Truth on Lockdown

Movies have desensitized us to violence, we watch people’s guts and blood gushing out of their bodies almost everyday on TV and don’t even see anything wrong with that. If anything we want more vivid images of brutality and violence. How else could we justify the plethora of these images on our screens? Video games are even more disturbing because they invite you to participate in the violence and they just get gorier and gorier with no end in sight. But the common most distressing thread is that most of the time the consequences of those actions are not shown. The perpetrators usually get away with it or in most cases they are shown in a positive light and viewers identify with murderers and killers.

I strongly believe that this approach to entertainment has effected people’s perceptions of and tendencies toward violence. But has this recent trend affected our judicial system too? Have we scared the system out of its wits that now for fear of things “getting out of control” it’s willing to punish anyone for anything? Did you know that in some states you could get arrested for wearing your pants too low?! The reasoning for this is that it might be a gateway style to a life of crime!! And how many stories have you read of people paying for crimes they didn’t commit. Too many, in my opinion. The problem is that anyone could fall victim to this circumstance (statistically more so if you’re black). Imagine the things you would go through if you are thrown in jail for one day for something you didn’t do. What about a whole month? What about 16 years? What about 16 years on death row? Waiting to get murdered for a crime you didn’t commit, would you survive?

Troy Anthony Davis, has not only survived but has inspired our whole class. This man’s life is of importance to us all, and I hope that movies haven’t desensitized us to the point where we could walk away from such an outrageous case. The systems haste to hold someone accountable for the murder of Officer Mark MacPhail did not heed with the absence of evidence or the recantation of witnesses. A new trial is the only way to set things straight. Until we recognize the major flaws in the judicial system one too many will fall victim to it. Until we properly examine this case the real killer maybe on the loose and the truth remains on Lockdown.

Jamila

Five Days

The death penalty. Flawed judicial values. Clemency. Stays of execution. Civil rights. Racism.

Not the terms you would normally associate with a Public Communications Writing class. While other students spend class time drafting Public Service Announcements and media advisories, we’ve been writing to save a life. We have spent the semester writing for the rights of Troy Davis, who is in desperate need of a fair trial to clear his name. In a matter of 5 days, his life will change forever.

Troy Anthony Davis has been on death row for 16 years, convicted of crime that has yet to be fully examined. No found murder weapon, seven recanted testimonies, police coercion…the list goes on. The issue here is not the death penalty, nor is it “closure” for the family…it’s the TRUTH.

Courtney

Inconsistent Standards

The case of Troy Davis is so interesting because it gives me such an odd and skeptical perspective on our current society. How can we be such an advanced nation yet we pose such inconsistent standards on crime and punishment? The argument about capital punishment in itself is very inconsistent, as it is left to the decision of each U.S. State. I do not understand how a life or death situation should be left up to the discretion of anyone less than the national level. And from a larger perspective, most advanced nations have already abolished the death penalty and are cynical about the conflicting standards of the U.S.

The Troy Davis case, specifically, is a very problematic situation. By chance, Troy was convicted in a state that favors the death penalty. Further, he was convicted without any physical evidence or murder weapon. What is most disturbing is that the trial was only based on witness testimonies, which was said to be inconsistent even at the time of the trial. Granting a death sentence based on this faulty trial is very disconcerting.

I just hope that our criminal justice system improves and that the battle for granting Troy a new and fair trial is reached.

-Megan Tyson

Lessons Behind Hardships

I am a Taiwanese Graduate student at American University. Recently my classmates and I are working on a project with the aim to help Troy A. Davis. In my opinion, Troy’s case is not only about human rights, racial discrimination, and death penalty. His story is also a big lesson for us to learn in terms of our morale in challenges and spiritual fights.

More than once I imagine if I were Mr. Davis, what would I do and feel being put into jail for some crime that I’d never committed? I don’t think I can bear with the burden of fear and betrayers and the loss of my freedom. I also ask myself: if anyone of my family members were going through this kind of hardship, could I be supportive and brave enough to stand with him?
Mr. Davis is the living example and at the same time, a great warrior standing still in difficulties. I believe his story must have given other people strength to face their own problems. I am one of those who are inspired. If he can overcome all these challenges, why can’t I?
I also want to put forward that God usually build and equip us through hardship. Moreover, I think that only in hard times, can we see the true values of our life and the greatness of God.

In Troy’s case, I believe he knows much better than all of us to cherish our lives, freedom, and the time spent with our family. Just think of how many people commit suicide and how many marriage and families are breaking up per day. What is wrong with us people who have freedom and right to live but take them for granted? And think of how many times we complain to our environment, family, work, or anything. I think we seldom feel enough and satisfied with what we’ve already had; instead, more than often we pay much attention on what we still don’t have. That’s the origin of our pain and sorrow, which, compared with that of Troy and his family, seems to be so little and unimportant.

I encourage everyone who read this article to express your love to your family if you haven’t done so today and try to count the blessings you’ve had if you aren’t satisfied with your life now. The key point in the pursuit of happiness is to love yourself and to be brave and optimistic.

Chi Wang

An International Opinion

As someone born and raised in Saudi Arabia, I’m not someone who is particularly gung-ho about abolishing the death penalty. To be honest with you, I’ve seen how the death penalty can work. I don’t feel threatened when I’m out and about in Saudi Arabia; rather, I feel safe and secure. I know that anyone who even tries to get near me will be punished, and punished severely. However, as a foreign resident, I also understand that Saudi Arabia runs on strict Sharia law. I believe that most living there are mindful of the fact, and take it into heavy consideration before making any decision.

A person imprudent enough to ignore the laws and customs of the society within which they live warrant some sort of penalty. The extreme disregard and disrespect these people demonstrate threaten the well-being of others, and sometimes their actions merit more than just a slap or two on the wrist. That is why we have justice systems and that is why we sanctify our courts. We hope that they will protect us and we pray that they will never be misled. Unfortunately, that is not the case; justice fails one too many of us far too often.

I’m not from the United States of America, and I don’t need to be. I understand what America stands for, and it’s not “life, love and the pursuit of happiness” as its citizens so often claim. It is not for liberty, nor is it for freedom. Had it been, Troy Anthony Davis would not be in a jail cell, withering away whilst he’s praying for a positive outcome to a crime that he most likely did not commit.

Mahwish Khan

IS AMERICA AT WAR WITH ITSELF?

Today, America is at war: at war with Iraq and at war with itself. America is killing individuals in other countries, but it is also killing its own people. This country was built on freedom and justice; however, are these principles being fulfilled today? Troy Davis, a black man who has been on death row for 16 years for killing a police officer in Savannah Georgia, has been deprived of these rights. Evidence suggests Troy did not commit the crime. Troy’s case is based strictly on eyewitness accounts in which seven of the nine witnesses recanted. These eyewitnesses state they were coerced by the prosecutor and police. Also, the murder weapon was not found and gun powder residue was not found on his body.

How can America put someone on death row without a fair trial and with no evidence? America must re-evaluate the system so that it is fair for everyone. America has checks and balances; however, situations like Troy’s are still occurring. We, as Americans, must do our jobs as citizens and fight for the rights of those being wrongly accused. We cannot let a man like Troy be put to death for a crime he may not have committed.

Troy has been granted a 90-day clemency. On November 13, the Georgia Supreme Court will decide whether he will receive a new and fair trial. However, we will not know the verdict until January 2008. Hopefully, Troy will have a chance to prove that innocence matters.

Caneka

MORE THAN A DEATH PENALTY CASE

The story of Troy Davis is more than a death penalty case or a death row inmate who has been waiting for justice to be served for 16 years. It’s about a man’s faith in God and in himself and his belief that no matter how hard life is, we should keep our faith, believe that we will find the justice and the peace at the end and we should keep fighting and stand up for ourselves.
Death Penalty is a serious issue and in my opinion, it’s against human rights. More importantly, executing someone for a crime he may not have committed is no different than a brutal murder. I hope our country’s legal system takes all the inconsistencies and holes in this case into consideration and gives Troy the fair trial and freedom he deserves.

Validation

We’ve been focusing on the case of Troy Davis all semester. And as the date to be heard in front of the U.S. Supreme Court draws near, I find that I’m getting nervous. The weeks of writing and emails, the celebration of “Troy Davis Day” on campus, the phone calls and emails – surely they haven’t all been in vain. I can only begin to imagine the angst that Troy is feeling in Georgia.

My stance on this case was first based solely on logic. After reviewing the case details provided by our professor and those available on Amnesty International’s website, I couldn’t help but think the evidence was overwhelmingly in Troy’s favor. But the letters and updates that our class has received from Troy and his family have strengthened my stance, extending it from logical to emotional.

I know that not everything in life works out as it should. I also know that we're working for a good cause. I find the evidence and reasoning made the details easier to work with, but it doesn’t lessen the meaning. The hard work that we’ve done has been educational, purposeful and may affect other people’s lives. That’s more than many can say about their own endeavors. It’s work that we’ll continue to do because it’s the right course of action. I have faith that the outcome will be just and fair, and in times of doubt, I remind myself that faith makes things possible, not easy.

Maggie

I think the Troy Davis case is not just about the death penalty. It is about our judicial system. We have a system that at times can be blind - unjust and unfair - focusing solely on the color of a man's skin.

I am not stating that the justic system in Americfa is completely flawed. What i feel is that there are few states that are more concerned about pusnishment than righteousness. The big problem is that citizens in these states accept injustice and intolerance as the norm. Why can't people recognize what is wrong and right and do something about it?

Peter

Buried Alive

When I think about innocent people on death row, I think about being buried alive. No way out. Death is on its way, and you don’t know how long you’ll last.

It’s a scary thought, but for too many individuals, that has been their life: sitting in prison and waiting for their time to come. And in the end, too many guiltless people have had their lives taken from them without a second thought.

Many victims, lawyers, and judges want a scapegoat for the loss of a loved one. And I don’t fault them for wanting someone to blame. I’d want something to blame if I was at a loss, too.

But humans are fallible. We make mistakes. We sometimes judge too soon; and, in stressful situations, we tend to make brash decisions.

In Troy A. Davis’s case, false pretenses lead to improper judgment. He supposedly murdered Officer MacPhail over fifteen years ago in Savannah, Georgia. But the prosecution’s case lacked solid evidence, even a murder weapon. The jury tossed aside reason in favor of coming to a quick decision in order to bring the victim’s family “closure.”

But will “closure” take another victim’s life? That’s the weakness of the death penalty, especially in cases like Troy’s in which juries use shady evidence to convict a man of murder. That’s unconscionable and disturbing. That’s not how a so-called civilized, democratic nation, such as the United States, should act (In fact, United States is one of the few countries that still allows capital punishment. Some others include Saudi Arabia, China, and Iran.).

Abolishing the death penalty in the United States appears to be a long ways away, though. For now, the main concern should be that Troy gets a new trial after next week’s hearing on November 13.

I expect that the Georgia Supreme Court look will look at this case with unbiased eyes and see the fractures in the evidence against him. I hope they realize that humans aren’t perfect, and that one man’s life is worth the time and effort of a fair trial.

Sara Reichert

Our Endangered Judicial Values: The Case of Troy Anthony Davis

Much has been said about America’s “moral crisis” and our “endangered values.” Former President of the United States and Governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, devoted a whole book to the issue. As an American citizen and student of our democratic system, it is very disappointing to recognize that nowhere is this crisis in values more evident than in our justice system today.

A great example of our judicial system’s crisis in values is the case of Troy Anthony Davis, a black man who has spent the last 16 years on death row in the state of Georgia and was nearly executed this past July without any physical evidence to prove his guilt. Accused of killing a white policeman in 1989, Davis has spent the last 16 years on death row in the state of Georgia without any physical evidence to prove his guilt. Davis is the victim of a dysfunctional justice system that at times only provides incompetent public defense, can be racially biased, and often gives more weight to procedural technicalities than ethical maxims such as “beyond reasonable doubt.” This is evident by the more than 120 men and women whose death sentences have been exonerated since 1973, of which five have been in the state of Georgia, as documented by the Death Penalty Information Center. Robert Warden, Executive Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, has established that these exonerations represent an error rate in our capital punishment system of more than one in ten.

The mistakes that Georgia’s justice system has made in Troy Davis’s case are so elemental and contrary to the fundamental rights established at the core of our Constitution that all responsible parties deserve to be examined in detail and judged by the American people. Otherwise, we condemn ourselves to fall in its hands and see injustice brought down upon us, or our loved ones. To deprive a young man of his right to a fair trial and, because of the system’s incompetence, force him to waste his youth in a cell as he awaits his death for a crime that he may very well be innocent of is not only unacceptable, but also a waste of the people’s money. It is suggestive of how little appreciation Georgia’s courts have for “life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness” and ethical maxims such as “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

On November 13, 2007 the Georgia Supreme Court will hear oral arguments requesting a new trial for Mr. Davis. The Supreme Court will not decide his guilt or innocence but only whether there is sufficient new evidence to merit a new trial. This is the same court that denied his appeal earlier this year on technical grounds and as a result of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.

Wrongful convictions are a serious threat to our personal freedom and well-being, just as serious as crime and terrorism are. As Davis’s case shows, a wrongful conviction can happen to anyone, regardless of his or her innocence, just because he or she happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and “fit” a physical description that matches our system’s bias.

If we want to reclaim America’s values, let’s start with our judicial system. Let’s hold our juries accountable and have judges, at every level, demand greater accuracy in every step of the judicial process. It’s the ethical thing to do. Let’s uphold the right to a fair trial, presumption of innocence and beyond a reasonable doubt as our legal north. Let’s remind ourselves that the real fight for freedom begins at home, not abroad, when we strive to achieve “justice for all” in America.

Paola Pascual-Ferrá

Death Penalty Debate

When thinking of the death penalty, my mind often wonders the ever-famous line, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

In this one sentence, our Declaration of Independence reveals the most treasured of American values and morals. It astounds me that these unalienable rights can be swept under the rug, when in the dead of night, prison officials gather and deny another human being the first of these rights.

Why has no one acknowledged this hypocrisy in the difference between our revered, historical document, and the lives that are taken by the state? According to the Declaration, life is endowed by the Creator, and it is a truth which is self-evident.

There are times when liberty and the pursuit have to be taken in order to preserve the rights of others. But life does not have to be taken to protect the rest of us. I have enough faith in the prison system of America. Statistically, there is no way to remove the margin of error in convictions and death penalty cases. Therefore, we can kill no one.

This margin of error brings me to the case of Troy Anthony Davis. This is a man that claims innocence. There is proof to support this claim. He could be the face of the margin of error in the death penalty system in America. He is a living, breathing reason to abolish the death penalty once and for all.

Gail