We've lost the Troy Davis battle; let's not lose the next one...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

I don't know what steps could have been taken, but I think that Troy's battle is over.

Somehow, we need to be aware of these battles before they get to the 11th-hour stage.

Does anyone have any good ideas on how to accomplish this?

I feel so helpless...

I am sick at heart over this whole mess.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Start at the Innocence Project

and for some reason my web is not linking... not a conspiracy, just slow...

Here we go...

http://www.innocenceproject.org/fix/What-can-I-do.php

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. I knew a guy once who had a friend who was freed by them...

This group does excellent work.

Thanks for the link...

[teddy51]

2. I guess we really need to keep an eye on Texas, cause that moron Governor is trying

his best to set a huge record of execution that never will be broken. He is such a major loser that it is difficult to put into words my feelings toward him.

[Parker CA]

3. Sick at heart with you, Peggy. I've felt a knot in my stomach all day. This is just so terrible on

so many levels.

Like you, I don't know where to begin, but agree that it's vital that we can do something before cases get to this point.

[Gregorian]

5. Innocent until proven guilty. The state did not prove guilt.

I have to mention this now. The wonderful man who sang to Amy Goodman just now has mentioned this.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. And they are behaving as though they had...

I don't get it...

No person should die as the result of anyone's mistake, yet it happens all the time.

[Gregorian]

13. Our standing as a nation is eroding

We're crumbling. I don't like being negative. I spend so much time on this forum being negative. I want hope and optimism. I want caring, growth of spirit, strengthening of caring. I want to be proud. It takes effort. It is difficult. It takes forgiving, fighting off of basic instinctual reactions.

Most people just don't get it. It's like we're living in a country of drunks. I want sobriety. As a once upon a time drunk, I am strong and sober now.

Bless Troy and his family. I grieve for them tonight.

[Hippo_Tron]

18. Technically they did, the problem is we have the same standard for death as everything else

And thus we're left with the Scalia argument where technically he's guilty as far as the state's standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt" is concerned, even though it's possible he's innocent and his lawyers just completely fucked up.

One thing that death penalty advocates have never managed to explain to me is how you can avoid executing innocent people if your standard is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We send plenty of innocent people to prison. Therefore it follows that we must be executing innocent people if our standard is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

They may argue that you get more appeals, but appeals don't change the evidence presented in the original trial. They review whether the judge or the prosecutor acted improperly or if there are constitutional questions at hand, but they can't change the evidence. As this case pretty clearly shows, if your attorneys did a crappy job, you're still fucked no matter how many appeals you get.

[Luminous Animal]

6. That would mean actually doing something than posting on the internet.

There are a lot of orgs working on this IN PERSON, you know... meeting, strategizing, and direct lobbying.

No doubt there is at least one within driving distance of you. Google it.

[midnight]

7. I thought three dems. stepped in and there is a review going on....

[Selatius]

10. They had no effect. The Supreme Court denied his stay of execution. nt

[hlthe2b]

8. Earlier on Hardball, Barry Scheck laid out enough of the Todd Willingham execution

and specifically directed Tweety to the NewYorker Magazine article on it, when Tweety asked "what is it with Republican governors and death penalty"?
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann

He came back to the issue twice with respect that Perry would have to answer to it and even mentioned that Perry had blocked up the investigation post death. I have a feeling in the context of the Troy Davis execution, the teabagger applause at the last debate and overwhelming, but poorly examined evidence that Perry oversaw the execution of a man who was not only innocent, but which had provided substantial evidence of innocence,, that the flood gates may have been opened. We've reached critical mass--even with a dismissive MSM.

As sickened as I am about Davis, it is the facts behind the Willingham execution that took my breath away.

I think this will be the start of far more discussion and re-examination. I surely hope so.

[TwilightGardener]

14. I read that article about Willingham, the fire investigators pretty much had NOTHING

on him, when all was said and done--he was convicted and killed on what amounted to wives' tales of fire science and arson investigation. But as a teabagger said admiringly of Perry, "It takes balls to execute an innocent man." So, even when it's known that the guy was probably innocent, Republicans don't give a damn.

[Hippo_Tron]

15. The tea-bagger perspective that Type I errors are acceptable, is IMO, a minority viewpoint

And it's a waste of time to even bother talking to these people. I think that the vast majority of people who say they are for the death penalty haven't really even thought about the fact that we might be executing innocent people. Just like the majority who claim they are anti-choice no exceptions would probably not be okay with a doctor not being able to terminate a pregnancy to save a woman's life if they were actually faced with that situation.

[TwilightGardener]

17. I hope you're right. Can't forget the enthusiasm and applause for executions

at the debate. That was just over the top.

[Hippo_Tron]

19. It's a minority of irrational dipshits

If they really thought about what they were applauding, they wouldn't be applauding. Getting them to actually think about it, isn't worth the effort, though.

[handmade34]

11. Oh

Peggy, I am so sad... of course I didn't know Troy Davis personally but have been following his case for years... We are Troy Davis! and we can't let this egregious behavior continue.. I am crying tonight.

not a cure all but we must start by getting a majority of Democrats in both houses

[Dystopian]

12. Troy's battle is over...

And so is mine.
Can't do anything in a computer chair.
Maybe time to return to my old life...
Unknowingless.

Rage. Tears.
And then... relinquish .....

Doom is all we have....
Mankind .... along with Troy.
Dead.

Turning off the world.


peace~

[shireen]

16. yeah, it's tempting ...

:hug:

what can we depend on anymore? Our judicial system? At least not in Georgia.