Troy Davis - Global Day of Action, May 19

by duo | May 18, 2009 at 03:09 pm

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Amnesty International announced a Global Day of Action for Troy Davis is Tuesday, May 19, 2009. Davis was denied a new trial despite much new evidence pointing to his innocence. His stay of execution ended this month. A death warrant could be issued for him at any time.

"Troy Davis was convicted of murdering a Georgia police officer in 1991. Nearly two decades later, Davis remains on death row – even though the case against him has completely fallen apart." ~ Quote from Amnesty International's website.

Millions of people are convinced that Troy Davis is innocent, or at least that his case deserves a new trial.

TROY DAVIS DENIED NEW TRIAL - NO SURPRISE TO THE NEALS
http://my.nowpublic.com/world/troy-davis-appeal-denied-ga-court-no-surprise-neal-family

Lawyers who work for justice for Mr. Davis should read the article at the link above and learn a thing or two about Georgia judges. Lawyers quoted case law and talked to judges about the Constitution and justice, none of which seem to matter in Georgia courts.

THEY SHOULD HAVE TRIED $OMETHING EL$E!

Excerpts from Amnesty International's announcement regarding the Global Day of Action for Troy Davis are below.

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Amnesty International
FINALTY OVER FAIRNESS
http://www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/troy-davis-finality-over-fairness/page.do?id=1011343

May 19: Participate in the Global Day of Action for Troy Davis

Troy Davis, a man who may well be innocent, has a 30-day stay of execution that is about to expire. No court has yet held a hearing on the new evidence of tainted testimony, yet they are willing to end his life. On May 19th, every person can help make a difference by participating in any activity, event or creative action that calls attention to the injustice of his case.

» Find out what Global Day activities are happening in your state
» Organize and register your own Global Day of Action for Troy Davis event
» Download and print the May 19 Atlanta rally flyer
» Don't forget: Share pictures from your Day of Action events or activities
» Don't forget: Give us feedback on your Day of Action

HANDPRINT PETITION FOR TROY DAVIS

Each step of the way, authorities have continued to try to wash their hands of their responsibility to ensure that justice is achieved and an innocent man is not executed. No more! Please help us create one segment of a very long, visually striking, cloth petition to Georgia authorities. We will attach them all together. » Help us create a massive petition for justice!

LATEST NEWS ON TROY DAVIS

The Court extended Davis' stay of execution for 30 days to give him a chance to file a habeas corpus petition with the US Supreme Court. » More information on the court's decision and case background

See the Amnesty International link "Finalty Over Fairness" for the full article and useful links.

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Executions without irrefutable proof of guilt occur frequently, and the condemned persons are not always black. Regarding Troy Davis, Georgia is prepared to kill a likely innocent man who was denied a new trial like Philip Workman, who was executed in Tennessee in May 2007. Davis, an African American, and Workman, a white man, were both convicted of being cop killers. Serious doubts remain regarding Workman's guilt. So much evidence pointed to Workman's innocence that even the daughter of the murder victim, Officer Oliver, believed Workman was innocent and advocated for his life to be spared. During that 17 years while Workman was on death row, the murder case against him fell apart, which included testimony from Shelby County's chief medical examiner, Dr. O. C. Smith. Dr. Smith incurred a federal indictment for staging his own kidnapping and pinning notes on his person accusing himself of lying in Workman's trial. See how it turned out link below.

DID TENNESSEE EXECUTE AN INNOCENT MAN - PHILIP WORKMAN?
http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/1145817

Thomas Arthur is also a Caucasian who was denied the opportunity to prove his innocence. In Arthur's case, only DNA testing was needed, but the courts and Alabama's governor repeatedly refused to allow testing. In fact, another man confessed to the murder Arthur is meant to die for, but even that did not help Arthur. Arthur had a close brush with the lethal injection table last July, but was issued a stay of execution. He was recently granted post-conviction DNA testing. Depending on the outcome of Arthur’s test, he could be freed like 237 other persons who were exonerated to date. The U.S. Supreme Court is presently deliberating on whether all inmates should have the right for post-conviction DNA testing, which is now decided on a state-by-state basis. See more at the link below, including information on where your state stands on the issue:

Supreme Court's DNA Deliberations, by Mary Neal
http://my.nowpublic.com/world/supreme-courts-dna-deliberations-mary-neal

Hog-Killing Season

In the South, we used to have something called "hog-killing season." Folks would gather around a neighbor's farm and the men would kill hogs. I saw hogs killed that way once while looking out of the window to my high school band classroom. There was a keg of beer and several men and women standing around in a yard with music playing. Meat was cooking on an outside grill. The folks were laughing and having a fine time. I thought it was just a backyard barbeque.

Then there were loud squeals, and I looked again. The men had several hogs lined up one-by-one, with each man holding a pig trapped between his legs. The men straddled the hogs and had their arms around the pigs' necks. Maybe they had no ropes or just enjoyed the contact. The pigs were getting their heads bashed in by a big man wielding a huge sledgehammer! Some places, they shoot hogs, but I suppose because we were inside the town limits, they could not shoot them. The people laughed as they worked. They sure enjoyed killing those animals.

The pig that was squealing loudest had not been dealt a fatal blow. He was running around the yard keeping up as much commotion as he could with blood flowing from a gapping wound in the center of his head. That really tickled the folks as they ran to catch the pig. It seemed that the hog that tried to get away gave them the biggest laugh as they hauled him right back to the executioner and kept drinking their beer. Men teased the guy with the sledgehammer, saying he wasn't strong as he used to be since he missed killing the poor animal with a single blow.

"Let me do it!" a younger man shouted, and they all laughed some more.

These days, people who live in Georgia and Tennessee and Texas and other Southern states don't raise our own pigs much any more. Now, not only can we not kill pigs in city limits, but we cannot even raise livestock in city limits. Without farming as an outlet for Southerners' killer instinct and with lynching black people without a court order being a problem, Southerners cling to capital punishment and execute more inmates than in other regions of the country.

If it looks like someone targeted for execution might get away through a new trial, like Philip Workman and Troy Davis, our Southern judges do everything possible to stop the escape, like the people killing hogs in my analogy. Georgia justice apparently does not intend for Amnesty International or anyone else steal their joy of killing Troy Davis - innocent or not! In fact, it seems important to prevent a new trial in order to maintain the legal right to execute Davis. All but 2 of the original 9 witnesses used to convict Troy recanted or tainted their testimony, and of the two that are left, one was said by some people in Savannah to be the actual murderer and the other is his friend. If Troy Davis had a new trial and was exonerated, starting over to gather evidence might put Georgians years away from a long-awaited backyard massacre.

The Amnesty International lawyers and international community need to understand Southerners better. I wrote about how much Southerners enjoy a good slaughter in an article regarding Thomas Arthur (who was recently granted the right to test his DNA evidence).

Thomas Arthur Doesn't Get It! Executions Are Fun for Folks - No Offense Intended
http://my.nowpublic.com/world/thomas-arthur-doesnt-get-it-executions-are-fun-folks-no-offense-intended-mary-neal

New Mexico recently repealed capital punishment, and 10 other states are considering following suit. Their reasons are not exclusively humanitarian. Each person on death row costs taxpayers an estimated $90,000 more per year than inmates in maximum-security prisons serving life sentences. See more about that and other reasons why capital punishment is being reconsidered at this link:

Killing Inmates is Costly ~ Cheaper to Watch TV (with Torture Videos)
http://my.nowpublic.com/world/killing-inmates-costly-cheaper-watch-tv-w-torture-videos

DEATH TO THE DEATH PENALTY!

More articles regarding capital punishment and other justice issues by this author are available at: http://NowPublic.com/duo, or just click on the dog. (The dogs icon represents people who are "dogged out" in America's justice system.)

Your feedback is invited in the rich text comment field below.

Mary Neal
Website: http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://Care2.com/c2c/groups/AIMI

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duo

at 14:56 on June 21st, 2009

Hello, NP and reading public. When I first heard about Troy Davis last year, I cried. I read about many unjust things, so I could not understand my reaction. Only one or two stories brought me to tears - Troy's and the two little boys who were murdered by a schizophrenic neighbor whose cry for help regarding his mental condition was ignored. It happened in Arizona at Christmastime.

Murder for Christmas: AZ Schizophrenic Man Bludgeoned Youngsters
http://my.nowpublic.com/health/murder-christmas-az-schizophrenic-man-bludgeoned-youngsters

As I read more about Troy Davis and saw all the wonderful support for him, I worried less about him. I was convinced that he was certain to get a new trial and have the chance to prove his innocence. The denials that got us to this point today surprised me. When I first read about Troy, I still BELIEVED. I knew last summer that there were some rotten apples in our justice basket, but I still believed they were rare and that most people involved in law and order were heroes worthy of our trust.

I BELIEVED in people like COLUMBO, PERRY MASON, and the MIAMI VICE cops! I BELIEVED that most politicians, police officers, lawyers, and judges were committed to upholding liberty and equal justice for all, catching the bad guys, and exonerating the innocent, avenging wrongs, punishing the right people for crimes - in other words - serving and protecting. I since learned I was very wrong. All my life, I have believed in television justice. That is not what really happens. The basket is actually filled with smelly, rotten fruit with fruit flies circling.  There is a rare apple that might only have one or two worm holes. That is the reality of America's justice system.

Within the last year or so, I found out that innocent people die in the justice system all the time, not just my brother, Larry, and not by accident. We actually have a very criminal justice system wherein people are deliberately murdered; innocent people are denied new trials and the opportunity to test their DNA evidence; and 1.25 million mentally dysfunctional people are incarcerated, many of whom are spending 23 hours daily in "the hole," suffering solitary confinement for being sick. That is the reality - no TV justice is happening. If so, it happens rarely.

You should hear some of the stories from people who braved the rain to walk with us on Saturday, May 16, at the postponed Human Rights for Prisoners March in Atlanta. One attendee has a brother who was arrested at his home during a domestic dispute. The girlfriend was not even hit once, just pushed. The man was arrested for spitting on police, but he was not doing that. Police sprayed him with pepper spray, and he was sputtering and wiping his eyes, trying to see and breathe! The judge sentenced him to 11 years for assault on police officers! He is a white man. I suppose a brother would have gotten a life sentence without parole!. That is what happens in our justice system nowadays. Cruelty by our "protectors."

Since I learned more about "justice" in the U.S.A., I am very afraid for Troy Davis again. Now I understand why I cried when I first saw his picture and read about his case. TROY DAVIS COULD REALLY DIE WITHOUT HIS GUILT BEING PROVED! The innocence in me still expects a cavalry to come to Troy's rescue, but the cavalry came already - Amensty International came and gave it their all. They still are, but nothing makes America's unjust system of justice relent and give this condemned man a "fair day in a just court," to use Troy's own terminology.

So I appeal to you personally, please consider taking tomorrow afternoon off, if you can, and attend a rally for justice for Troy. The activities planned are listed at the Amnesty International website at this link.

FINALTY OVER FAIRNESS
http://www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/troy-davis-finality-over-fairness/page.do?id=1011343

Remember, Georgia actually intends to kill Troy Davis, who has been granted three stays of execution but never a new trial - just like Philip Workman in Tennessee, who was executed May 9, 2007. He said goodbye to his family four times. Three times, Workman got stays of execution but never a new trial - like Troy. The fourth goodbye was final.

The picture above shows Troy Davis muzzled - denied the privilege to speak for himself. The witnesses who are ready to recant their testimony are also muzzled.  Some of them would tell how they were pushed by police to perjure themselves, you see. When justice involves showing up the injustice on the part of the lawmakers and law officers, censorship happens. The way they chose to censor Troy Davis and those witnesses was to keep them out of court - even if it means killing an innocent person. They'd love to shut me up, too, but God is my strong tower and everlasting protector. He hides me under His wing, and says, "Type, daughter! Type!" See FIO Request to USDOJ from Mary Neal
http://my.nowpublic.com/health/foi-request-usdoj-re-larry-neal-and-cochran-firm-fraud

So I beg you to join all of us who are doing what we can to try to save Troy Davis. Please find a protest to attend tomorrow while Troy yet breathes!  To discover he was definitely innocent 10 years from now when Troy lays cold in his grave and hold a candlelight vigil will not do! Come out strong for Troy Davis tomorrow, May 19. Come out strong for Justice!

If you are able, donate to AI. They do an awesome job. www.amnesty.org/en/donate

________________

JUSTICE UPDATE - 6/20/09

Supreme Court DNA Ruling: Prisoners have no right to post-conviction DNA testing
and
Study Shows the Death Penalty Is No Crime Deterrent

http://my.nowpublic.com/culture/supreme-court-dna-ruling-study-shows-dp-no-crime-deterrent

THE RESULTS ARE IN. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 against prisoners having a right to post-conviction DNA testing that could be used to prove their innocence of crimes for which they were sentenced to prison terms or execution. Secondly, the world's top criminologists agree that capital punishment does not deter crime, according to a study by Chicago's Northwestern University.

Since the Supreme Court ruled against inmates' DNA testing rights, the Innocence Project is focusing on getting post-conviction DNA testing passed in all 50 states. Four states have NO provisions for post-conviction DNA testing, and some allow it ONLY for death sentences.

Sometimes, poor people who are innocent plea bargain to avoid execution. They may not be condemned to death, but they deserve to prove their innocence, too.

INNOCENCE PROJECT PETITION FOR POST-CONVICTION DNA TESTING IN 50 STATES:   http://ip.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=DNAAccessPetition

Poor Troy Davis! This is the very same Supreme Court that is being asked to help Troy have justice, and the possibility of executing innocents does not seem to matter much to our justices based on the High Court's ruling regarding post-conviction DNA testing rights. Sad.

Blessings!

Mary Neal