Troy Davis: Justice denied again -- but you can help

For years, Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis has been on a rollercoaster ride for his life. And the ride just got scarier.

Last Thursday, in a 2-1 opinion, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against granting Davis an evidentiary hearing, at which he could present the new evidence in his favor which has never before been examined in court.

This is despite the fact that the evidence could show that Davis is innocent.

Does Georgia really want to risk executing an innocent man?

And what's to lose by granting him a new hearing? Doesn't Georgia want to be absolutely certain that they are punishing the right guy?

Most of my regular readers are likely already familiar with Troy Davis's case. For those who are not, here is a summary:

Davis has been sitting on Georgia's death row for a 1989 murder that he maintains he did not commit. In March of 2008, the George Supreme Court inexplicably decided 4-3 to deny a new trial for Davis, despite significant doubts about his guilt.

Davis's original trial was flawed, and most of the witnesses have since recanted or contradicted their stories. There is no physical evidence linking him to the crime, and his conviction was based solely on that questionable testimony by witnesses. In other words, there is reasonable doubt as to Davis's guilt. And there's no excuse to execute someone when there's reasonable doubt as to his guilt.

Davis's case is so compelling that the Pope has called for the case to be reconsidered. So have Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter and countless private citizens.

Yet, despite all these considerations, nobody in charge wants to consider that strong possibility that Georgia might end up executing an innocent man.

As long as there are doubts, there is no true justice.

Davis's lawyers now have 30 days to file another petition with the U.S. Supreme Court. (The Supremes rejected the last one.)

I will keep you posted on how this progresses.

Meanwhile...

How you can help:

Davis and his attorneys are doing everything they can to fight this injustice from the inside. And we need to keep up the pressure from the outside.

Even if you've taken this action before on the Amnesty International website, call on Georgia Governor George Perdue to take action to commute Davis's death sentence.

>> Email Governor Perdue now.