NAACP, Others Seek to Stop Georgia’s Execution of Troy Davis

The NAACP, civil rights leaders and thousands of others anxiously await a decision by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles whether to grant clemency to Troy Davis, who faces execution next week despite growing doubts about his murder conviction.

Davis’ execution is set for Wednesday. The Georgia board will convene Monday to decide his fate.

Davis was sentenced to Death Row in the shooting death of an off-duty police officer in Savannah, Georgia, more than 20 years ago. Davis has always maintained his innocence, and in recent years many witnesses against him have recanted their testimony.

The crumbling eyewitness accounts and the lack of other sound evidence have generated outrage and led to a broad-based campaign to block his execution on grounds there is “too much doubt” to keep him on Georgia’s Death Row.

“Troy Davis has been an inmate since 1991, when he was convicted of murdering a police officer.  Since then, seven of the nine original witnesses against Troy have recanted or contradicted their testimony, and three of those witnesses now claim their testimony was coerced,” the NAACP said in a statement to reporters. “New evidence has been presented to the Georgia courts, but the judicial system refuses to consider evidence that would free an innocent man.”

According to the NAACP, two witnesses identified another suspect as the perpetrator of the murder, but that suspect was never investigated for his possible link to the crime.

Davis has exhausted all options for appeal through the federal courts and, according to the NAACP, Georgia courts have refused to consider the new evidence.

The NAACP, along with Amnesty International, launched an extensive social media campaign — #TooMuchDoubt — to rally support for Davis’ clemency. Thousands have signed on through Facebook, Twitter and cell phone texting.

The groups plan a march and rally in Davis’ honor.  The organizations have also created online petitions.

According to published reports, more than 600,000 petitions in support of Davis’ clemency were recently delivered to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, which issued a stay of execution for Davis in 2007.

Recently, one of the strongest voices for Davis’ clemency has been former FBI director William Sessions.  In an op-ed article in Thursday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sessions stated that “the death penalty should not be carried out, and Davis’ sentence should be commuted to life. “

Meanwhile, the NAACP has been steadfast in its efforts to take Davis off of Death Row, convening calls with its units about how to spread the word about his case and reaching out to the African American press for assistance.

Last year, the organization, along with other groups, was instrumental in achieving the release of the Scott sisters from life sentences in the Mississippi prison system for a robbery that resulted in $11.

On a recent conference call with media, NAACP President Ben Jealous said that Davis’ case brought back “bad, painful memories” of cases like Garry Graham, who sat on Texas’ Death Row and was executed although many believed that evidence demonstrated he did not commit the crime.

“We’re just hoping that Georgia will do the right thing,” said Jealous.

Kenneth Mallory, a political correspondent for Politic365, is an award-winning journalist and attorney who has free-lanced for several publications, in addition to serving as a general assignment reporter for the Washington Afro-American Newspaper. He earned his B.A. magna cum laude from University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in addition to his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.

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3 Responses to NAACP, Others Seek to Stop Georgia’s Execution of Troy Davis

1. william doran says:

   4:43pm September 16, 2011 at 4:43 pm

   Please FREE this man for Gods sake, can we do anything right in this country today?

   Reply
2. Joycelyn H. Kauder says:

   5:10pm September 16, 2011 at 5:10 pm

   I pray that the people of Georgia do not want to be KILLERS themselves. This is especially the killers of innocent people. Now 7 of 9 of the jurors whose testimony (and the only evidence presented) has confined an innocent man in prison for 22 years, they have recanted their testimony. It seems to be that the people in Georgia really want to kill innocent people. I wonder if they will be able to sleep nights after saying their prayers.

   Reply
3. Jeannie says:

   9:29pm September 16, 2011 at 9:29 pm

   My husband is a Officer of Law. I would be first in line to push the death button on someone charged in him murder…IF…. there isn't a shadow of doubt and in this case there is, there are more kinks in this case then a cheap garden hose. Where is the DNA, the proof, who are these so called eye witnesses, why did 7 out of 10 people recant their stories ?

   Reply