We must not Sacrifice Fairness for Finality,
Nor Ignore Perjury Enticed by Law Enforcement Officers
“Why was the testimony of all those recanting witnesses credible enough to send a fellow human being to prison, but is not credible enough to release him now?” asked Lucy Grider-Bradley, newly named Co-Chairperson of the Georgia Green Party. “Governor Deal and Judge Freesemann may aim to notch their belts for political gain. But Georgians understand that when they tell Troy Davis that his life is not good enough to save, they tell that to each of us.”
On Tuesday, September 6th, Chatham County Superior Court Judge Penny Haas Freesemann signed a fourth death warrant for Troy Davis, setting the stage for a September 19th Clemency Hearing before the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, and an execution scheduled for 7:00 pm September 21st. Davis was convicted of the August 19, 1989 shooting death of Mark MacPhail, an off-duty Savannah Georgia police officer, who was moonlighting as a security guard at a fast food restaurant.
“The State’s intended actions are unconscionable when so many reasonable people have such significant doubts about this man’s involvement in that night’s tragedy,” said Denice Traina, long time Green Party activist from Augusta Georgia.
Traina contrasted the third of Georgia who are black with the two-thirds of incarcerated Georgians who are black and cited Georgia’s “recently enacted Brown Codes targeting our immigrant neighbors and any who might be mistaken for them. When the plea deal and threats of probation violations are used to entice witnesses to perjure themselves, MacPhail’s killer remains at large and our criminal justice system loses legitimacy and credibility and even the consent of the governed. Georgia’s freakish insistance on capital punishment anchors a chain of human rights abuses throughout a racist institution which operates in our names and with our tax dollars.”
Party leaders are urging all Georgians to communicate with the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, to demand clemency and justice for Troy Davis between now and the hearing on the 19th. The Board currently includes: Chairman James E. Donald, Vice Chairman Albert Murray and Members Robert E. Keller, L. Gale Buckner and Terry Barnard.
State Board of Pardons and Paroles
2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, SE
Suite 458, Balcony Level, East Tower
Atlanta, Georgia 30334-4909
Telephone: (404) 656-5651
Clemency_Information@pap.state.ga.us
Filed under: 3rd party, Action Alert!, activism, Death Penalty, grassroots democracy, Green Party, News, politics, social & economic justice Tagged: | capital punishment, Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles, Pardon, troy davis
Leave a Reply