“Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders.”
~Albert Camus
Today I am deeply saddened by the unjust execution of Troy Davis last night at11:08pm. For a moment there it was a small glimmer of hope that people that are a part of this so-called justice system would do the decent thing, the right thing, and stay his execution. But nevertheless shortly after10:00pm the Supreme Court unanimously decided not to even give a thought to the fact that the man that they were about to put to death was more than likely innocent. They cared more about saving face and not having to admit that they were wrong then the life of this man and his family.
They claim that their reasoning had everything to do with giving closure to the family of the victim but I don’t understand how closure can come from the real killer being allowed to still walk the streets free and the life of yet another innocent person is gone. What will they say when Troy Davis’s family does in fact dig deeper and they do discover that they got it wrong? Do they think that sorry is going to help the suffering that his family now has to feel? Or are they just so blinded by their need to have been right about his conviction that they couldn’t see fit to entertain the possibility that they were wrong.
I’m not going to go into the exact details of the case because I would just get more enraged at the clear evidence that he was innocent, but I will just say that last night might have been the very first time that I was not proud to be an American. The death penalty is wrong to begin with for so many reasons; one being that just because a person takes another’s life doesn’t give the government the right to play God and do the same. More than anything the death penalty is wrong because too many times they get it wrong.
I shed a few tears last night for Troy Davis, for his family, but also for the victim’s family because they think that they’ve gotten some kind of closure and justice when this is anything but. I hate feeling powerless and as if there is nothing I can do to make things in this world better for me and for my daughter and for her future children.
I think what also saddened me that much more was the statement from President Obama, or the White House rather, that it would have been inappropriate for him to weigh in and share his thoughts and his opinion. I think that it was actually inappropriate for him not to say something, as the President of THIS country. He cares more about the end result in another country than the life of an innocent man being executed here in this one. I am completely disgusted with the legal system in this country that is supposed to provide justice. After this I don’t know why anyone would ever put their faith in it again.
Even in Troy Davis’ last words he proclaimed his innocence and asked that they keep looking into his case so that they can find out the truth of what happened. He even asked God to bless the men who were ending his life and that God would have mercy on their souls. I guess we should take a page from his book when thinking about all of the people who actually had the power to do the right thing and pray for them and for their souls. It’s just a shame when you have the power to make things right and you blatantly choose not to. Until next time…Fight for what you believe in until you don’t have any more fight left!
“To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice.”
~Desmond Tutu
Jimmetta Carpenter
Writer/Editor
The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)
Writing as “Jaycee Durant”
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