Don't Have Much To Say

Sometimes it is really hard to be proud of the U.S. judicial system. We have today a case where there is compelling evidence that the State of Georgia, with Supreme Court approval, executed an innocent man. The essential facts of the case are not very complicated. Interpretations of the facts in the Troy Davis case are disputable and that is the problem. As the screen shot from Think Progress above states, the question is "too much doubt." While we have a judicial standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt," that standard is not be any means an objective standard. The decision on the part of the state to execute one of its citizens is bound up in the political, social, economic, racial, religious currents of the time, place and culture. One person's "reasonable doubt" can easily be another person's "firm conviction." Some believe that the initial verdict is sacrosanct, while others maintain that all evidence is relevant up to the very end of the life of the convicted. However, to argue that death penalty cases are argued on the basis of complete knowledge of the act is ludicrous. And the Troy Davis case, even for those who believe that the execution is a justifiable state action, demonstrates that fallacy.

Here's more versions of the story to contemplate. The first is from Troy Davis' sister. The second is from The Christian Post. The third is from a conservative blogger who has a few words for his fellow so-called conservatives.

When you have the capacity to take someone's life by executive action, when is doubt "reasonable?" When there is doubt. Beyond that, I don't have much to say.