Tonight (actually, last night, by the time I get this posted), the state of Georgia was guilty of murder.  I consider this especially awful, seeing that September 21st is the International Day of Peace.

As long as I live, I will never understand what can compel a person to take a life.  Maybe I'm still naïve, having never been exposed to "real" violence or panic.  Whatever the case, I truly do not believe that I have the guts, the courage, or the conscience that it must take to end someone's life, to watch them die.  Putting an elderly, ailing pet to sleep is still devastating for me as a grown man.

With that said, it should come as no surprise that I am an opponent of the death penalty, in any case.  I mentioned before in a Casey Anthony case post that murder is a problem, never a solution.  Arson, murder, jaywalking, none of these things can be undone by killing.  It amazes me that the United States still utilizes the death penalty, and is one of the only developed countries to continue to do so.  I see this as a failure in the system that we are asked every day to put our trust in.

I understand the rationale behind wanting to keep offenders of all sorts off the streets and away from the people we know and love—friends, family, children.  The raison d'être behind prisons is to separate potential dangers from the general populace.  But that Republican Rick Perry's record-setting execution rate as governor of Texas got some of the liveliest applause of the recent-ish GOP debate makes me wonder.  Has the United States become used to murder as a solution?  And if it has, where do we direct the blame?

Now, I am not saying that there are no people in the world who are abusing the gift of their lives.  There are definitely people out there who have taken a turn for the worse.  I am not talking about them.

I am talking about the people like Troy Davis, who was executed earlier tonight in the state of Georgia.  In the years since his conviction and sentencing, doubts have surfaced about his guilt, ranging from "reasonable" to "strong."  Key witnesses whose testimonies were crucial in convicting Davis have since recanted them, bringing about these doubts.  And yet, the Supreme Court denied Davis a stay of execution.

On the one hand, you have the witnesses who recanted their testimonies, citing police coercion and thinking that police do that all the time.  And on the other hand, you have the police officers and attorneys, who hear the recanted testimonies and think that witnesses do this all the time.

Who is right, and who is wrong?  Does it matter?  Should it?  A person should be convicted if there is sufficient proof that s/he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  If a doubt exists, however small, I believe it should be investigated and examined.  Troy Davis, a living, breathing, imperfect human being, was sentenced to death by other living, breathing, imperfect human beings.  If our government can be wrong about so many things, what's to say it can't be wrong about this?  To have a hand in the death of man who could have been innocent.  To have knowingly condemned a man to spend his final days living like the criminal he may never have been.

I am sad, angry, and ashamed of my country.  The United States has killed the innocent before in the name of justice, and it will continue until we insist that it stop.

• Published in Environment & Social Justice
• 2 Comments
•