Troy Davis
From RationalWiki
Troy Anthony Davis is a 19-year prisoner on Georgia's death row who was sentenced to be executed on September 23rd, 2008 for the murder of a police officer. The Supreme Courte suspended the execution. The federal appeals court in Atlanta will hear Davis and his lawyers on Dec. 9, 2008.
The problem is that there is no conclusive evidence that he actually did it. Seven out of nine of the state's witnesses have either recanted or contradicted their testimony against him, frequently citing police coercion, and no murder weapon has been found. Unfortunately, despite all of this, he's still on death row. However, by going here, you can find ways to attempt to get his sentence commuted for another review of his case to take place. Please do so.
[edit] Exposition
There is also an important general principle involved with state executions. You can never be absolutely certain that you are executing a guilty man. From start to finish, government controls the whole process, from police work to trial to sentencing.
For an innocent man to be caught up in the process is bad enough, but having the state carry out an execution as well is intolerable. No amount of safeguards or appeals can prevent government corruption or colossal errors, and if the wrong man is executed, there can be no redress of grievances. The death isn't the only thing that matters. Prisoners suffer terribly on death row.
