Tonight, after the state of Georgia put a needle in an innocent man's veins, I went on Twitter to witness the public outcry. There was one girl who said "Everyone's emotional now, tomorrow it'll be something else and no one will think about it again". I hate to think this girl is right, but before the sun rises on Thursday morning, I want to acknowledge the travesty of a system that would inflict the cruelest of punishments on an innocent man- that of hope. For approximately four hours, Troy Davis allowed himself a sliver of hope that justice could finally win out for him, that someone would intervene on behalf of truth and the institution of what is supposed to be sacrosanct in this country. Innocent until proven guilty. The right to a fair and impartial trial. The protection against cruel and unusual punishment. It was these ideals that died with that man tonight.
51 members of Congress, 1 million signatures on a petition, a former President, a former FBI director, the Vatican, 2 of the Davis jury members, Al Sharpton, Desmund Tutu, the NAACP, Amnesty National...P.Diddy...none of these people were heard either as they pleaded for the life of a man convicted to death based solely on testimony of 9 witnesses, 7 of whom have recanted and 1 of whom allegedly bragged to be the actual triggerman. There was no physical evidence, no DNA. Just voices in a room, and nothing more.
And now the voices in the room are ghosts. These voices now belong to the updated number of 273 people that have been wrongfully put to death for crimes they did not commit. Some people say it doesn't matter if we kill a few innocent in order to have the right to kill the guilty. I can't believe that. I feel only shame in being part of a society in which there are humans who do believe that. When did human life become so inconsequential?
Don't get me wrong, people. I am actually for the death penalty. I may be a liberal, but my heart ain't bleeding. However, I believe with every ounce of my bloodless heart that if we are going to take someone's life- the ultimate civil liberty- the burden of proof must be 100%. If not, the sentence should be no more permenant than life in prison without parole. In this day and age, there should be no more wrongful deaths at the hands of overzealous prosecutors motivated by politics and community loudmouths. There is no justice without the truth.
The country will forget. Twitter was alive with comments about the XFactor, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, Project Runway...and Troy Davis was undergoing a government sanctioned murder. This country will forget. Tomorrow some other cause celeb will take the forefront and this too, shall pass. This country will forget.
Unless we don't let it. Don't you see? There is nothing more powerful in this world than the voices of millions speaking in unison. We don't have that anymore. Our country is a step away from being the next Roman empire, Icarus flying to close to the sun, weighed down by our unimaginable hubris. The only times in our history when we have been able to alter the path of the future is when we were able to rise up and become one in a mission to create a better world. A world we are all safe and secure. A world in which 317 million people are not controlled by the whims of 400. A world in which politics plays no role in what is true. A world in which those at the helm are not chasing a white whale.
This country may forget. I won't forget. I hope you don't, either.
