That's the night that they hung an innocent man
well don't trust your soul to no backwoods southern lawyer
because the Judge in the town has blood stains on his hands..."
UPDATE: The US Supreme Court denied a stay for Troy Davis. By the time most of us read this, Georgia will have executed a man who may well be innocent. The best legal system in the world? We don't have the best legal system in our own hemisphere. We're just sick over this.
As we write this Troy Davis, convicted killer of Savannah, Georgia police office Mark McPhail, lays perhaps in a death chamber, maybe with an IV in his arm, as nine men and women he has never met debate whether to end his life.
At 9:38 PM, 2 hours and thirty eight minutes past the time set for Davis' death, the nation and the world wait while Georgia authorities wisely have given deference to the consideration of the US Supreme Court which did not issue a formal stay.
The Pope, Jimmy Carter, Former Congressman (and virulent right winger) Bob Barr, former FBI Director (and proponent of the death penalty) Bill Sessions, five wardens of prisons that have death rows-including the former warden of the prison where Davis is at, and a petition of 680,000 others have asked Georgia not to kill Davis. Seven of nine eyewitnesses have recanted. Ballistics evidence has been called into question. The eyewitnesses were clearly mishandled (if not downright forced by the police into identifying Davis), and five jurors have said that given what they now know they would not have voted for death.
If ever there was a compelling case for not executing a man, this is it.
The world waits and watches as we dance our macabre dance of legal death.
When will this nightmare ever end?
The georgia patrol was making their rounds
So he fired a shot just to flag em down
And a big bellied sheriff grabbed his gun and said
Whyd you do it?
The judge said guilty in a make believe trial
Slapped the sherrif on the back with a smile and said
Suppers waiting at home and I got to get to it.
So he fired a shot just to flag em down
And a big bellied sheriff grabbed his gun and said
Whyd you do it?
The judge said guilty in a make believe trial
Slapped the sherrif on the back with a smile and said
Suppers waiting at home and I got to get to it.
They hung my brother before I could say
The tracks he saw while on his way
To andys house and back that night were mine
And his cheatin wife had never left town
And that's one body thatll be found
You see little sister don't miss when she aims her gun...
The tracks he saw while on his way
To andys house and back that night were mine
And his cheatin wife had never left town
And that's one body thatll be found
You see little sister don't miss when she aims her gun...
17 comments:
Supreme Court refuses to stop Davis execution
The first story on MSNBC mobile is about Davis.
The second story is about a white supremacist in Texas executed for the dragging of a black man to his death behind a pickup.
I know little about either case. The Davis case may be a horrible miscarriage of justice. The Texas case is air tight, and in my opinion, this sub human forfeited his right to live on this earth, when he dragged a man behind the pickup, to the point where when he went around a curve, the victim was decapitated when flung around. He was literally in pieces.
I am no fan of the death penalty, for various reasons.
Who can fault a society for wanting to rid itself of this type of garbage. However, Until a way to be sure no person is executed wrongly can be found, then the death penalty must go.
Just as 10 guilty men may go free to ensure no 1 innocent man is incarcerated, the garbage will have to be allowed to live, so that no innocent person loses his life at the hands of the government.
Just my view.
PAB
No death penalty in Panama. Everyone's too busy having sex.
Bob Barr is not virulent. He is from the Ron Paul wing of the Republican Party. He dances to his own tune. Sort of a Dennis Kucinich for conservatives.
why do I have to be Mr. pink?
EMBARASSING
If Troy Davis had been white, he wouldn't have been on death row. Take a deep bitter listen to Billie Holiday sing Strange Fruit.
The people who perpetrated this murder of this man (whether he be guilty or not guilty) are WORSE than the crime he has been convicted for. Killing a man in a fight on the spur of the moment is one thing, but sitting behind a desk, summarily handing out and executing death warrants is beyond heinous. Who do these people think they are? They are wicked and despicable. If Davis was convicted in 1991 he was probably arrested in 1990. This means he was on death row for 21 years. That in itself is a life sentence, but to admit there was never any DNA link nor a gun ever found and still convict and execute the man is just abhorrent. That has to be state approved murder and not execution. Land of the free? I don't think so.
The death penalty should be put to death.
I agree with you, PAB, about Davis case being a horrible miscarriage of justice, but if you're against the death penalty, the Brewer case is just as horrible.
When you say air tight, you mean according to the version you choose to believe. Wil we ever know the truth?
Brewer was put to death for his part in the killing. Brewer 'participated' in the death. But he wasn't the man who slashed the victim's throat. Or drove the pick-up truck. That was a co-defendant who is serving a life sentence.
Why the disparate treatment?
Actually, maybe we will know the truth. The guy who committed the most heinous parts of the crime is still alive. What happens when he says that Brewer really did try to stop what was going on and wasn't a willing participant?
Silver-
You are right, and I think we are arguing on the same side.
I admitted I know little about the cases. And you are correct, "air tight" may not be correct. Poor choice of words on my part.
But my point is the same as yours. When no one can ever be 100% sure of guilt, and there is often disparity in it's use, death penalty has to go.
To the person who wrote that Davis would be spared if he were white- no doubt the death penalty is unfairly handed out, and race plays it's part. But people of all races are being put to death. It is uncivilized. It has to go.
PAB
Wonder how many, if any, of the anonymous posters, are running for judge, so they are afraid to use their real names for their anti death penalty comments.
Nicely said. We teach our children that Two wrongs don't make a right. When will we start living by our own rules?
Someone agrees with me! (PAB)
Some (even ACLU) are arguing that an 'innocent' man was killed (Davis). And many are saying a guilty man was killed (Brewer).
Because people are using the term innocent, a lot of death penalty advocates are saying that he wasn't innocent; he was proven guilty in court.
I think the issue is that there is the 'possibility' that Davis was innocent. And there was the possibility that Brewer was not guilty (I personally don't think he was innocent). And it's that mere possibility that makes me want to do way awith the death penalty. The 'what if?' scenario.
And it's not as if people were asking to see him wave a get out of jail free card and parade by like Casey Anthony. He'd still be in prison, for life, without parole.
But at least at some point, whenever, it may be, if he is found not guilty, or innocent, it won't be too late to correct the error. He'll still be alive.
My facebook feed was on fire last night about Georgia murdering someone. There was not a pin drop about the same type of murder which was committed by the State of Texas. I do not know whether either man was innocent but both were victims of state sponsored homicide. I think it unfair that the Texas man had no champions but hope that the attention to the Georgia man's case brings about a national discussion on the merits of the death penalty. It must be abolished.
How is it Charles Manson is still alive? How is it Casey Anthony reportedly may get an $8 million dollar book deal but Troy Davis-- found guilty and sentenced to die?
Manson was sentenced to death. But that crazy state of California repealed the death penalty before he got the needle. He has become a legend, almost a folk hero. People buy his art, perform his music, and wear his likeness on t shirts.
Anthony is free because there was no evidence of her guilt. Had she been convicted, I wonder if people would take her up as a cause célèbre. I doubt it, celebrities don't like to support "child killers." I do foresee her posing for Playboy in the not so distant future. It will be their biggest selling issue ever.
How about OJ? Is there anyone who more people believe got away with murder? I don't recall anyone looking to change the law so he could be tried again.
Texas white supremacists also don't become the darlings of the media, with politicians supporting them, and actors making public appeals.
My point? I don't really have one. Just pointing out what a screwed up system we work in.
BTW- Seems to me given all of this, cracking a bottle of wine once in a while is to be expected. I guess if you never tried a case, you just could never understand.
Regarding the actual innocence of Davis - apparently there wasn't any.
The cops searched Davis' house without a warrant so the fruits of the search were suppressed.
What were they? A pair of bloody pants with the dead officer's blood on them next to the washing machine. The blood apparently came from standing over the man and shooting him in the head. Tends to cause spatter.
The jury of SEVEN blacks and five whites never saw this evidence, but still voted for guilt and death. They were right.
Regarding the Brewer case, IIRC the NAACP blasted Bush 43 because he didn't sign a state hate crimes bill, and the victim's daughter said she felt like he was being lynched again. Execution isn't enough? I guess we could draw and quarter the bastard and send his remains to the four corners of Texas.
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