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Troy Davis

Cara

UPDATE 2: Speechless.

UPDATE: Some people are having trouble getting through, receiving message instead that says “the mailbox is full.” The good news is the reason for this — they’re just getting too many calls! If you keep trying, you should get through. The number given below is correct, but Color of Change has provided an alternative number of 404-656-5712, which you can also try.

From Color of Change:

In just over a week, Georgia may execute an innocent man. Can you make a call right now to the State Board of Pardons and Paroles to ask them to spare the life of Troy Anthony Davis?

Troy Davis was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of a police officer in Savannah; a murder he maintains he did not commit. There was no physical evidence against him and the weapon used in the crime was never found. The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony that was full of inconsistencies. Since then, all but two of the state’s non-police witnesses from the trial have recanted their testimony. Many have sworn in affidavits that police pressured or coerced them into testifying or signing statements. Former FBI director William Sessions told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Serious questions have been raised about Davis’ guilt. It would be intolerable to execute an innocent man.”

The State Board of Pardons and Paroles is meeting today to decide Troy Davis’ fate. Can you call them right now and ask them to spare his life? Call (404) 651-6599 and tell them you are for clemency or commutation for Troy Davis because you don’t want Georgia to make the mistake of executing an innocent man.

Once you’ve called, please let us know by sending an email to calls@colorofchange.org. Then, please pass this on to your friends and family–Troy Davis needs all the help he can get.

Last summer, the day before Troy Davis’ original execution date of July 17, 2007, ColorOfChange.org members flooded the phone lines of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles asking for clemency for Troy Davis. The board granted him a stay of execution stating, “the board will not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused.” The Georgia Supreme Court and US Supreme Court have refused to hear new evidence in the case–ensuring that doubts about his guilt will always remain.

Once again, Troy Davis’ life is in the hands of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. They are meeting today to decide whether to move forward with his execution. Every ounce of pressure will be needed to reverse the course of this injustice.

Can you take a moment to call the board and ask them to commute the death sentence of Troy Davis? Call (404) 651-6599 and tell them to grant Troy Davis clemency or commute his sentence. Then let us know you called by sending an email to calls@colorofchange.org.

Thanks and Peace,

— James, Gabriel, Clarissa, Andre, Kai, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
September 12th, 2008

For more information about the Troy Davis case, please click on the links below.

1. “Troy Davis — Finality over Fairness,” Amnesty International USA
http://tinyurl.com/42z2tp

2. “Davis execution scheduled; 7 witnesses have recanted,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 9/03/08
http://tinyurl.com/68r5e5

3. “As execution nears, last push from inmates’ supporters,” New York Times, 7/15/07
http://tinyurl.com/6xou5x

4. “Execution of Georgia man near despite recantations,” Washington Post, 7/16/07
http://tinyurl.com/699lvl

5. “New Round for Davis,” Savannah Morning News, 7/18/07
http://savannahnow.com/node/327610

I think that a good number of us here oppose the death penalty, and I hope that all of us oppose the death penalty for a person whose guilt is so suspect.  Making the phone call only takes a minute of your time.  Giving a man his life back after it has been taken isn’t quite so easy.

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33 thoughts on Troy Davis

  1. Every time my Atlanta NPR affiliate reports on this story, I can only think “WHAT is WRONG with people?” You have no evidence, 10 witnesses who recanted, and you think that the death penalty is APPROPRIATE? It makes me physically ill.

  2. Seriously folks, I made a call and it took exactly 46 seconds. And I even have two names and a city name that require spelling out. You have 46 seconds, right?

  4. this is so stupid, guys, but i get very nervous calling things like this… and senators… and whatever. what exactly am i supposed to tell them? will i be speaking to a live person?

  5. Lorelei — it’s not stupid. I have a phone phobia too, and it takes me a little while to work up the nerve to call anyone I don’t know really well. With that in mind, I promise you that once you actually do it, it’s not bad at all.

    You will talk to a live person. They’ll answer the phone with the name of the office and asking how they can help you today. What I said was: “Hi, I’m calling about Troy Davis.” She said “Mhm,” so I continued “I’d like to argue for clemency or commutation, otherwise I’m seriously concerned that the state will execute an innocent man.” She then asked me for my name and for my city and state. Once I gave it to her, she said thank you, she’d pass it along and that was that.

  6. Lorelei, I’m glad you asked, because I have major phone anxiety!

    Thank you, Cara. It really helped to know who I’d be speaking with, and an outline of what to say.

  7. Lorelei, snowe, et al:

    Don’t worry, I used to feel that way as well, until a few years ago, when we did one of these for Stan Tookie Williams in CA. They’re getting phone calls all day, so they already know why you’re calling.

    Troy Davis is an innocent man, like so many on death row. His sister, and so many others, have been fighting very hard for years to free him. Please take the time to make this important call!

  10. I got that message too–I got through on the second try.

    And I stammered until I finally blurted “I support clemency for Troy Davis.” She said, thank you, what’s your name? City and state, please? Thank you for calling, Ms. FashionablyEvil.

  12. Whew, mine went through. Thanks everyone for explaining what would happen with the call, I’ve never done this before. I just hope this helps…

  13. Hey folks, I’m updating the post to say this, but I just got an email from Color of Change that says they’re just getting too many calls to handle them all! They said to keep trying and you should get through. They also provided an alternative number 404-656-5712 which may result in some luck for you.

  14. i’m outside the US – is it worth me trying to call? if it is, i will. (the international code would help – i add 01, i think?)

  17. Wow, a real life reason to be against the death penalty. This is really scary that people could actually make that decision.

  19. This is fucking horrible, beyond horrible. This is exactly the reason the death penalty is so immoral. There are so many shadows of doubts, and so much incomprehensible bureaucratic decisions, and our “criminal justice” system is so obviously flawed — and yet we give it the power to irrevocably snuff out innocent lives, and quite possibly yet another one, very soon. Ugh.

  20. Start writing the governor of that state and let her/him (not sure of gender) know that you support clemency. This is simply a travesty. Every life that is lost to the death penalty is a terrible, terrible thing. With the corruptness of the justice system how this can continue to be considered a reasonable and morally right is beyond me. I am a Canadian and we won’t extradite a criminal to the US if the death penalty is on the table.

  22. I don’t frequently cry over news stories, but this one hit a button.

    Is there absolutely nothing left we can do to help him – ???

  23. Does anyone know the back story? Who is pushing to get him executed? The story says “The MacPhail family has maintained their belief that Davis was rightly convicted.” Does the state or the cops or anyone in power maintain that he is guilty? I don’t get it.

  24. My god. I wish I’d seen this yesterday – of course no one answered the phone today.

    I cannot believe that this country still institutes the Death Penalty, when time and time again innocent men have been released from Death Row; when our justice system is so obviously racist; when the rich have access to the best lawyers in the world, and the poor to overworked, underpaid public defenders —

    it’s disgusting. I just – I can’t believe it.

    They’re going to kill a man who may well be innocent, a man whose conviction bears re-examination… Jesus.

  26. Check out this idiot: http://caosblog.com/8824

    I can understand why people support the death penalty in principle, but what I don’t get is how could anyone possibly trust our blatantly racist criminal justice system to execute people. It’s pure insanity.

  27. AJB, that link is so upsetting.

    I got an e-mail this morning from Amnesty International, with a link to a page where you can e-mail the Board of Pardons and Paroles urging them to reconsider their decision:

    http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=11288

    So it’s not too late to get in touch with them. I just sent the e-mail, and I think I’ll try calling as well. This is a catastrophe that can’t be allowed to happen.

  28. Pingback: More Action For Troy Davis : The Curvature

  31. Please, Please, Dear Lord, come into the hearts of the Judge, Prosecutor,
    Georgia Parole Board and Annelise McPhail to let them see that Troy
    Davis could be innocent. Mrs. McPhail has endured the heartbreak of
    losing her son. Please, Dear Lord, let her find peace. Let her see through
    her tears to give Mr. Davis more time so this case can finally be solved.
    With Love and in Your Name I fervently pray. E

  32. The good news is, the Supreme Court gave him a week’s reprieve. It’s on the Yahoo front page right now.

  33. Every mentioning of the death-penalty, even if the suspect was proven beyond any doubt, always makes me cry in frustration. In this case where Troy is most probably innocent it is totally unconcievable to me that people, seemingly just like you and me, just don’t even try to reconsider their own and other’s action. This is not about the ego’s in the judicial system or in jury’s or of police-officers, this about an induviduals life, his family and his friends. How can a society belief in it’s own values in it’s own governing system, if those allow such human abuse? I cry for Roy and his beloved ones and I cry for every death-row sentencee in the world.
    Joan (the Netherlands)

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