Summer CE Week #1: “The constitutionality of death” Aug. 21st
Sitting on death row in Georgia, Troy Davis has won a key victory against his own execution. On Aug. 17, the U.S. Supreme Court instructed a federal court in Georgia to consider, for the first time in a formal court proceeding, significant evidence of Davis’ innocence that surfaced after his conviction. This is the first such order from the U.S. Supreme Court in almost 50 years. Remarkably, the Supreme Court has never ruled on whether it is unconstitutional to execute an innocent person.
The order read, in part, “The District Court should receive testimony and make findings of fact as to whether evidence that could not have been obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes petitioner’s innocence.” Behind the order lay a stunning array of recantations from those who originally testified as eyewitnesses to the murder of off-duty Savannah police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail on Aug. 19, 1989. Seven of the nine non-police witnesses who originally identified Davis as the murderer of MacPhail have since recanted, some alleging police coercion and intimidation in obtaining their testimony. Of the remaining two witnesses, one, Sylvester “Redd” Coles, is accused by others as the shooter and likely identified Davis as the perpetrator to save himself from arrest.
On the night of the murder, MacPhail was working as a security guard at a Burger King. A homeless man was being beaten in the parking lot. The altercation drew Davis and others to the scene, along with MacPhail. MacPhail intervened, and was shot and killed with a .38-caliber gun. Later, Coles arrived at the police station, accompanied by a lawyer, and identified Davis as the shooter. The police engaged in a high-profile manhunt, with Davis’ picture splayed across the newspapers and television stations. Davis turned himself in. With no physical evidence linking him to the crime, Davis was convicted and sentenced to death.
Jeffrey Sapp’s affidavit is typical of those in the case who recanted their eyewitness testimony:
“The police … put a lot of pressure on me to say ‘Troy said this’ or ‘Troy said that.’ They wanted me to tell them that Troy confessed to me about killing that officer … they made it clear that the only way they would leave me alone is if I told them what they wanted to hear.”
Despite the seven recantations, Georgia’s parole commission has refused to commute Davis’ sentence. Courts have refused to hear the evidence, mostly on procedural grounds. Conservatives like former Georgia congressman and prosecutor Bob Barr and former FBI Director William Sessions have called for justice in his case, along with Pope Benedict XVI, President Jimmy Carter, the NAACP and Amnesty International.
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority, “The substantial risk of putting an innocent man to death clearly provides an adequate justification for holding an evidentiary hearing.” Yet conservative Justice Antonin Scalia dissented (along with Justice Clarence Thomas), writing that Davis’ case “is a sure loser,” and “this Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is ‘actually’ innocent.”
After surviving three execution dates, once within two hours of lethal injection, Troy Davis will finally have his day in court. With the courageous support of his sister, Martina Correia (who has been fighting for his life as well as her own – she has stage 4 breast cancer) and his nephew, Antone De’Jaun Correia, who at 15 is a budding human-rights activist, Davis may yet defy death.
That could lead to a long-overdue precedent in U.S. law: It is unconstitutional to execute an innocent person.
Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 750 stations in North America. Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
I want to start by saying I had heard nothing about this case before reading this article so my statements may be subject to the possible bias of only hearing from Amy Goodman. Before this reading I have frequently heard that eyewitness testimony is one of the least reliable forms of evidence in a criminal investigation – this is due to the ability to mislead a witness and the possibility that they are serving their own purpose. It doesn’t surprise me that so many witnesses have revoked their testimonies, though because of the volume of testimonies it also doesn’t surprise me that he was convicted. I understood the workings of the case and the questionable nature of so many people revoking their testimonies, yet it didn’t make sense to me that it had to be taking to the supreme court to say that the case needed reconsidered with so much doubt – putting an innocent person to death is a terrible mistake and I believe people need to be sure before taking such crazy measures.
When I read this article I got the impression that there is nothing in the constitution that says that a person found innocent of the crime they are charged with cannot be given the death penalty – I am sure this is not right but I would like this to be explained to me. How is it that there is no law that says, “It is unconstitutional to execute an innocent person.”? And what is stopping mass annihilation without this law?
Wow. This is a very interesting case. I had never heard of this before reading the article, and I find myself quickly allying myself with Mr. Davis. Is it unconstitutional to execute an innocent person? Unfortunately, no. However, it certainly should be. To begin with, I am a supporter of the death penalty, as I already said, in “eye for an eye” cases. If Mr. Davis did indeed kill the said officer, he deserves what he has coming to him. However, I see this case as an excellent underdog story. A man, falsely accused, overcomes incredible adversity to beat a corrupt judicial system… It sounds like a great plot for a movie. I know that the majority of people sitting on death row are A.) Guilty and B.) Deserving of death for atrocious crimes. However, the underwhelming amount of proof against Mr. Davis causes me to side with him. The opinion presented in this article is good. I believe, similarly, that the innocent should be given a chance to prove themselves if overwhelming evidence in their favor surfaces.
I would certainly love to learn more about the modern history of the death penalty. For example, I don’t know what the author meant by “death dates”. Any additional information would be awesome.
In response to Mary Konnis’s question on the constitutionality of executing an innocent person.
Technically there is no law making it unconstitutional. http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dorf/20090826.html Scroll down the article a bit and you’ll see what i mean
But let us remember.
Before any person is executed in this country, twelve members of a carefully selected jury have to decide — beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant is guilty. The possibility of an innocent person being executed is extremely small, and continues to decrease with the improvement of forensic science. It is true that death row prisoners have been released, but it is not always true that they were innocent. Acquittal and innocence are different.
I also have to ask the question, how is it that there is no law saying it is unconstitutional to execute an innocent person? If the person convicted of the crime really is innocent then it is not fair for them to get the death penalty. I do agree that there should be a death penalty though. If someone kills another person then they should deserve to die too.
If the person is innocent they should at least be able to go to court and testify as to why they should keep their life.
I also know nothing about the history of the death penalty. That would be interesting to learn about.
It is hard for me to read this and think that so many people are for the death penalty when there are obvious and grave flaws. Who is to say that these situations are not all that uncommon? Furthermore, it seems ironic that some members of the justice system are unwilling to fight for an innocent man’s freedom! I can somewhat understand killing a murderer, but for the government to kill an innocent man for a crime he did not commit is wrong no matter who you are – or at least it should be. At least this guy and his family are helping make a precedence in the courts.
My question: Has the percentage of crimes for which the death penalty is used increased or decreased in recent years? Hopefully it has decreased so “stuff” like this doesn’t happen as often.
First off, I would like to know if there have been any follow up articles on this particular case because it is a fairly interesting one. I believe that the death penalty is a just way for a criminal to pay for what damage they have caused. What I do not understand in this article is why has one of the two provided witnesses, Sylvester “Redd” Coles the alleged murderer, hasn’t been questioned further. Maybe the answer to my question was in the article but it just went right over my head. The beginning and the ending of this article also led me to thinking how many other innocent people have been put to death without knowing about the whole “..it is unconstitutional to execute an innocent person.” precedent.
That being said, I would like to know more about death penalty laws and what has to be done in a case dealing with a homicide. Learning about this topic should be interesting!
Wow. That’s about I have to say. I know there have been people in the past that have been proven innocent long after their death sentence was completed but this is amazing. To miss three execution dates one within two hours is scary. Can you imagine all the pain the government has placed upon this man? I think it’s interesting though that everyone at the scene agreed it was him. How do you get some many people to say the exact same thing? This addresses the power that a police or interrogator has upon a person. The case was basically developed by the investigators because of intimidation. This is just one case though and supposedly the first in 50 years. This shows that it is rare that the death penalty be given to someone undeserving of it. I knew these cases existed but to read about one so twisted makes me think twice about my stance on the death penalty.
Derrick: I think that’s a good point about the crime rates. If crime rates are still going up and the death penalty is being used when necessary is the death penalty really doing anything to impact society? When the government makes such a law to essentially legalize killing it should not only protect society but in a way scare society so those crimes are not committed. That’s a good point and I don’t know the answer to it but I think it would be interesting to find out.
The Judicial Branch of our government is in no way foolproof. Often people are accused, and even sentenced for crimes they never have committed. However, I am extremely surprised, and even taken back, by the fact that even a Law Enforcement Agency bribed and coerced people into accusing an innocent man of killing an officer. I think that clearly shows how corrupt our nation may be. I do not understand why this information was shared during the first trial hearing. Could this be actually false, and is simply a dead mans’ plea to save his own life? Or is this the truth? I would love to follow this case as it progresses and a final decision is made.
In response to Derrick Cunningham: According to the Bureau of Justice, execution rates for 2008 are five fewer than in 2007. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/exe.htm The chart in the provided link shows the amount of executions in the United States from 1930 to 2008.
In response to Devon Preedy:
Devon, your question had me intrigued so I opted to do a bit of investigating to solve this mystery: what actions warrant the death penalty? What I found was a list. It went state by state, and simply stated which crime was punishable by death according to each location. For instance, in Washington only “aggravated first degree murder” calls for execution. ( This list can be found on http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/crimes-punishable-death-penalty ). With my curiosity less than satiated, I resolved to delve further to satisfy my inquiries. I bit off more than I could chew. In fact, there is a whole website dedicated the information on the death penalty. My first link is just one page of many that pertain to the execution process. I could answer your question specifically Devon, but I feel as though you would benefit more so by giving this whole website a “looksie”. I found a lot if it simply astounding, especially the “Death by Year” segment. For anyone interested in how pertinent the death penalty is in our country, I highly recommend this page of knowledge potatoes.
-Jeremy
As far as I can tell there is no law about the execution of an innocent man. When one stops to think about this, this should have been addressed early on. However there would have been many a mobster getting out of jail during the 30’s and 40’s, and many others as well over the corrupt years.
In this case there are two main questions to address from this article; one, is Troy Davis even innocent? Two, why hasn’t this been addressed sooner if he is? I’m guessing politics and 20 years for heads to cool over the proposed innocence.
As any questions go, what is the background of the Death Penalty in the United States? And who would be the first recorded recipient? Because who knows, he might have been innocent.
Derrick, as far as I can tell the sentences have dropped since the year 2000. From the 300’s to a 100 or so sentences, about 60%. (http://www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/death-penalty-facts/death-penalty-trends/page.do?id=1011572)
In response to Chris Baldwin:
I agree, our justice system is not “fool-proof”, for we have many fools within the government that prevent true justice. It does, however, amaze me that these fools get away with merely a slap on the hand by the federal government. Surely they are due a more severe punishment.
Judges and justices are supposed to bring JUSTICE and FAIRNESS, not procedure and proceedings.
After reading this article I was shocked. Like most of my classmates, I have not heard much about this case. I am always intrigued when it comes to our justice system and the court. However, the extent of my knowledge when it comes to the death penalty originates mainly from CSI episodes where the creepy convicted criminal is subjected to death row and receives the lethal injection. It seems to me that people are wrongly convicted every now and then and sentenced to prison or even death row. This article amplified my concerns for our justice system. I can’t even imagine being in Davis’ place always close to death but never tasting it. Or even being testified against when, perhaps, it wasn’t my fault at all.
But the question this article presents is not whether the use of testimonies is reliable or whether Davis is really guilty. The question is: Is it unconstitutional to execute an innocent person? Well, a morally correct person would respond by saying of course not, but I think the issue lies deeper especially in Davis’ case. When someone has had a “full and fair trial” and is convicted, should his sentence be modified with the news of seven out of nine testimonies withdrawn? Again, I don’t know much about how our court system works, but I believe with new information concerning a case, a different hearing should be held and maybe even a change to Davis’ sentence.
I am surprised that there isn’t already a law saying that it is unconstitutional to execute an innocent person. So my question is: Has there even been other cases which bring up the dispute between unconstitutionality and innocence? Some where, like with Davis, the line between death and freedom relies heavily on what the court finds constitutional?
In Response to Valerie Nauditt:
I am also surprised with the intimidation imposed on the witnesses. I agree with you when you say that perhaps this case was developed using scare tactics. Who knows if the police were just trying to wrap it up or if they even cared about the truth coming out? I don’t think we’ll ever know but it still makes me wonder.
Never have I heard of this case nor any quite like this. The fact that a man who can be proven to be innocent may get the death penalty is astounding. Whether or not they had originally been pronounced “guilty” is not relevant. If there is a strong chance that an alleged murderer is actually innocent and had been falsely accused, then another trial should be held. It is absolutely, without a doubt, unconstitutional to kill an innocent man; even if it does not say so in the constitution. Think about it. Wouldn’t it be murder? Killing someone innocent? Honestly, if a man says that he murdered “Tom” because he thought that “Tom” had murdered his wife then does anybody actually think that the court would say that that was fine. Now he can go kill someone else too later down the road who he suspected did it, even if they had viable evidence saying they didn’t. People would be angry and riots would start. Not a good plan.
As for questions, I really want to know: what evidence did Troy Davis obtained that proves he was innocent now that he did not have access to before? It must be huge to call for possibly another trial, but I’m not sure. Also, why weren’t other “eye witnesses” put on trial?
In Response to Alex Price:
Info On the Death Penalty: The death penalty is applied only when capital offenses have been committed (therefore resuting in capital punishment a.k.a. death). The only real rule when it comes to the death penalty is that when administered it cannot violate the 8th Amendment which states that no cruel or unusual punishment be involved. In the United States we widely use lethal injection even though hanging and electrocution are used in some states and more commonly in other countries. In 2008 37 people were exectued, most of them in southern states.
Kristina’s question: How is it that there is no law saying it is unconstitutional to execute an innocent person?
First I would like to quote a response to “Scalia says there’s nothing unconstitutional about executing the innocent” (http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/17/scalia-actual-innocence/) made by “Art.” He said, “Maybe not unconstitutional, but still reprehensible! So that’s what a justice without empathy looks like.”
Now onto the question, this makes me sick to think about but some, such as Judge Scalia, believe there is no wrong in executing an innocent man. Since there has obviously been few if no cases such as this one for a long time (proven by the Supreme Court not having given such an order in 50 years) then there would be no question for such a law. People would most likely think it would naturally be in the constitution, so who’d really go digging in it to find out? That is the furthest of my knowledge of how it is not unconstitutional.
Along with many others, I haven’t heard anything about this case. I’ve always found it interesting that people are convicted due to simply the word of witnesses. Like in this case, who is to say that the witnesses were telling the truth? If even officers of the law can be threatened into accusing a certain person who may be innocent, who says the word of others are trustworthy? It did strike me a bit odd that certain people included in the case were against investigating the truth. If the man may have been innocent, why weren’t people ready to see the case to the end?
Are there any follow up articles on this piece? If so I would love to read them and see what more came out of the case.
Alex,
There’s a information center website on the death penalty. http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/history-death-penalty
It sounds like it has been affected a lot by what has been going on in world affairs at the time.
To Alex Price:
Yes I agree with you that there should be a law that says you cannot execute an innocent person. It seems ridiculous that there is not currently such a law. In response to your question about death dates, the court sets a certain day and time to give the lethal injection. Scheduled much like doctor’s appointments to regulate such occurrences
To Derrick Cunningham:
In response to your question this is something I found that I thought might help clear whether or not the death penalty is a deterrent to crimes or not. “A May 2004 Gallup Poll found that a growing number of Americans support a sentence of life without parole rather than the death penalty for those convicted of murder. The poll revealed a growing skepticism that the death penalty deters crime, with 62% of those polled saying that it is not a deterrent. These percentages are a dramatic shift from the responses given to this same question in 1991, when only 41% believed it did not. The overall support is about the same as that reported in 2002, but down from the 80% support in 1994. (Gallup Poll News Service, June 2, 2004)”
I didn’t hear anything about this particular topic, but I know that people are sketchy about the death penalty. Some people believe “eye for an eye” theory and others believe that taking someone’s life is wrong.
This situation presents itself with curiosity and confusion. Because of our justice system, innocent people are convicted into jail by a jury, a judge, or evidence provided against them. Troy Davis may be actually innocent or playing the pathos and/or ethos card to get others to support his cause. The retractions of those who testified only make the case more puzzling. As for the truth, only Davis knows. Others in his position have been known to lie. If he’s guilty, he’s simply buying time before his death, to live out his life and see the day when he comes out of jail.
I have no certain opinion on the death penalty. Yes, the people may rid themselves of future harm, but is it too much? The people can only depend on the justice system and hope to make the right decision.
My question is are their any statistics of those who support or disagree with the death penalty? Are there any states that refuse to accept the death penalty?
In response to Derrick :
I looked up some numbers and it seems that the use of the death penalty increased steadily until the year 1972 when the case of Furman v. Georgia established the death penalty as cruel and unusual punishment for certain cases, such as this one where an accidental firing of a gun killed a homeowner during a robbery. Thus, since 1972 the number of death penalties has been far less averaging about 30 a year instead of over 100 per year from 1900-1972.
In response to Alysa D. Dehart:
I found that the first recorded victim of the death penalty in America, was Captain George Kendall. He was executed in Jamestown in 1608 for being a Spanish spy. We got much of our ideas about capital punishment from the British settlers that came to America at this time.
So pretty much this article was about a man,Troy Davis, who was sentenced to death for being convicted of a murder. The thing is there was no concrete, hard evidence against him. Eventually he was able to get another court date before being executed, so he has a second chance. The article said that it is very rare for the U.S. Supreme Court to give someone a second chance after being sentenced to death.
How is it that a man who doesn’t have hard evidence against him get sentenced to death anyway? Did they take a few people’s statements and turn them into evidence? What if the witnesses weren’t telling the truth? How did this guy even have a chance? If it happens to him it could very well happen to anyone, and the real criminals will be out on the street killing more people.
How many more cases in the U.S. are there like this?
I am shocked that the Supreme Court has never ruled over the constitutionality of this issue before. How many other cases like this have gone on without inspection? How many other innocent people have been framed and sentenced to death? It is surprising that with such strict and thorough law enforcement codes that people are slipping through the cracks. I can’t even imagine how it would feel to be convicted of a crime I never committed. No innocent person should be sentenced to death, even if they do bring forth evidence of their innocence after their trial. Even if it says nowhere in the constitution that it is wrong, we still shouldn’t be allowing it to happen.
In Response to Jill: I looked it up and there is no death penalty in 15 states including Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Answering Alex Price
“Death Dates” are just what they sound like. The dates that those who were sentenced to death are going to be executed.
Update to my opinion:
Also for Alex and Jill (since they mentioned the topic):
I do not believe in the “eye for eye” philosophy and I am sure the “many people” Jill spoke of find justification in the Bible(probably in Exodus 21, which is under the Law of Moses):
So here is a bible excerpt from Mathew 5 from Jesus himself to further show why this “eye for eye” philosophy is not necessarily biblically sanctioned:
38 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
I just thought this was an interesting facet of information. The Bible can say a lot of things, many of which contradict each other. This isn’t meant to propel a Biblical argument where we throw verses at each other to prove our points; I think we are more mature than that. Rather, it is intended to show that the Bible cannot really condone or sanction the Death Penalty (in regards to the “eye for eye” philosophy). The Death Penalty must consider society’s unspoken “Code of Ethics” and decide if humankind really has the right to take another person’s life. I can see why as a country we are so divided on the issue: both sides can find scripture to support their claims. As a dominantly Christian country this poses an even greater division between the two factions.
As aforementioned in my previous post I believe we are just as right in taking a life as a murderer: we aren’t! I guess this post helps elaborate on my previous sentiments while providing some of my previous knowledge on the topic, which I forgot to include.
Thoughts?
Oh and here is the Exodus verses showing pro-death penalty justification:
23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot
I had never heard of a case like this before reading this article. I will start by saying no one can know for sure in a case with no physical evidence who is guilty and who is innocent. With just witnesses’ testimonies to go off the jury cannot truly be sure if the decision they make is the right one. An innocent person could be put on death row, and possibly executed, but with a twelve person jury to discuss and decide I don’t think it happens too often. On the other hand I think it also happens, occasionally, that those who are guilty are acquitted and never pay the price for their actions, or someone else pays it for them. In this particular case it states that evidence of Davis’ innocence surfaced years after his arrest and initial trial. I think there is a greater issue here in the lack of efficiency in our judicial system. However, I also think that that fact proves lucky for Davis, because he may get a second chance at life because of it. I think that there are a lot of messed up people in the world who would say just about anything if it meant that they didn’t have to pay the consequences for their actions, even if it meant ruining someone else’s life in the process. I still agree with the death penalty and believe that the majority of people on death row deserve to be there, but as with most of our penal system it isn’t perfect and probably will never be.
I would be interested in seeing how this case pans out for Davis. I also wonder how often they get cases that involve death row and contain no physical evidence and how the courts could better prevent innocent people from being tried and accused. How much guesswork is involved in cases like this is another thing I would like to know. I mean without cold hard evidence it’s really anyone’s guess who’s guilty and who’s innocent.
In response to Derrick Cunningham:
I think that murder rates nationwide continue to rise and fall but I found this chart that you can check out on http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org that should answer your question. It looks as though from 1968 to 2006 the population of death row rose from 517 all the way up to 3,220 nationwide. So to aswer your question it has definitely increased in recent years and will probably continue to fluctuate and hopefully decrease in the years to come.
In response to Jill:
To answer your first question, a poll taken in July of 2000 stated that 64% of Americans supported capital punishment or the death penalty, 25% were opposed to it and 11% were not sure. In response to the second question, yes, there are about fifteen states in addition to the District of Columbia which have abolished the death penalty. These include: Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
This just goes to show that our court system is slightly flawed. There is however, no perfect way. If you go way back then you see that people were convicted and had to prove their innocence, this is found as something unethical and is one reason why we separated from England. Now however we are innocent until proven guilty, this process relies on what people say sometimes. People can become very convinced and instead of trying to find the right person they get stuck on one and get all the evidence that point to him instead of other evidence that goes the complete other way. This isn’t right how this man who seems innocent (may be a little bias, first time I’ve heard about this) is sentenced to death. First of all, the supreme court needs to decide if that is at all constitutional to kill someone, and they have to hear his proposal, that is what needs to be done and I hope that is what is going forward.
In responce to Kesslan:
What evidence did Troy Davis obtained that proves he was innocent now that he did not have access to before?
Ok, in researching this question, i found that Davis’ lwayers had no enidence in defending him in this case. Davis’ old case was recently considered unfair (but he was still denied a retrial) on two counts. One, a failure to disclose Giglio materials (referring to State promises made to Dorothy Ferrell, a key witness for the State, in exchange for her testimony) and two, a Brady violation (referring to the State’s failure to give Davis’ lawyers exculpatory evidence).
In responce to Altson: How many other innocent people have been framed and sentenced to death?
I found some cases of people convicted and then released, because they were found not guilty. It also states that “Since 1973, 135 people in 26 states have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence.
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-and-death-penalty
Alan Gell North Carolina Convicted: 1998, Acquitted: 2004, arrested for a 1995 robbery and murder of Allen Ray Jenkins.
Laurence Adams Massachusetts Conviction: 1974, Charges Dismissed: 2004, convicted for the 1972 robbery and murder of a transit worker in Boston.
I haven’t heard about this case before reading this article. People that approve of, or even close their eyes on killing an innocent person shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a government job. A law forbidding execution of an innocent person must be passed to make sure nothing like Davis’s case ever happens again. It’s only fair. I cannot believe that America still has flaws like this in the system. I think that not only the laws have to be adjusted, but the people carrying out the law (for example, the police) have to be selected more carefully. But the truth of it is that we can’t control everything. The Davis case leads me to believe that there’s a lot more cases like this that we don’t ever find out about… That’s really sad.
It would be interesting to know what side Obama takes on this issue; is he for or against Davis’s execution?
What I Know: I had actually never heard of a case such as this, pertaining to the death penalty, before I read this article. I have herd of convicted people being proven innocent, but not anyone form death row. It makes you wonder how many other people were innocent and were sentenced to death without another chance of being reviewed, like Davis. It seems ridiculous to me that Davis was sentenced to death with no physical evidence of the crime in question.
My Opinion: I really liked the way this article was written. The facts were simply stated with no personal input of the author. It lets you create your own thoughts and not be swayed by anyone else’s. Having to do with the actual information, I think something in the Georgia court system is corrupt.
Questions: This may not have anything to do with this case, but why was the NAACP mentioned? “Conservatives like former Georgia congressman and prosecutor Bob Barr and former FBI Director William Sessions have called for justice in his case, along with Pope Benedict XVI, President Jimmy Carter, the NAACP and Amnesty International.” The article didn’t say anything about the nationality of the accused and of those of the accusers.
In response to Joanna Luse:
“How many more cases in the U.S. are there like this?”
I just looked it up on the internet and this is the site I got my information form: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-and-death-penalty
It says that since 1973, 135 people have had the same kind of situation as Davis and been released form death row.
In response to Jill Pignataro’s question, “are their any statistics of those who support or disagree with the death penalty?”:
According to Gallup Polls, in 2007, 69% of people were for the death penalty, and 27% were against it (4% undecided). From 2002 to 2007, the percentages haven’t changed much. However, from 1937 to 2007, opinions have changed to approve of the death penalty a lot more, from 60% to 69% approval. My source: http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/opinion.htm.
Responding to Derrick Cunningham’s call for thoughts in his 9:35 p.m. post:
I agree with your stance on the death penalty, well said. I just mentioned Matthew 5:38 in another post before reading your comment. However, I believe the Bible has no contradictions. That is, if you know it well enough. I don’t know it perfectly, but I know this: the verses from Exodus are in the Old Testament, and the verses from Matthew are in the New Testament. The New Testament sort of “overrides” the Old Testament. All of the arguments over Bible arise out of insufficient knowledge of the book. Some people get their opinions from the Bible, because they believe the book to be the divine truth. Others simply have an opinion, and they search the Bible to “prove” their point with a clever verse, but they don’t read the context…
With all the arguments going on in this country, wouldn’t it be a lot simpler if we lived by the Bible as our official “Code of Ethics?” After all, this country was created “under God.” And the founding fathers were Christian; their God wasn’t called Vishnu or Allah. You can’t contradict that. It’s very unfortunate that Americans have misinterpreted the founding fathers’ intentions.
I know that this may seem way off-topic, and it probably is, but we wouldn’t be dealing with killing of innocent people if the USA didn’t stray from its roots this far… And one more benefit: we wouldn’t have to do this summer assignment.
Let me know what you guys think.