The state
of Georgia put Troy Davis to death last week.
Davis
went to his death proclaiming his innocence. He and his lawyers spent years in
court, unearthing new evidence and noting that several of the prosecution's
witnesses recanted their testimony. The case went all the way to the U.S.
Supreme Court, where the justices refused to grant an 11th-hour stay.
Davis
refused his last meal, prayed for the family of the police officer he was
convicted of killing and died with his head up.
Amidst
all of the protests and outrage centering upon Davis’ execution, with former
President (and Georgia Governor) Jimmy Carter, former FBI Director William
Sessions and a host of other activists, politicians, organizations and private
citizens weighing in, they seem to have missed the point.
It is not
Troy Davis’ execution that anyone should be protesting.
It is the
death penalty.
Certainly,
we understand the heartfelt emotions involved when a loved one is killed, and
the desire for “justice” manifests itself in retribution, or “an eye for an
eye.” We even understand the idea that the death penalty removes the
possibility that a killer will kill again.
But the
state of Illinois no longer has a death penalty because, finally, a majority of
legislators recognized that it is a barbaric practice that has no place in a
civilized society.
They also
recognized, along with at least two former Illinois governors, that the system
of justice is so flawed that too many people who might be innocent were sitting
on death row, awaiting their execution. We had former Chicago police Lt. Jon
Burge, who tortured Black men to get them to admit to crimes they did not commit.
Some of them ended up on death row, some with lengthy prison sentences. We know
that Burge did not commit these acts in a vacuum and that others, higher up,
new about them, but no one stepped forward to keep those men off death row.
We know
that the best way to avoid death row (aside from not doing the crime) is to be
rich and white. Poor representation, lack of money for costly appeals, and lack
of education, along with a judicial system that regards Black men as guilty
first, works to populate prison cells and death rows around the country, not
just in Georgia.
That’s
why protestors should have also been in Texas, where Lawrence Brewer was put to
death a few hours after Davis. There was no question Brewer did what
prosecutors said he did - chain a Black man, James Byrd Jr. to the back of a
pick up truck and drag him to his death. There was no exculpatory evidence, no
witnesses recanting. We just had a white supremacist put to death. But even as
heinous as that crime, death penalty opponents should have had a vigil even for
Brewer.
One of
these days, a court will determine that we’ve put an innocent person to death.
Certainly
we have already. Troy Davis said he didn’t do it, even as they were
administering the lethal dosages. If we find out he was telling the truth
tomorrow, we can’t undo his execution. In a system so flawed, no one, not in
Georgia, not in Texas, not anywhere in America, should be put to death.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
