the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jul 20, 2009
Troy Davis, a black man falsely convicted of killing a Georgia police officer, faces execution, barring a favorable Supreme Court ruling on his final appeal. In April, a federal circuit court of appeals denied his request to present evidence proving his innocence. It ruled that Davis was too late in filing his appeal, based on restrictions included in a law passed in 1996 under Clinton.
Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing Officer Mark Allen MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia. His conviction was based entirely on eyewitness testimony, since there was no physical evidence against him.
Since the trial, 7 of 9 eyewitnesses have submitted sworn affidavits that the police coerced them into testifying falsely against Davis. The main eyewitness sticking to his story is a man others pointed to as the real shooter.
The injustice in the case is so blatant that even some pro-death-penalty types, like former FBI director William Sessions, have come out in opposition to Davis’ execution.
But Davis’ case, is not isolated. Unfortunately, an innocent man, railroaded by cops into a murder conviction, is something that happens regularly in this country.
The fact that the second highest court in the country can rule that an innocent man who has spent 18 years on death row can be put to death because of a technicality, shows the insanity of this criminal “injustice” system.
If Troy Davis is saved, it will only be because people put and must continue putting officials on notice that official murder will not be tolerated.