The most controversial American execution in recent memory was carried out last night in Georgia. Troy Davis, convicted of murdering police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia in August 1989, was put to death amidst a wave of protests outside the prison and around the country.
The uproar was not actually centered around the death penalty itself, but rather that several witnesses had recanted their testimony of Davis’ culpability since the trial that sealed his fate.
That didn’t stop former president Jimmy Carter from hoping the case “will spur us as a nation toward the total rejection of capital punishment,” according to an AP story.
Georgia, as far as I can tell, executes far more people than Washington. There are close to 100 people on death row there. Eight people currently inhabit Washington’s death row, with the oldest case — the murder of Cassie Holden in June 1988 — occurring in Kitsap County.
Readers, how do you feel about Davis’ execution?
Travesty. The state of Georgia committed murder last night.
Troy Davis was guilty. 34 witnesses against him and a few of his friends recant part of their testimony and we are supposed to believe that he wasn’t the killer. He was identified by 9 people and 34 witnesses against him. People who knew him and people who saw him shoot the officer. Too bad his execution took so long, we have the “cry me a river” crowd to thank for the delay.
Justice. A vicious murderer was put down last night.
How can you kill someone on hearsay alone? It is absurd. No DNA, no weapon, nothing to physically link him to the crime. It has been proven that humans are not reliable as witnesses. how can 34 people see different things? There was just too many questions about this case to allow it to go that far. What was wrong with life in prison with no parole?
The whole world was watching. The European Union denounced the actions and urged us to stop. The Pope, ex Presidents, leaders world wide watched America do what it does best. Kill. Barbaric and wrong.
Thankfully the rest of the civilized world has banned capitol punishment. Only barbarians like us and Syria, Iran, China, North Korea and such would consider killing someone an acceptable punishment. SHAME on US.
Shame on us for waffling for twenty years before justice is finally done.