Here’s a good case for killing the death penalty
originally published: by Errol Louis
21st August 2009
Opponents of the death penalty have reason for hope this week. Two high-profile cases are exposing the sick, barbaric folly of execution in America.
When the U.S. resumed executions in 1977, only 16 nations had abolished the death penalty; the number has since grown to 92. Five nations now carry out more than 90% of the world’s executions: Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China – and the United States.
We’re in pretty grim company.
But this week, America took a step toward evolving in the direction of the civilized world. In Georgia, a man on Death Row got an extremely rare ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. And in Texas, a high-ranking judge is herself on trial – prosecuted for misconduct after callously refusing to hear the eleventh-hour appeal of a prisoner who was about to be executed.
The latest development in the Georgia case of Troy Anthony Davis is awe-inspiring. For the first time in 50 years, the justices ordered a federal court to reopen a state murder case – even after a long line of appeals – and hear newly discovered evidence that might exonerate Davis.
As I’ve written in columns since 2007, the evidence of Davis’ innocence is overwhelming. He was convicted in 1991 of the point-blank shooting of a Savannah police officer in a case with scant evidence: There was no murder weapon found, no confession, no fingerprints or other physical evidence.
Davis was sent to Death Row on the strength of nine witnesses. Seven have since recanted in sworn statements, with many claiming police coercion. An eighth witness first told cops he didn’t know who the killer was, then “remembered” it was Davis two years later.
