I oppose the execution of Troy Davis

[bluestateguy]

The more I have educated myself about this case the more I feel that there are very real concerns about not only his having had a fair trial, but his actual guilt or innocence.

In such cases the execution must be called off.

[Kennah]

1. When 7 of 9 prosecution witnesses recant, the doubt becomes about as reasonable as one can get.

Former Congressman Bob Barr (GA-R) and former FBI Director William Sessions, who served under Reagan and Bush I, have also joined in the call for a new trial.

Barr is a former Federal Prosecutor and Sessions is a former U.S. District Court Judge.

If Georgia kills Troy Davis, he may turn out to their Cameron Todd Willingham.

[Mnemosyne]

2. K&R...

[MrSlayer]

3. I'm a proponent of capital punishment and I oppose this execution wholeheartedly.

This is a prime example of a case where there is more than reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt and, as such, the execution must be put on hold until his guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt or he's exonerated. There is no reason why he cannot be held until either of these criteria are met and if they cannot be there is no reason why a life sentence wouldn't be enough. If you're going to execute people, you must be 100% right.

[Logical]

4. Your logic makes no sense. And anyone who says they are pro death penalty....

but "not in this case" has not thought 30 minutes about this subject.

LOL....unbelievable.

I read this statement all the time....."I am for the death peanlty when they are 100% sure the person did it!" which is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard.

Here is a simple thing for you to remember...."EVERY JURY THINKS THEY WERE 100% SURE"

Read about the Innocence Project Stats and get back to me.

[MrSlayer]

7. No need to be an asshole but I suppose some people can't help it.

First of all, not every jury thinks they're 100% sure of their verdicts. Hell, just in the recent Casey Anthony case more than one juror felt she did it but the prosecutor hadn't fully proved his case. Secondly, there are absolutely airtight, no doubt about it cases when it comes to capital punishment. Those are the ones that should be dealt with forthwith. I am for the death penalty where it is deserved and I'm for holding it back if there is doubt. It's not a hard position to hold nor is it contradictory in any way. Maybe you should consider changing your username.

[Logical]

8. Wow, not even an attempt at explaining your twisted logic. I know....

you have a "Gut Feeling" about when it is justified and not.

So your logic is to have a second process that "really makes sure the person is guilty". OK, makes perfect sense. Like maybe an appeal court? They should be able to make 100% sure no innocent person gets killed? Right? Once again you have no clue what you are talking about!

Please explain how the the death penalty helps society except to make you feel better.

And since you are too lazy, here is a link for you. Especially read about the persons who "confessed" who were later found innocent from DNA evidence.

http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/How_many_people_have_been_exonerated_through_DNA_testing.php

[Hippo_Tron]

9. I'm against the death penalty, but I find the concept of 100% certainty of guilt interesting

To play devil's advocate, would you say it's 100% certain that Jared Loughner is guilty of the crimes he is accused of or is there some tiny fraction of a percentage of a doubt?

I'm not asking whether or not he ought to be executed (he absolutely shouldn't be IMO), just whether or not there is 100% certainty that he's guilty.

[Logical]

10. Well, once again. I assume most jurys think the person is 100% guilty before....

implementing the death sentence. And remember many appeal courts review the cases also.

Sure, some cases are more obvious than others. But how do you have anyone executed if you are not 100% sure?

[Hippo_Tron]

13. Personally I don't believe in 100% certainty

As I said below, I believe Jared Loughner types come about as close to the theoretical maximum of 100% certainty as you can get. But I still believe that it's impossible to break the 100% threshold.

[Logical]

14. I agree, Loughner would be one of the 100% cases if any are.

[Hippo_Tron]

12. Out of curiosity what's your standard for 100% proof?

Personally I'm against the death penalty and part of it is that I don't believe there is such a thing as 100% right when it comes to proving guilt. I think you can be 99.99999999 (continue the 9's until the run off the page) percent certain, but never 100%.

So lets take a case like Jared Loughner, where you'd say there's a 100% chance he's guilty and I'd say that there's a theoretical maximum at 100% but Jared Loughner is as close as you can get to that. That's a case in which I would imagine you would support the death penalty. I'd argue against it for other reasons, but the possibility of his innocence wouldn't be one of them, given that the odds are so small that I can't fathom how he could be innocent.

So is your standard that there needs to be a mass killing with dozens of eyewitnesses and no fathomable theory that anything else could have happened? Or do you require less evidence than that to support an execution?

BTW, I definitely don't mean to be provocative here. I want to have a serious discussion about this.

[Gregorian]

5. Half a million signatures were submitted today.

If they don't listen to us, then not only... no. I don't want to do there. We've got to get everyone on this train. Blast them with our voices!

[Number23]

16. I have no idea what good it would do

But here is the link to the petition. http://www.change.org/petitions/7-of-9-witnesses-say-my-brother-is-innocent-stop-troy-davis-execution-on-sep-21

Maybe another half a million signatures would mean something.

[spanone]

6. i oppose the killing of anyone.

[handmade34]

11. wish I could get to Atlanta... please do what you can!!

“If I knew then what I know now, Troy Davis would not be on death row. The verdict would be ‘not guilty. ’ ”
— Brenda Forest
juror in Davis’ original trial

The State of Georgia has scheduled Troy Davis’ execution for Sept. 21.

Millions of U.S. and global activists are engaged in a massive effort to stop this legal lynching. They are signing petitions, organizing rallies and meetings, and contacting elected officials and other influential individuals. A Twitter account at hash tag Too Much Doubt is rapidly informing millions more.

Every avenue is being pursued to mobilize public opinion to influence the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board — which meets on Sept. 19 — to grant Davis clemency.

The governor-appointed five-member board has the authority to stop the execution. Although the board has previously denied Davis clemency, three new members have not heard all the details of his case.

On Sept. 15, organizational representatives and community members will deliver hundreds of thousands of petitions to the board’s offices.

Sept. 16 has been declared the International Day of Solidarity with Troy Davis. Protests will take place across the United States — in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Providence and elsewhere — and abroad.
http://www.iacenter.org/prisoners/troydavis091411a/
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/15/663000-names-on-petition-protesting-troy-davis-execution/
http://action.firedoglake.com/page/speakout/troydavis
http://rt.com/usa/news/fbi-troy-davis-sessions-659/

[alarimer]

15. I oppose the death penalty because we can never be 100% certain

Certainly there are some horrible people that deserve it (but probably not Davis) but the stakes are too high. We can never be certain enough.