Troy Davis

The final hour. I can't believe they couldn't stop this insanity. I don't know what else to say.

Agree. It's terrible.

I am going to cry! I can't believe it is going to happen in minutes. I have been on Twitter all day, advocating for his clemency. The corrections department shut down their email this afternoon because of the overwhelming amount of pleas, phone numbers for the department were jammed, and bus companies in the area donated services for protestors to get to the prison.

Tweeps from other countries were expressing their disappointment in this country. This is a very sad day for America - but I guess by now it shouldn't surprise me.

God Bless Troy Davis.

Nah, this is Georgia. The will execute him there just in case he did it.


If I were a member of the dead cop's family I would want them to find the person who truly did it.

Over on Daily Kos, they are saying that there is a stay...oh please don't let this be a cruel joke.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/14/troy-davis-death-penalty-lynching

this was from last week. This country is SO quick to pull the trigger.

JoanB wrote:Over on Daily Kos, they are saying that there is a stay...oh please don't let this be a cruel joke.

Watching MSNBC - no word yet on the execution and it was supposed to have happened 20 minutes ago. Please, let this mean there was a stay.

I just read that they struck down the last minute appeal. The judge refused to allow the stay.

State delaying, temporary reprieve, waiting for the Supreme Court - MSNBC update by Pete Williams.

Actually that was written 3 hours ago. nevermind. Sorry for the misinformation.

We need five of them...the chances aren't good for one of those meatsticks to grow a conscience tonight.

Just saw this tweet - boy, is it the truth!

Today Has Taught Me One Thing. I Will Never be as Ruthless & Heartless as Pro-Life, Right-Wing Christians. #TroyDavis #p2 #topprog
1 minute ago

Ain't that the truth, DIR!

It's in one man's hands now: Justice Kennedy. I can't imagine any of the other four seeing reason or having a heart on this. A grim reminder of why it still matters who's president, no matter how disappointed we may be.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/21/lawyers-file-appeal-to-stay-troy-davis-execution/

Georgia inmate Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for the 1989 murder of Mark MacPhail, an off-duty Savannah police officer. Supporters have sought to prevent the execution, saying seven of the nine witnesses against him have recanted or contradicted their testimony.

The execution was scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, but the state of Georgia has delayed it because the Supreme Court hasn't yet ruled on a request from Davis' lawyers to issue a stay.

Follow the latest developments here:

[Updated at 8:10 p.m.] The time that the U.S. Supreme Court is taking to rule on Davis' motion for a stay of execution is unusual, CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said. "Usually, it’s handled pretty promptly," Toobin said.

Davis' lawyers filed the motion at about 6 p.m., an hour before Davis' scheduled execution. The state attorney general's office filed a response shortly afterward.

The two hours that the court has had the motion is "not a long time, but it's long enough for (the nine justices) to respond and say, 'Go ahead,'" Toobin said. "So it does suggest that they’re taking this seriously, and there may be some disagreement.”

[Updated at 7:43 p.m.] After a brief moment of jubilation upon hearing that the execution hasn't yet happened, Davis' supporters – who have gathered outside the grounds of the prison where he is being held – are regrouping and talking about what might be next, CNN's Emma Lacey-Bordeaux reports. "Troy Davis can never die" is a common theme.

The state of Georgia isn't proceeding with the execution until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on Davis' request for a stay. Davis' attorneys filed the request about an hour before Davis' scheduled 7 p.m. execution.

Davis' supporters, who had been chanting, are now letting out cheers as drivers pass and honk their horns. Otherwise, the mood is tense as they wait for a development, Lacey-Bordeaux reports.

[Updated at 7:26 p.m.] The state of Georgia hasn't yet proceeded with the execution of Troy Davis, because it is waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on his request for a stay, CNN's Bill Mears reports.

Davis had been scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m. ET. His attorneys filed a motion asking the Supreme Court for a stay about an hour before the scheduled execution time.

[Updated at 7:06 p.m.] Inside the grounds of the prison where Davis is scheduled to be executed, about 100 people, including Davis' sister, have formed a tight circle and are praying and singing, CNN's Gustavo Valdes reports.

At this point, guilty or innocent, what they are doing to that man is inhumane!

If the state of Georgia does go through with this travesty of justice, there will be riots.

I can't imagine...just watching from a distance is gut-wrenching.

Here's the fine company we keep:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Death_Penalty_World_Map.svg

Nice, hunh?

The Supreme Court just denied the stay. Unbelievable that we have people with so much power who have no conscience.

Nobody worried about this poor guy, no outrage, no media.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TEXAS_EXECUTION_DRAGGING_DEATH?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-09-21-21-37-11

There is a world of difference between the two cases.

However, the family of the dragging victim asked the state not to execute his murderer.

The police officer's family seems to be pretty blood thirsty and want to see someone, anyone, die for their loss. I can tell you that it will not bring the person back or make them feel any better.

We are a bloodthirsty, vengeful, people. We must mature.

Big difference in this case, tristen! This was a heinous hate crime, by a self-proclaimed White supremacist gang member. There were no reasonable doubts in this case.

I am not saying it is right, I don't believe in the death penalty, it is geared towards the poor who can't afford their own attorneys.

By the way, the state of Georgia just murdered an innocent man at 11:08 p.m. Sad day for this already broken country.

He was executed at 11:08 p.m.

I don't agree with the death penalty and until all sentences are protested picking and choosing won't help or stop them from happening. As for him being innocent that is highly debatable.
Life in prison is far more a punishment then a death sentence (and in the case of the innocent allows for mistakes to be corrected). I do not believe a civilized society kills its own in any circumstances.

It seems clear to me that it is indeed possible for innocent people to be executed. The possibility that even one innocent person can be killed trumps whatever justifications can be given for the death penalty imho. I cannot understand why the death penalty has such wide support.

Rhode Island executed an innocent man in the late 1940's. The death penalty was abolished here shortly after. The innocent person who was hung was recently pardoned by the governor.

People like the death penalty because they like to see people receive punishment. We are very vengeful as a society. I really think it stems from feeling powerless on almost any level. People feel controlled and powerless at work, controlled and powerless in government, controlled and powerless in the world, and when someone, not you, gets sentenced to death they like to see it carried out. Someone got what they deserve. It doesn't matter if they were innocent or could have been innocent. This is the same reason that we can't have decent health care in this country. People feel powerless and victimized and can't stand the thought that someone might get it for free.

No one ever thinks that they might be wrongly accused of something someday. It never crosses their minds.

It's said really.