righteous Jesusistan “justice”

What does that mean?

But at least the consequences of such framing won’t be quite as final. (I was going to say irreversible, but of course you don’t reverse the effects of a 17-year imprisonment just by finally setting someone free.)

This is also precisely why the death penalty must be abolished. It’s too attractive a vehicle for abuse by ambitions District Attorneys.

there’s probably no way he receives a new trial. I don’t believe he’s even asked for one (seriously, through the legal system, as opposed to press conference rhetoric).

but someone is going to look at the new evidence and decide whether his sentence should be commuted.

incidentally, he’s been on death row more than 17 years.

90-day stay of execution

This is good news (short term) but this person needs a new trial and it seems really stupid that new evidence would not be considered in a captial punishment situation.

The state Board of Pardons and Paroles has granted a 90-day stay of execution for Troy Davis, who was to be executed tomorrow in the killing of a Savannah police officer in 1989.

The Board of Pardons and Paroles could allow Davis’ execution to go forward, commute his sentence to life in prison or grant a stay while it considers the case.

It was not clear if a decision would be issued Monday. Davis is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Board members “engaged the facts, and without respect to the media or anything else,” Davis lawyer Jason Ewart said in an interview. Ewart said he was unsure how the five-member panel would rule.

“It’s tough. It’s one of those things where we’re finally engaging the facts, and we have less than 30 hours before the execution date,” he said.
[...]
Davis’ lawyers also appealed to the state Supreme Court to overturn a judge’s earlier decision to deny Davis a stay of execution.

During the parole hearing, Davis’ friends and relatives spoke in support of the clemency petition, along with Rep. John Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat and civil rights icon. Five witnesses who testified at the trial spoke to the board on Davis’ behalf, Ewart said.

AFP:
Amnesty International also is lobbying on Davis’s behalf.

“At times there are cases that are emblematic of the dysfunctional application of justice in this country,” said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International’s US chapter.

“By refusing to review serious claims of innocence, the Supreme Court has revealed catastrophic flaws in the US death penalty machine,” Cox said.

Said Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, director of Amnesty International’s Program to Abolish the Death Penalty: “It is appalling that so many judges were able to look away from such a grave breach of justice.

“Evidence of innocence simply hasn’t mattered,” in this and many other disputed death penalty cases, she said.

South African Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu also has spoken out against the planned execution, while the Council of Europe yesterday urged the US not to commit what it said would be a error it would come to regret.

“The execution of Troy Davis … could become famous as an irreversible mistake and a tragic miscarriage of justice,” read a council statement yesterday…

The state Board of Pardons and Paroles met behind closed doors Monday to decide whether a man convicted of killing a police officer who insists he is innocent should be given a reprieve or executed Tuesday as scheduled.

The hearing could be Troy Davis’ best hope of avoiding lethal injection for the Aug. 19, 1989, murder of Savannah police Officer Mark MacPhail.
[...]
Parole board spokeswoman Scheree Lipscomb said Monday that several witnesses to the killing were at the hearing, though they were not on the list of planned speakers.
[...]
Another appeal was expected to be filed before the state Supreme Court on Monday following a Chatham County judge’s refusal last week to halt Davis’ execution.

Dear Board Members,

I write to you today with the utmost urgency, and respectfully request that you commute Troy Anthony Davis’ death sentence immediately.

The laws may not permit the courts to review the evidence that strongly suggests Troy Davis was convicted on the basis of false testimony, testimony that has since been recanted.

But how can you knowingly permit a probably innocent person to be executed?

Please intervene. Executing Troy Davis would be unconscionable. That’s not who we are as a nation. That’s not who you are as a board.

Sincerely,
Sarabeth Guthberg

and this to the President at comments@whitehouse.gov (is there a better email address?):

Dear Mr. President,

I write to you today with the utmost urgency, and respectfully request that you
commute Troy Anthony Davis’ death sentence immediately.

The laws may not permit the courts to review the evidence that strongly suggests Troy Davis was convicted on the basis of false testimony, testimony that has since been recanted.

But how can you knowingly permit a probably innocent person to be executed?

Please intervene. Executing Troy Davis would be unconscionable. That’s not who we are as a nation. That’s not who you are as a person.

Scooter Libby’s sentence was commuted because you felt it was excessive, even though by all accounts you had no doubt he was guilty of the crime he was convicted of.

Troy Davis is about to be executed for a crime he probably did not commit. Please don’t look the other way and say: “What can I do, it’s too late for justice?” Please!

Sincerely,
Sarabeth Guthberg