Troy Davis’ execution date set for September 21

The state of Georgia has set Troy Davis’ execution date for September 21st at 7pm in Jackson, Georgia.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear his final appeal earlier this year. But the story remains the same – Troy Davis could very well be innocent. Davis was convicted on the basis of witness testimony – seven of the nine original witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony.

One witness said in a CNN news interview: “If I knew then, what I know now, Troy Davis would not be on death row.”

It’s difficult to believe that a system of justice could be so terribly flawed. However, in the state of Georgia, the Board of Pardons & Paroles holds the keys to Troy’s fate. This Board will hold a final clemency hearing – a final chance to prevent Troy Davis from being executed. The clemency hearing has been set for Monday September 19 in Atlanta.

The Amnesty International Global Day of Solidarity will be Friday September 16. AIUSA will hold a march from downtown Atlanta (Woodruff Park) at 6pm to Ebenezer Baptist Church (Dr. MLK’s church) for an interfaith service there at 7pm.

Here’s what you can do to join the fight:

1) Sign the online petition to the Board of Pardons & Paroles urging them to grant clemency! AIUSA will deliver your signatures next week to the Parole Board office in Atlanta.

2) Send a letter to the Board of Pardons and Paroles – a five member panel that can grant clemency (i.e. stop an execution) and commute a death sentence to life or life without parole by a simple majority vote.

Address:
State Board of Pardons and Paroles
2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SE
Suite 458, Balcony Level, East Tower
Atlanta, Georgia 30334-4909
Email: Clemency_Information@pap.state.ga.us and Webmaster@pap.state.ga.us
Fax: +1 404 651 8502
Salutation: Dear Board members

Recommendations:

• There is still too much doubt that persists about Troy Davis’ guilt.
• We urge Georgia’s Parole Board to err on the side of caution by mercifully commuting Davis’ sentence to life, especially because there should be no room for doubt in a death penalty case.
• There are many cases like Troy Davis’, which is why we must abolish the death penalty.

Update – September 13, 2011: Click here to download and print the hard copy petition. It must arrive at the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles by Friday September 16.

Update – September 18, 2011: Click here to participate in the new AIUSA online action directed at Larry Chisolm, District Attorney for Chatham County, Georgia.