A US Supreme Court judge (that's the joke, folks) recently wrote in an opinion that it was not only legal but appropriate to put an innocent man to death if it takes place in accordance with the judicial apparatus of the State.[1] Seriously, the US Supreme Court says it's ok to knowingly execute an "innocent" man. We are watching the erosion of the legitimacy of the American legal system one innocent person put to death at a time.
This is not justice. This is a miscarriage of justice.
My heart goes out to Troy Davis and his family.
UPDATE:
19:26 It looks like a delay has been ordered for the execution. It's not a stay so the execution could still happen tonight. In this case, justice delayed may *NOT* justice denied.
19:31 Here's livestream coverage of what's going on with the execution.
19:46 It looks like it's a 1 to 7 day reprieve. That means Troy can still be executed as early as tomorrow.
22:30 US Supreme Court denies the stay. Execution of Troy Davis will go forward. May happen tonight.
23:08 Troy Davis has been murdered by the state of Georgia.
[1] The quote from Justice Scalia in his 2009 dissent to the unsigned Supreme Court opinion ordering a Georgia trial court to re-examine the evidence that could prove Troy Davis' innocence states:
This court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is ‘actually’ innocent.
No comments:
Post a Comment