.

  5. RuralDem Avatar
    RuralDem

    Zaid,

    “Tookie” Williams was the first name that popped in my mind, not because he was black, but because his case caused an uproar.

    Who cares about your major? Shouldn’t you be putting up some Green signs somewhere at UGA?

    At least grift tries to be funny (and on occasion he is).

    Everyone,

    Really, I did not mean for my comment to sound as awful as it did! I just think SOME within the anti death penalty movement tend to jump at any case without any ounce of care for the person being put to death, or the family of the victim.

    I’m not saying that any of you fall into that group.

  6. innerredneckexposed Avatar
    innerredneckexposed

    Just you.

    That said, I do believe that we should focus our correctional institutions on reforming prisoners and you know what, if people change I am willing to give them a second chance (except for maybe serious child/sexual predators) and I see no problem with doing so.

  7. Zaid Avatar
    Zaid

    ”

    However, I haven’t seen anyone post links to anything where Davis proclaims innocence (I guess he’d do it through his lawyer), or anything.

    I dunno, this makes me think of the “Tookie” Williams case and how the guy was guilty, but had changed in prison, and was hailed a hero.”

    Davis has maintained he is innocent every single day of this case since his arrest, including right up to the hour he was supposed to be executed but was saved at the last minute by SCOTUS>

    Is it is just me, or are you drawing parallels to Williams because they’re both black?

  8. RuralDem Avatar
    RuralDem

    Wow wow wow. Wait a second, I said I was pro-death penalty, but I never weighed in on this case itself.

    I guess I wasn’t clear. I’ve been browsing a few of the articles posted on here and other blogs. Many of these blogs talk about how bad the case looks, with the witnesses recanting and one witness being a suspect or whatever.

    However, I haven’t seen anyone post links to anything where Davis proclaims innocence (I guess he’d do it through his lawyer), or anything.

    I dunno, this makes me think of the “Tookie” Williams case and how the guy was guilty, but had changed in prison, and was hailed a hero.

    I guess what I’m asking is has Davis done anything similar? I see Sharpton and everyone up in arms, but that’s nothing unusual.

    I thought my little “I do realize sometimes the wrong person is jailed” would have hinted that I have no idea whether he’s guilty or not.

    Sorry!

  9. innerredneckexposed Avatar
    innerredneckexposed

    Whoop dee I don’t care what your major is you are applying it wrong.

    That’s what you are trying to say but you are still doing it wrong. “Left” and “Right” don’t have connotations of how many people believe in the general framing of liberal v. conservative, it has to do with the size and scope of the government, not relative popularity.

  10. Zaid Avatar
    Zaid

    I’m a comparative politics major, this is how we do it.

    Would it be more appropriate you think if I said “left of the American people, or center of American public opinion?”

  11. innerredneckexposed Avatar
    innerredneckexposed

    Then your gauging is BS. If 99% of the country believes “X”, but one percent believes “XY”, according to you, that makes “XY” in the complete opposite ends of the spectrum. Unfortunately that doesn’t take into account the relative differences of degree or the normative beliefs of the position, which is what a spectrum, and as a consequence, terms like “left wing” and “right wing” are good for (and where they base their meaning).

    The way to gauge whether someone is to the left or right is determine the RANGE of public opinion, not the number of adherents, and then put people in relation to these beliefs. The problem with using a numeric scale (among others) is that saying one is left wing means nothing, unless you are assigning the titles. That goes against having a subjective scale.

    Try again.

  12. Zaid Avatar
    Zaid

    “And Zaid, we’ve been over this before. It is fallacious to determine where on the political spectrum one is based on how many people believe in something.”

    I gauge the political spectrum by public opinion, though. That’s the only way to do it, because it’s only subjective. There isn’t an institute or something somewhere that gets to determine all this and make it official.

  13. innerredneckexposed Avatar
    innerredneckexposed

    I think most people care about Davis in that feel a Kantian duty towards him. In terms of do we care about Troy Davis as a person, that is somewhat unlikely due to the fact that there is a separation from him, the same way we “don’t care” about strangers.

    And Zaid, we’ve been over this before. It is fallacious to determine where on the political spectrum one is based on how many people believe in something.

  14. Zaid Avatar
    Zaid

    I feel like the vocal minority of folks who really want to see Davis die have a racial angle behind their feelings. As John Lewis said on Democracy Now! yesterday, “race is everything in this case.” Others just want vengeance, even on the wrong man.

  15. Sarawaraclara Avatar
    Sarawaraclara

    There have always been 2 schools of thought amongst death penalty opponents: 1) those who believe that killing in the name of the state is always wrong, and 2) those who believe capital punishment cannot be administered fairly and without tragic mistakes. In my experience, a much larger number of folks fall into that second category than the first.

    RD, this is why many of us don’t understand why you are so convinced that the folks in the first category are the ones really pushing this agenda and using Troy Davis to do it. It is pretty clear that the possibility that Davis is innocent is what has caused an international outcry about this case. This is clearly a case that appeals to the Category 2 folks.

    I believe the death penalty is always wrong and would be opposed to his execution even if he was guilty. But that does not mean I “don’t give a damn about” Troy Davis, and to suggest that I and other death penalty opponents feel that way is really lousy of you. It is precisely because I can empathize with the fear and the hurt felt by someone like Davis, convicted of a murder he didn’t commit and feeling powerless to stop the state from putting him to death by mistake, that I don’t want him to be executed. I will be completely sick to my stomach if that happens.

    The classic hard example is Brian Nichols. We have video of him shooting the judge and the court reporter. He hasn’t denied that he killed the folks he killed. There is no doubt about his guilt, only about his sanity. And yet I would still oppose the death penalty for Nichols for a variety of reasons not worth arguing here…but I wouldn’t be as outraged or personally affected by his execution as I will be if Davis is put to death. The situations are just not the same. And you shouldn’t presume that for those of us who oppose the death penalty, an execution is an execution and we don’t really care about the person behind it. I care.

  16. plange Avatar
    plange

    Actually what I’m speechless about is not the fact that he’s pro-death penalty (kinda figured that), but just how callously he plopped everyone into a category of “we only care about this because we want to get rid of the death penalty” – for me it was “FUCK, this guy might be innocent and the state might kill him!”

    RD, your question completely disgusts me. How would you feel if we’d killed him and then found out he was innocent? huh? I’d rather err on making DAMN SURE this guy’s guilty before we make an irreversible decision by killing him.

  17. Zaid Avatar
    Zaid

    “I think if you were like most on here who knew me, you’d classify me as a moderate. I am conservative compared to the Democratic norm on social issues, though I’m moderate on fiscal issues compared to the norm.”

    Well, you’re to the right, not center, on a number of issues. I mean, 2/3 of America is further left than mccain and obama on economics. Being in the 1/3, or even to the right of obama, places you well out of the center.

    However, being pro-death penalty is a pretty centrist view as most Americans are socially moderate.

    However past even that, though, is that in this case it’s pretty absurd to be so staunchly death penalty. Even Bob Barr has come in this to ask that the execution be stopped, and it’s hard to find more conservative folks than him.

  18. griftdrift Avatar
    griftdrift

    I’m glad that my attempts at humor despite apparently failing continue to amuse you.

    What amuses me is your choice to come here and paint the Troy Davis case as the typical black and white instance of pro-captial punishment vs anti-capital punishment when in this particular case there was widespread support in the Georgia blogging community (and elsewhere for that matter) for a stay from conservatives, liberals and libertarians. From both pro-death penalty and anti-death penalty.

  19. jac1975 Avatar
    jac1975

    RD, I’m pretty sure that plange is talking about you being pro-death penalty. Admittedly, this is one area where I go off the reservation as well. I have no problem with societal vengeance in the form of the death penalty. Where I hesitate is when you have a case like this where you’re not certain of the man’s guilt. Of course, you’d think 9 eye witnesses would be certainty enough, but then those witnesses recant. I’d limit the death penalty to cases where we are certain of guilt. In exchange, I’d limit the appeals. Having someone on death row longer than I’ve been alive is ridiculous. If you are going to do that, just put them in for life, no parole.

    People like Ted Bundy and other serial killers have forfeited their right to live in my opinion. And I don’t think we should use taxpayer money to support them in prison either. I know that will sound blood thirsty to some, but that is where I stand on the issue. My caveats, though, would result in many fewer people being executed than is now the case.

  20. RuralDem Avatar
    RuralDem

    grift,

    Actually, I’m not pushing anything. I wanted to clarify where I stood on the issue before commenting on it. Besides, you’re the one who mentioned my overall view. You’re trying to make something out of nothing, move along now. Whether you post at PP or on here, your attempt at humor still fails 🙂

    plange,

    What is there to be speechless about? I’m questioning the intent of those who supposedly care so much about this guy.

    Most of these people don’t give a damn about the person, he’s just being used as a pawn for many (though obviously not all) of the anti-death penalty crowd.

    I just want to know how everyone on here would react if it turns out he was guilty.

  21. PaulaG Avatar
    PaulaG

    Not to play semantics, but since one of the definitions of “conservative” is “cautious”, I’ve always thought it curious that conservatives aren’t more concerned about the inequities and injustices inherently involved in capital punishment. You’d think they would want to be extra careful in situations like that.

  22. plange Avatar
    plange

    RD, how do I even begin with you on this? I’m actually speechless…

  23. griftdrift Avatar
    griftdrift

    Guess I’m just trolling. Fine, moderate on fiscal issues. I just find your need to incessantly push your conservative cred amusing.

  24. RuralDem Avatar
    RuralDem

    grift,

    I think if you were like most on here who knew me, you’d classify me as a moderate. I am conservative compared to the Democratic norm on social issues, though I’m moderate on fiscal issues compared to the norm.

    Anyway, maybe you clicked the wrong thread, since my fiscal views have no part in this. Oh, or maybe you’re just trolling.

    But hey, there’s my response, so be happy.

  25. griftdrift Avatar
    griftdrift

    You have to remember. RuralDem is socially conservative/fiscally liberal.

    That about says it all.

  26. allison Avatar
    allison

    “I can’t reasonably see how*

    Sorry, too many cases tonight. My proofreading skills are lacking.”

    Forget meeting of the minds, there is no mutuality within your own ;-). No mutuality, no assent, no contract!

  27. sPatrickC Avatar
    sPatrickC

    I can’t reasonably see how*

    Sorry, too many cases tonight. My proofreading skills are lacking.

  28. sPatrickC Avatar
    sPatrickC

    I am highly opposed to the death penalty. I can’t reasonably it’s wrong to kill people, unless they killed someone.

    “An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind.” –Ghandi

    I echo the sentiments expressed above as well, though. If we are going to execute someone for a crime-a punishment that cannot be undone by any one on this Earth-we had better know that the person is guilty of the crime. There can be NO doubt, much less a reasonable doubt.

    This matter needs to be vetted fully. If 7 of 9 people have recanted, some claiming police pressure to give a statement, perhaps it would be best to let the facts be heard. I feel this is best done by a jury, not judges. We can prevent an unjust execution. We can’t undo one.

  29. innerredneckexposed Avatar
    innerredneckexposed

    Even if anti-dp advocates are using this just to promote their cause, this is a prime example of exactly WHY the DP should be abolished (if one believes that it should). Unilke extra jail time, if you fuck up on this punishment, you are seriously fucked.

  30. innerredneckexposed Avatar
    innerredneckexposed

    Rural: Never fucking kill. Ever.

  31. allison Avatar
    allison

    “I just think some anti-death penalty advocates are pushing this, not because of the guy and questionable guilt, but, simply because they do not support the death penalty”

    I would be upset if this were the only time those who were against capital punishment decided to advocate.

  32. Sarawaraclara Avatar
    Sarawaraclara

    You’re right. I was thinking of all the orders I looked at today where there were 4 votes to stay the execution (usually the same 4 votes) but the stay was still denied. Hopefully the grant of the stay indicates there are 4 votes for cert.

    I still worry that this was just a formality so the guy isn’t executed before they decide whether to grant cert., though.

    Rural, we will almost certainly never know if Davis was really guilty of this crime. We will almost certianly never know if he was really innocent. But if we can’t really know either way, but there are reasonable doubts about his guilt, shouldn’t we err on the side of reasonable doubt?

    Since I oppose the death penalty in general I would still oppose Davis’ execution even if we knew for certain that he was guilty. But it wouldn’t turn my stomach like the turmoil I’ve felt over the last year at the thought that the state of Georgia might be making a collossal mistake in executing the wrong man. That is why people are campaigning tirelessly….because the level of reasonable doubt here is fairly high, and it should scare everyone out there to think a person could be convicted on zero physical evidence and coerced eyewitness testimony, and even after the witnesses recant and finger someone else for the crime, the state chooses to simply ignore it.

  33. Zaid Avatar
    Zaid

    “Obviously I’m a supporter of the death penalty, especially if it involves taking the life of a police officer.”

    Well, vengeance is a stupid, barbaric and archaic thing, but just putting myself in the pro-vengeance mindset right quick, does this statement mean that a police officer’s life is worth more than a baby’s, or maybe a teacher?

    The Supreme Court stayed the execution, thank goodness. Those of us who find it absurd our tax dollars go to end people’s lives can breathe a sigh of relief today, but the Court will settle on hearing the appeal or not next week so God willing we can avoid this injustice then too.

  34. allison Avatar
    allison

    Don’t we only need 4 for cert?

  35. RuralDem Avatar
    RuralDem

    Obviously I’m a supporter of the death penalty, especially if it involves taking the life of a police officer. I do realize sometimes the wrong person is jailed.

    However, how would you all feel if you worked so hard, with many proclaiming this guy’s innocence, if it turns out he did the crime?

    I just think some anti-death penalty advocates are pushing this, not because of the guy and questionable guilt, but, simply because they do not support the death penalty.

  36. Sarawaraclara Avatar
    Sarawaraclara

    SCOTUSblog has the Stay Order here:

    http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/word-awaited-on-davis-execution/

    Basically, the stay only lasts until the Court’s conference on Monday. If they grant the petition for cert, the execution won’t be rescheduled until the disposition of the case. If they deny cert, the stay is automatically lifted and the state of Georgia will be able to reschedule the execution immediately.

    So, now we need to pray that they agree to grant certiorari and actually hear the case. This is unlikely, but not impossible. I suspect the justice were uncomfortable with the state setting the execution to take place prior to the Court’s previously annouced conference to discuss this case. But we’re still going to need to get a fifth vote for cert, and Kennedy is reluctant to vote for cert in death penalty cases.

  37. griftdrift Avatar
    griftdrift

    Stay granted

  38. plange Avatar
    plange

    Troy Davis Granted Stay Of Execution

    BREAKING NEWS: The U.S. Supreme Court grants a stay of execution

    for Georgia inmate Troy Davis.

    MORE DETAILS:

    http://www.wsbtv.com/tu/5B3BF59a8.html

  39. Jules Avatar
    Jules

    Sniff.. this is why I love John Lewis.

    I plan to be home this evening. my thoughts are completely with the Davis Family and of course Troy.

    Angela, thank you for stayingon top of this.

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