Troy Davis Put To Death
I am not sure how gossipy or entertainy this is, but it is certainly a human interest story and even People and other tabloids are running with it, and it is what people are talking about everywhere. Last night the US Supreme Court rejected Troy Davis' final appeal and he was executed. People all over the world protested at his execution and there were demonstrations at the US Embassy in Paris and in London.
Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing a police officer in 1989. There have been doubts in recent years as to whether Davis committed the crime. Many of the original witnesses retracted their testimony and even some jurors now say he was innocent. Two years ago the US Supreme Court gave him the unusual opportunity to provide new evidence that he was innocent and he provided evidence to a lower federal court who called it "mostly smoke and mirrors," and refused to consider it further.
Davis was 49.
My thing about all of this is that I think there should be life with no parole. No death penalty. How many innocent people do you think have been killed on death row? I bet there are hundreds if not thousands over the course of time. Think about before fingerprints let alone before DNA. If you have life without parole then it gives people a chance to argue their cases and search for new evidence without ever running out of time. Plus, it ensures that even if you did convict an innocent person of a crime, that you did not kill them.
