Troy Davis is Executed, What Now? It Doesn't Bring Officer Mark MacPhail Back Or Ease the Sorrow

Troy Davis' death, also considered the lynching of a black man, isn't a vindication for the murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail, but proof that it's time to end the flawed system of justice in the U.S.A. and blaming President Obama won't fix our addiction to the death penalty.

Troy Davis (Savannah Morning News)

Somehow I knew the day would come when Troy Davis would be executed, despite some reasonable doubt. There is a chance that he could be guilty and there is also a chance that he wasn't. Well, that was for the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, made up of two blacks, one woman and two white males, to decide whether or not the death sentence warranted clemency, which they have clearly stated is the course of action when there is reasonable doubt. The vote against clemency was 3-2 and it would be very interesting to see how the board members voted.  I don't profess to be a lawyer or a legal scholar, but this much I know, reasonable doubt is always a game changer. So, Troy Davis is now dead. What does that accomplish? It can't bring Officer Mark MacPhail back, though there are reports that his son, Mark MacPhail, Jr., and the late officer's, William MacPhail, smiled when the execution was completed. How can you smile in the aftermath of such an event? At no time did I hear anyone from the MacPhail family offer any words of kindness to the family of Troy Davis. Even if he was guilty, his family didn't deserve to be dragged through the mud either. They are still in pain. Instead of saying what "we want as the MacPhails," why not say we want peace enough to forgive this man. In essence, we were all eyewitnesses to a sad event caused by our flawed and highly illogical justice system.

The blame game has begun. Rob Redding Jr., called in to the "Frank & Wanda Morning Show" (click link to hear audio of Redding's statement) saying that President Barack Obama should have intervened, since he stood up for his friend Dr. Louis Gates after he was arrested by Sgt. Crowley. Um, that was a totally different situation. Can you imagine if President Obama had intervened? Troy Davis would have become his Willie Horton in the 2012 election campaign. They would have torpedoed any chances of reelection he would have because no-one but Troy Davis can aver that he is innocent. White House press secretary Jay Carney issued a statement saying that although the president "has worked to ensure accuracy and fairness in the criminal justice system," it was inappropriate for him "to weigh in on specific cases like this one, which is a state prosecution." Um, what else does Rob Redding and others want Obama to do?

There is always a chance that Davis was guilty but there was reasonable doubt. Many of the people who are pointing fingers, fail to realize that it was highly unlikely that President Obama would have intervened, particularly after the Monroe County Superior Court Judge Thomas H. Wilson said no to clemency, the GA Supreme Court said no to issuing a stay and the U.S. Supreme Court said no in a denial issued by Justice Clarence Thomas. Not even Gov. Nathan Deal could have intervened because the law says only the GA Board of Pardons and Paroles could grant clemency. 

Some people have said Justice Clarence Thomas is a sell-out. Well, under normal circumstances that may be the case, but I want people to understand the process. Each Supreme Court justice is assigned a different region of the country. It so happens that the Georgia and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals are a part of Justice Thomas' region, hence the appeal went to him, he informed the other justices and when the decision was made he wrote the denial. Please understand, the denial was unanimous -- all nine justices agreed to say no to a stay. There was no dissent or we would have received that information last night. Besides, five justices would have had to support a stay for one to even have happened. So, from the outset, Troy Davis' chances were nil.

Death Penalty Information Center

We have a serious problem in the United States -- we are obsessed with executions. Thirty-five people have been executed just this year alone, with about 26 of those executions occurring in the South. Eleven of those 26 were black, two Latino and the rest white. You see, murder is good politics in the United States of America. The evidence in Troy Davis' case warranted re-examination because of the recanted testimonies by seven of nine witnesses. MacPhail's mother Annaliese MacPhail is surprised why it took 17 years for people to recant their testimonies but I can also ask the question of why so many black men are incarcerated for years for crimes they did not commit only to be released 10, 15 or 20 years later. In short, the death penalty doesn't work and Texas Gov. Rick Perry is jaded into thinking the process works and he "can sleep comfortably at night." Conservative windbag, Ann Coulter had to give her two cents on Twitter by saying, "S. Ct denies Troy Davis stay. MacPhail's family gets justice after a 22 year wait. Lovers of Cop Killers are inconsolable." 

What the GA Board of Pardons & Paroles -- Vice Chairman Albert Murray, Member Robert E. Keller, Member L. Gale Buckner, Chairman James E. Donald and Member Terry Barnard -- have said is that reasonable doubt doesn't matter and there's no room for correction. Is killing a necessary guarantor of the creation of civilized order? I might also add, that all members of the board tout their Christian beliefs and values, but was the execution in line with their religious convictions? You can't say in God we trust and do otherwise. The death penalty is passe and we must ALL work to have it abolished. It is a flawed process and it does not fix the problem. Contrary to what Annaliese MacPhail and her family believe, it won't take away the pain of losing a son, husband, father, brother, cousin or friend. The void will still be there and there will be a nagging doubt of whether an innocent man was sent to his grave. In short, the execution of Troy Davis was a means of ending the pursuit of justice rather than pushing it forward. Thanks to former president Bill Clinton, there are now limits on a death row inmate seeking to clear his or her name if there is reasonable doubt and/or innocence. Don't blame President Obama for this. 

Troy Davis' final words to the MacPhail family and those present were gut-wrenching, haunting and defiant on some levels:

“I’d like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I’m not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent.The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth.

I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight. For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls.”

There are many more like Troy Davis sitting in prisons across this country. Many who were clearly innocent of the sentences handed down against them. There are also many in prison for minor crimes, clogging up the system. We have to change the way the corrections system operates in this country. That starts with each individual. Take your right to vote seriously. Take the time to research the judges up for election. Don't just skip over their names or take a "hail Mary" approach and cast a vote for someone you know nothing about. Apply pressure to your elected officials to abolish the death penalty. The eye for an eye approach does not work because someone innocent may be on the receiving end of a lethal injection. We don't need to revert to the days of Jim Crow, when blacks were hung from trees or thrown in bodies of water because they were wrongfully accused of a crime or just because they were black. We don't need anymore Emmett Tills.

Finally, what happened to Troy Davis is a wake-up call to the young people in this country. I am directing this to young black men. To those who are self-destructive, the time has come to stop heading down a treacherous path that will lead to incarceration and possibly death row. The time has come to take responsibility and change the course of your life. The system will not give you a slap on the wrist time and time again. They will throw you in prison and throw away the key. You will become a statistic and a social pariah. Stop. Turn your lives around. There are a myriad of positive things that you can do to make a difference in this world. Stop the self-destruction. The love affair some young black and Latino men have with illegal weapons needs to end TODAY.

NOTE: The Hinterland Gazette is charting a new course. We will be taking an active role in seeking to abolish the death penalty, starting in the red, red state of Georgia. Join us as we work to have this barbaric form of punishment abolished. There is strength in numbers. Stay tuned for more details as we form some partnerships to start working on this project. The time has come to end our addiction to executions.