Corrections Officials Sign-On for Troy Davis

[EFerrari]

Date of Publication:
09/21/2011

Media Contact: Ron McAndrew, 352-342-1450 (EST) and Jeanne Woodford, 415-243-0143 (PST)

ATLANTA, GEORGIA-This morning, six retired corrections officials, including Dr. Allen Ault, retired Director of the Georgia Department of Corrections and former Warden of the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison where he oversaw executions for the state, have sent the following letter to Georgia Corrections Officials and Governor Nathan Deal asking them to urge the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider the decision they made on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 to deny Troy Davis Clemency despite concerns about his guilt. Davis is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00pm at Georgia Diagnostics & Classifications Prison in Jackson, Georgia.

Statement:
We write to you as former wardens and corrections officials who have had direct involvement in executions. Like few others in this country, we understand that you have a job to do in carrying out the lawful orders of the judiciary. We also understand, from our own personal experiences, the awful lifelong repercussions that come from participating in the execution of prisoners. While most of the prisoners whose executions we participated in accepted responsibility for the crimes for which they were punished, some of us have also executed prisoners who maintained their innocence until the end. It is those cases that are most haunting to an executioner.

We write to you today with the overwhelming concern that an innocent person could be executed in Georgia tonight. We know the legal process has exhausted itself in the case of Troy Anthony Davis, and yet, doubt about his guilt remains. This very fact will have an irreversible and damaging impact on your staff. Many people of significant standing share these concerns, including, notably, William Sessions, Director of the FBI under President Ronald Reagan.

Living with the nightmares is something that we know from experience. No one has the right to ask a public servant to take on a lifelong sentence of nagging doubt, and for some of us, shame and guilt. Should our justice system be causing so much harm to so many people when there is an alternative?

We urge you to ask the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider their decision. Should that fail, we urge you to unburden yourselves and your staff from the pain of participating in such a questionable execution to the extent possible by allowing any personnel so inclined to opt-out of activities related to the execution of Troy Anthony Davis. Further, we urge you to provide appropriate counseling to personnel who do choose to perform their job functions related to the execution. If we may be of assistance to you moving forward, please do not hesitate to call upon any of us.

Respectfully and collegially,

Allen Ault – Retired Warden, Georgia Diagnostic & Classifications Prison
Terry Collins – Retired Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Ron McAndrew – Retired Warden, Florida State Prison
Dennis O’Neill - Retired Warden, Florida State Prison
Reginald Wilkinson – Retired Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Jeanne Woodford – Retired Warden, San Quentin State Prison

http://www.schr.org/action/resources/corrections_officials_sign_on_for_troy_davis

Mods: There's no copyright issue with this press release.

[Parker CA]

1. Man, this is so so wrong. You'd think sanity would prevail. 1 hour and 32 mins left to make the

right choice.

[EFerrari]

4. We shoold be able to sue these assholes for forcing us to witness murder.

Amy is going to do special coverage, starting at 3pm West coast time.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. They get it

http://nadinbrzezinski.posterous.com/on-troy-davis-and-the-death-penality

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. I've been crossing my fingers...

[Nye Bevan]

5. Like a Grisham novel, in real life. Horrible (nt)

[Auntie Bush]

6. It's 6:48...less than15 min for the SC to stay the exacucion if they wantto.

If they don't...bet it's a 5-4 decision.

[EFerrari]

7. Larry Cox, head of Amnesty, made me cry with his speech at the press conference.

Amnesty has been fighting like I've never seen them fight before. Amy is broadcasting from the prison, It will likely be up on her site later tonight.

[Parker CA]

8. 9 mins to go. This is so F'd up. Geezus.