President Jimmy Carter has called for clemency for Troy Davis who is scheduled to be executed tomorrow in Georgia. "This case illustrates the deep flaws in the application of the death penalty in this country. Executing Troy Davis without a real examination of potentially exonerating evidence risks taking the life of an innocent man and would be a grave miscarriage of justice. The citizens of Georgia should demand the highest standards of proof when our legal system condemns on our behalf a man or woman to die."
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As usual, Carter is a lonely voice of color-blind justice in a sea of political posturing. Even if you think the death penalty is justified in some cases our system ought to be able to apply it only when guilt is proven. The dirty little secret of many states is that innocent people are condemned to death all the time because they don't get good legal representation early in the "justice" process. The death penalty is not a sexy issue. It is uncomfortable. It often has racial overtones.
Execution is the ultimate power of the state. Executing an innocent man is the ultimate injustice, the ultimate crisis. It's a shame that it takes an 83 year old ex-president with no political future to speak out. Thanks again to Jimmy Carter, the greatest living American.
UPDATED: Take ACTION to save Troy Davis: http://www.amnestyusa.org/...