The Eyes of the World are on Georgia’s Parole Board

As many death row opponents have aptly stated, the eyes of the world are on
Georgia’s Parole Board’s clemency hearing for Troy Anthony Davis, a death row
inmate. Despite the absence of any physical evidence linking him to the crime, Troy
Davis was found guilty in a court of law for the shooting and killing Officer Mark
Allen MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia, and sentenced to death. The Troy Davis
case has been appealed all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States
and has drawn both national and international attention due to lack of evidence
supporting the state’s case.  The Parole Board is the sole authority in
Georgia with the authority to grant clemency to inmates. The Board may commute
a death sentence to life without parole, to life or deny clemency.

According to a press release, on September 7, 2011, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles invited representatives for condemned inmate Troy Anthony Davis to meet with the Board on Monday, September 19, 2011, at 9:00 a.m., to advocate for clemency for him. Davis is scheduled to die by lethal injection September 21, 2011, at 7 p.m., at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia. Davis’ defense counsel are timidly optimistic.The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, which has the power to change death sentences but rarely does, did not issue an immediate decision in this case. It was reported that, “…a spokesman for the panel said they would not decide before Tuesday.”

Conservatives, liberals, as well as opponents and proponents of the death penalty have asked the Georgia Parole Board to grant Troy Davis clemency. According to Georgian’s for an Alternative to the Death Penalty, over hundred thousand (800,000) people signed a petition requesting that the Georgia Parole Board grant clemency to Troy Case. The list of persons requesting clemency for Troy Davis includes but is not limited to: Former President Jimmy Carter, The Pope, Nobel Peace Prize-winner, Desmund Tutu as well as a host of conservatives and death row proponents such as former Congressman Bob Barr. The Former FBI Director also has called for clemency for Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis.

Last week, “…In a high-profile plea published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
William S. Sessions, former federal district judge and FBI director under
presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, writes that
Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, who is scheduled to be executed [September
21, 2011] , should be granted clemency. Sessions notes there is significant
doubt about Davis’ guilt, as seven of the nine witnesses who testified
against him have recanted and the “case continues to be permeated by doubt,”
with there being no “physical or scientific evidence” available to tie Davis to
the killing of a Savannah police officer. The Georgia State Board of Pardons
and Paroles is the one body left that could issue a stay of execution or
executive clemency for Davis.”

Again, a spokesman for the Georgia’s Parole Board said they would not decide before
Tuesday. For further information, visit the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles’ website.

Sources: “Board weighs clemency for Georgia death row inmate”. Reuters, Matthew Bigg, Monday, September 19, 2011. http://www.dcor.state.ga.us.www.thinkprogress.org.
www.forbes.com. Creative Loaffing. Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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