the death of an innocent man

last night, an innocent man died.  this time, as in far too many other times, it was at the hand of the state.  troy davis spent nearly half his life awaiting execution.  he was innocent (if you don't believe me, check out his story) and yet he was killed.

a friend posted that she was about to lose all faith in the justice system.  someone else replied that as messed up as it is, it's "better than a mob lynching you or stoning you to death."  to that i have to ask: is it?  is troy davis' execution anything other than legal lynching by another method?

officer macphail's murder is a tragedy and justice needs to be served, but high emotional stakes coercing eye witness testimonies and preventing people from hearing and seeing the truth led to the unjust execution of one more black man accused of killing a white man.  not only that, but in the days and hours leading up to his execution, the delays and denials and second chances at hope amounted to emotional torture.  to state minutes before the scheduled execution that there will be a delay for a final appeal and then three hours later to deny the appeal is pointless.  it would've been better to have executed him like you did anyway than to have a show of seeking justice, which was not found.  

while justice may be blind, the justice system is not.  it is made up of fallible humans who come to every trial with their own biases.  troy davis maintained his innocence until his last breath.  in his final statement he reached out to the macphail family asking them to look deeper into the case so that they can find the truth about what happened that night.  then in close he said, "i ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight.  for those about to take my life, god have mercy on your souls.  and may god bless your souls."


no one deserves to be killed.  troy davis didn't even deserve "guilty."


last night i did weep.  i wept for troy davis, i prayed for troy davis.  georgia representative john lewis stated last night, "do not weep for troy anthony davis, he will be with god, weep for georgia and for our nation.  capital punishment is barbaric."  today i weep for georgia and for our country and i pray for all our souls.