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NAACP Launches Campaign to Save Troy Davis & Address DP Prejudice
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by duo | June 11, 2009 at 07:08 pm
981 views | 13 Recommendations | 19 comments
THE NAACP plans a national campaign to be unveiled at its Centennial Convention July 11-16 in New York with the goal of achieving greater justice regarding people of color being sentenced to death at higher rates than whites. The nation's largest civil rights organization is working to save the life of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis by asking for people to send letters to Governor Perdue and for Savannah residents to contact the District Attorney Chisolm. A new website allows people to send an email directly to the Governor and the DA: www.IAMTROY.com
See the NAACP press release below, which is also being circulated via email.
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NAACP Launches Campaign To Save Innocent Man From Execution
TROY DAVIS COULD DIE WITHIN WEEKS - http://www.naacp.org/news/press/2009-06-10/
The NAACP is launching a campaign called “I AM TROY” to save the life of Troy Davis, an innocent African American man on death row, who will be executed unless Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue or the Savannah District Attorney Larry Chisolm intervene. The NAACP is calling on people to get involved and contact Governor Perdue or Savannah District Attorney Chisolm urging them to not allow the execution of an innocent man.
Davis has been on death row in Georgia for nearly 18 years for the murder of Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia. There is no physical evidence linking Davis to the crime and seven of the nine witnesses have recanted or contradicted their original testimony, several saying they were coerced. One of the witnesses who has not recanted is the prime alternative suspect in the case and has been in and out of jail numerous times. NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, who recently met with Mr. Davis for two hours on death row said, “Beyond a shadow of a doubt, this man is innocent.”
Troy had no prior criminal record and since he has been in prison, Davis has been a model prisoner and a valuable mentor to his young nephew, whose mother has breast cancer.
The courts have denied Troy an evidentiary hearing which would allow the evidence to be reexamined. A last ditch effort before the Supreme Court will be heard on June 25 but is not expected to prevail, and his execution could come within weeks following the decision. The NAACP, which filed an amicus brief in the case, urging Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to intervene. The new Savannah District Attorney, an African American, could also reopen the case, saving Troy’s life.
Davis is also being denied the right to speak to the media. 60 Minutes, Dateline, and other television programs are being denied access to interview him. While the prison will allow Troy to speak on the phone to reporters, “The denial of his right to speak to television is a flagrant abuse of his First Amendment rights”, says Jealous.
“It not only is morally wrong to put an innocent man to death, it does not bring justice to the victim’s family and allows a dangerous criminal to go free. We have witnessed scores of people wrongfully sentenced to death in our nation. Justice requires we not turn a blind eye to killing another innocent man – a travesty that can never be rectified.” Jealous said.
Prominent politicians and leaders, including President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Presidential candidate Bob Barr and former FBI Director and Judge William S. Sessions have all called for Davis to be given a new trial or evidentiary hearing.
The NAACP is asking for people to send letters to Governor Perdue and for Savannah residents to contact the District Attorney Chisolm. A new website, www.IAMTROY.com allows people to send an email directly to the Governor and the DA.
More than 60% of the people in prison are people of color and African Americans make up more than 40% of those on death row.
The NAACP will unveil a national campaign at its Centennial Convention July 11-16 in New York aimed towards reversing those trends. The campaign’s overarching goals are to make communities safer, improve police performance, save money and end the mass incarceration that characterizes our country’s criminal justice system. The campaign will include ongoing efforts to save the lives of potentially innocent men such as, Davis and Reggie Clemons, another African American man from St. Louis, Missouri sentenced to death for the murder of two white girls. There was no physical evidence linking Reggie to the crime: no fingerprints, no DNA, no hair or fiber samples; nonetheless, Clemons was convicted and is scheduled to be executed on June 17 of this year.
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.
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MARY’S COMMENTARY
A presidential pardon would be in order for Troy Davis and would be in keeping with the Obama administration's commitment to equal justice and open disclosure. Troy Davis is an African American man who was tried for the 1989 murder of a white police officer in a state where some public high schools still have segregated proms. In the sentencing phase of the trial, Davis' family members and close friends were not allowed to testify, preventing the jurors from hearing sympathetic facts, leaving them to rely only on the prosecutor's characterizations of Davis and his life (Wikipedia). The State of Georgia paid a pitiful amount for his defense on the capital murder charge – less than $2,000. Some of the prosecution’s witnesses later withdrew their testimony against Davis and revealed that police coerced them into making false statements against him. Despite three stays of execution, Davis has repeatedly been denied a new trial, and he now lives under a gag order that prevents him from speaking to press about his new evidence. Neither “equal justice” nor “open disclosure” can be terms used to describe Troy Davis’ case.
Hundreds of thousands of people of different races and many nationalities agree that it would be wrong to execute Troy Davis, whose guilt is not proved. The world has witnessed enough prisoner torture and deaths at the hands of America’s justice system. There is reason for concern about domestic peace if Troy Davis is executed without the benefit of a new trial. I urge President Obama to exercise his presidential power to pardon this likely innocent man if the U.S. Supreme Court does not move for a new trial and Governor Purdue refuses to pardon Davis.
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See more articles by this writer regarding the Troy Davis case and other justice issues at this link: http://NowPublic.com/duo
Your feedback is invited in the rich text comment field below.
Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI
What is NowPublic?
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duo
Stone Mountain, Georgia, United States
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Recommendations (13)
harringtola
Town-send, Massachusetts, United States
politisite
Columbia, South Carolina, United States
Anonymous user
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (19)
at 20:09 on June 11th, 2009
I am against the death penalty exactly for the reasons you outline. Justice should be blind and even. Folks should not get the best justice money could buy. If Obama really wants to reach out to minorities he will develop universal legal service so that OJ Simpson gets the same defense as Jon Doe #25. Until Justice is blind and everyone has equal protection under the law, I cant agree with death by legal system.
at 20:25 on June 11th, 2009
Thank you, Politisite. You said it all.
at 03:45 on June 12th, 2009
Romans 2:19
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay,” saith the Lord.
at 16:27 on June 12th, 2009
Thanks for this New Testament verse. Perhaps you noticed that some decision makers quote the Old Testament whenever they want to execute someone or have a war. There is much righteous indignation in the Old Testament. But they quote the New Testament whenever they need God's grace for themselves. The New Testament is full of messages of loving kindness and forgiveness that they apply to their own misdeeds only.
Troy probably doesn't need forgiveness for a murder. I don't think folks who want to execute him really believe that either, or why gag him and deny him a new trial? Usually people are hushed up to prevent the truth from coming out - not lies that can be refuted with substantial evidence.
Blessings!
at 09:52 on June 14th, 2009
I was using the verse in opposition to the death penalty, depending upon his /her beliefs that only the Lord has the right to vengeance. I do agree that law makers use verses from the Bible whenever it suits their situation, which I think is a travesty and a bastardization of the true meaning for which the book was wriitten in the first place ( and the cause of many wars, for that matter). It seems awfully suspect that this guy is gagged and cant get a new trial...thats for sure.
at 09:59 on June 14th, 2009
Thank you, Liquilite. I recognized that you were speaking in Troy's defense. That is why I thanked you for using a New Testament verse. You are so right. Lots of people behind bars say "I didn't do it!" and no one gags them. Why gag Troy Davis? What are they afraid that he will do - PROVE his innocence to the world court, since he is denied doing so before an appeals court?
I really appreciate your comment, and I meant to recommend it. I will do that right now.
Blessings!
at 03:53 on June 12th, 2009
wow, 2 grand for the defense, scary! no wonder so many young lawyers itch to work for the defense for practically nothing, they know how flawed our system is.
can't help but believe that if the person killed were other than an officer, would the state be so eager to hold Troy and deny him his right to justice?
at 19:24 on June 12th, 2009
Thanks for your comments, Attila. Anyone would think that because the victim was a police officer, officials would be even more careful to ensure that the right person is punished. However, I have discovered that in Georgia, a well-connected attorney can get outcomes that defy decency, justice, and common sense. It is too bad Davis probably lacked the finances to hire an influential attorney like Sylvester Coles did.when the police first began their inquiry about the officer's murder. IF YOU EVER GET IN TROUBLE IN SAVANNAH, TRY TO GET COLE'S LAWYER OR SOMEONE LIKE HIM. Wikipedia reports the following:at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Davis_case
ON AUGUST 19, 1989, MARK MacPHAIL, an off-duty policeman, was working as a security guard at a Burger King restaurant in Savannah, Georgia. The incident started when Sylvester “Redd” Coles began harassing a homeless man, Larry Young, for a beer while Troy Davis and others watched quietly from a distance.[4] Coles verbally harassed and chased the homeless man to a nearby parking lot where MacPhail was working. Coles threatened the retreating homeless man by exclaiming: “You don’t know me. Don’t walk away from me. I’ll shoot you.” Davis and others silently followed the scuffle.[4] The homeless man yelled for help and MacPhail responded and was shot dead with a .38 caliber weapon. The parking lot was dark and the scene was chaotic.
Coles initially lied about carrying the .38 caliber revolver, but later admitted to carrying it with him on the night of the murder. He claimed that it was lost when the police attempted to recover the gun for testing.[4]
After the police swarmed his neighborhood looking for suspects, Redd Coles and his attorney approached the police to exonerate Coles and implicate Troy Davis. Before the police discovered Coles' lies, however, the police had issued an arrest warrant for Davis without corroborating any part of Coles’ story.[4] After the warrant was issued, Davis’ picture was plastered on wanted posters and in the local Savannah media. Davis stated that Coles had shot MacPhail.[4]
The police search of Davis' house less than 24 hours after the shooting turned up no gun.[4]
The police never searched Coles’ house for the murder weapon, never included Coles’ picture in witness photo spreads, and paraded Coles in front of four State witnesses as a mere bystander in a crime scene “reenactment.”[4]
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Keep in mind that there were other young men at the scene, also - not just Troy Davis and Sylvester Coles. Wikipedia describes the scene as being dark and chaotic.
Poor Troy. Not only did Troy not hurry and get an attorney before Officer MacPhail's body got cold like Mr. Coles did, but Troy had terrible defense during a time of major budget cuts for public defenders. There was a severe shortage of personnel to investigate the capital murder charge and defend Davis. For instance, the appeals attorney Troy was assigned had 79 other cases she was trying to handle simultaneous to Troy's!
And how do you like that police investigation? That's not how they do it on television shows, is it? TV detectives corroborate everyone's story who is at the scene of a crime. They would be particularly careful to substantiate accounts by someone like Coles, who admitted to lying to police about having a .38, the type of gun that killed Officer MacPhail. TV cops would have searched Coles' property, and all the young men at the scene would have been suspects until they could be eliminated by evidence. Sherlock Holmes would not have limited his search to the home of the guy Coles and his attorney implicated. I suppose Savannah police don't watch enough Columbo.
at 16:21 on June 12th, 2009
NAACP ANNOUNCEMENT
6/12/09
Director Benjamin Jealous Is Appearing on HBO Tonight, June 12, to Discuss the Troy Davis Case
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Dear Mary,
Tonight I will be on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher talking about the most compelling case of innocence in several decades. I just met with Troy Anthony Davis, an African-American man in Georgia facing execution for a murder that all the evidence says he didn't commit.
I need your help to save Troy's life. Please visit our new campaign site, www.IAmTroy.com, to take action to stop his execution, which could be scheduled as soon as next month.
There is no physical evidence linking him to the crime and seven of the nine eyewitnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimonies. Some say they were coerced to lie by Savannah police. He has been on death row 18 years.
This NAACP campaign is not just online. NAACP organizers are on the streets and in the churches in Savannah, Georgia, working to persuade the new Chatham County District Attorney, Larry Chisolm, to reopen the case. Sign the petition now and organizers will hand it to the DA and Georgia's governor as well. This campaign is part of a larger NAACP program to reform our criminal justice system and end the mass imprisonment of our young people.
I hope you will also pass this e-mail along to your friends and ask them to sign the petition or buy an "I Am Troy" t-shirt and wear it to let other people know how they can help save Troy from wrongful execution.
Please, visit www.IAmTroy.com today and take two minutes to sign the petition.
With your help, we can save this innocent man's life.
Benjamin Todd Jealous
President and CEO
NAACP
©2009 NAACP, 4805 Mt. Hope Drive, Baltimore, MD 21215
at 16:35 on June 12th, 2009
Have you ever considered how odd it would be for someone's FIRST CRIME to be murder - not just any murder, but the murder of a police officer? That seems rather far-fetched for a first offense. I don't buy it.
at 18:56 on June 12th, 2009
save Troy he is innocent
at 19:18 on June 12th, 2009
Thanks for commenting, Barbara.
at 19:54 on June 12th, 2009
Thank you again, NowPublic. We made front page with this news at Care2 News Network. This means that it will be carried to any of Care2's 9 million members who elected to receive Care2 News in their emails and on RSS feed. Because Troy Davis is under a gag order, it is more important than ever for people of conscience to speak up for him. Thank you so much for giving a place for regular people like Troy Davis and me to get our justice issues before the public via the world wide web.
Through efforts like this article, by reading your comments and seeing your recommendations, the World can see that UNITED WE STAND FOR JUSTICE. We are not divided along racial lines. That old America - that racist world - is gone forever!
See the second link for comments and notes by Care2 members.
Congratulations! The Care2 Community has promoted your submission to
the Care2 News Network Front Page.
In recognition for this outstanding achievement, you've
also been awarded a "Golden Note".
Thank you for contributing to the Care2 Community!
- The Care2 Team
BLESS YOU FOR CARING.
at 14:39 on August 23rd, 2009
I am so ashamed of honestly having to say i have just now heard of this story of troy davis I am a african Americam woman who lives in maine and stories as this are hard to come by. Since hearing of this i have done nothing but research asked others read the story over and over I do not buy it. Why would he have a gag order there is no real evidence that this man is guilty of anything except being another black man in the wrong place at the right time to be blamed for another white man;s death. The police work was very shabby and the D.A. of this town should be embarrassed of the investigations of their police team. I have no doubt Mr. Troy Davis is innocent. And if he had the monied to hire a top notch lawyer he would not have this hanging over him now. Isn't it time for America to wake up and see there is no justice it is just us and we need to get the same representation in the court systen no matter our race, or wealth.
at 21:07 on June 12th, 2009
I'm watching you on Bill Maher right now in Seattle, and you need more airtime...you are right on...so is Bill...Matthews is an asshole and the right wing Republicunt in the middle don't know whether to shit or go blind...haw...keep up the good work.
at 22:39 on June 12th, 2009
Thank you, Loup. I only write about these matters, but I am glad that you are enjoying the telecast. It is awful what Troy Davis and his family go through. I wish someone cared enough about Officer MacPhail's family to fully investigate and determine once and for all - WHO DONE IT? Sometimes when there are these many questions remaining, families of the deceased push for more investigation.
at 21:12 on July 1st, 2009
From Amnesty International re: Troy Davis
The U.S. Supreme Court delayed a decision on whether to grant Troy Davis an appeal until after it returns from recess in September. The court's decision (or non-decision) should be taken as a good sign. It gives us hope that at least some Supreme Court Justices may finally be waking up to the strong claims of innocence in this case and want to take more time to weigh the facts.
We are convinced that if the justices agree to hold a hearing and allow all evidence to be weighed, then they will come to see what we have known all along – the pieces just don't add up. When Davis was sentenced to death for the 1989 shooting of a police officer in Savannah, there was an absence of any physical evidence against him. Furthermore, the majority of witnesses who testified against him then, have now recanted or changed their stories altogether.
Troy's case continues to inspire the support of millions of activists and countless leaders speaking on behalf of human rights, including former President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond TuTu.
Our activism has already put the U.S. Supreme Court and Georgia officials on the fence. Now we've got to do all we can these next couple of months to guarantee justice for Troy Davis!
PLEASE SIGN THE AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PETITION TO RE-OPEN OFFICER MacPHAIL'S MURDER INVESTIGATION: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=12361
Then, forward the link onto everyone you know!
Troy's life continues to be saved because of people like you who take the time to make the difference.
Thank you,
–Laura Moye, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign Director
P.S. Stay informed of the latest Troy news by checking back here: http://amnestyusa.org/troy
at 11:13 on July 2nd, 2009
Dear Governor and whoever else in power:
Please, please--do what is right! What more proof do you need to prove Troy Davis innocent? All the so-called witnesses who have recanted their stories, all the respected character witnesses who have vouched for Mr. Davis. Talk about "cruel and unjust punishment"--all the years, days, minutes, Mr. Davis has already suffered in jail! This is America! One is innocent until PROVEN guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt!
Please, we implore you to do what is right in the eyes of the laws of our great country! Please show the world, show us we still can trust our laws!
Very sincerely,
Jim and Yoshie Tanabe
at 13:23 on July 2nd, 2009
Thanks for your comments, Jim and Yoshie. We trust our laws. The legislative branch of the government usually does a fine job drafting fair laws, but can we trust the legal process and the people who work in the very criminal justice system? That is the issue.
We appreiciate your using this forum to express your concern for Troy and plead for fairness in his defense. Please check for more articles on Troy Davis and other justice issues by this writer at http://NowPublic.com/duo
Blessings!