13 CommentsLast night, Troy Davis was put to death by lethal injection for the 1989 murder of a police officer in Georgia. His execution was delayed for hours while the Supreme Court reviewed but ultimately refused an eleventh-hour appeal for clemency. Davis maintained his innocence until his death.
The Columbia Dems teamed up with BSO to organize a vigil at the Hartley quad at 8pm. Participants are wearing duct tape over the mouths for the entire day. “Since Troy Davis has been silenced, we will be as well,” reads the Facebook event page.
Two protesters at the sundial
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13 Comments
@Van Owen Shut yo mouth!
@this was the best dems event because they couldn’t bother the crap out of me by talking my ear off
@Mangrovve Do I have to be wearing transition lenses to a part of this protest here?
@Anonymous I love death penalty. *crowd cheers*
@Anonymous At least his death may not be in vain, as it may help people see the lunacy of executing people, and especially people we can’t be sure are guilty.
@I agree The death penalty is too ultimate of a punishment to execute ,especially when the possibility of executing innocent people exists. That being said, what is there to gain from executing guilty people? It seems that the death penalty is a form of collective vengeance. I would hope, that as civilized people, we could progress above such forms of barbarianism.
@Lawrence Brewer Two men died yesterday while proclaiming their innocence to the end.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/09/troy-davis-lawrence-brewer-2-executions-2-very-different-reactions.html
@Also None of the charges of racial bias hold any weight like they did in texas because a significant portion of the jury was black so I’m not really sure why BSO is involved.
@perhaps Because it is a case that the BSO is interested in…? Or are they only allowed to be involved when there is an overwhelming racial tone to an argument (which, by the way, despite the jury’s racial makeup, there is..). Don’t be ignorant (of the true undertones of the case and of the BSO’s aims as a student group).
@Bracing for downvotes As an outsider, a reasonably intelligent young person who pays attention to the media and tries to find a few different sources on a subject before passing judgement, it seems like there was a miscarriage of justice. 7 out of 9 eyewitnesses recanted, there was no physical evidence, there were several charges of police intimidation.
HOWEVER. the many judges who have heard this case over the last 20 years, including those on the supreme court, had all this information too and yet chose to uphold the verdict. These are not dumb people. They are experience, educated professionals who were able to carefully consider all the evidence available. I find it hard to believe that so many people with full access to the facts, knowledge of the law, and reason could be so wrong. Clearly, the public didn’t know the full story or some extenuating circumstances that made it clear to these judges that he was guilty.
@clearly you are an idealist that fails to see the many flaws of the legal system. unrelated to this case, there have been so many glaring examples of injustice and failure within the legal system, including wrongfully convicted criminals sentenced to incredible punishment. while we definitely do not know all the facts on the case and none of us are judges or even in the position to make a judgement call, the fact that 7 out of 9 witnesses came forward many years later, at a time when the racial climate is much more accepting and temperate (though this is not to say we live in a post racial society because we do NOT) i think it is more of a matter of reasonable doubt. i think that capital punishment was placed upon this man despite overwhelming evidence that there was reasonable doubt and that is incredible. that is a failure of the justice system. that said, i do respect the opinion you so coherently laid out (much more coherently than i just did).
@there was physical evidence bullet casings at the scene matched those found at another shooting which Davis was accused and convicted of. Also, while 7 witnesses did change their statements, much of their statements remained the same so saying they recanted their statements is a bit of an exaggeration.
@Anonymous “I can’t wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form, I will one day be announcing,
‘I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!'”