IN COLD BLOOD - 2

From an editorial in the Los Angeles Times:

Unless there is a last-minute stay, Troy Anthony Davis will die Wednesday by lethal injection, raising the distinct possibility that the state of Georgia will have executed an innocent man. His is perhaps the highest-profile death penalty case in the country, attracting the attention of such public figures as former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI and former FBI Director William Sessions, all of whom have called for clemency, as well as the European Union, which on Monday urged Georgia's pardons board to commute Davis' sentence. The board was not swayed. On Tuesday, after hearing hours of testimony from both sides, it rejected Davis' request for clemency and set the stage for his execution.

That a man who may be innocent of the crime for which he will be executed is horrendous. People here in the US and around the world are right to protest the outrage and plead for a stay of execution for Troy Davis. I hope and pray that a stay is ordered. I don't know if Davis is innocent or guilty of the crime, but the justice system has not proved his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'? As the editorial says:

For a state to justify executing someone, the case against him or her must be ironclad. The case against Davis is anything but. Georgia's governor has no power to stop executions, and Davis' defense attorneys may be out of options. His execution, if it proceeds, should remind all Americans of the potential for injustice lying at the heart of a primitive method of punishment.

It's long past the time for us to rid ourselves of the barbarous and primitive method of punishment, if we wish to think of ourselves as a civilized country.

And we should take another look at Rick Perry, governor of Texas and a candidate for president of the US, who did not struggle at all as he presided over 234 executions during his terms in office.

I ask again: what is a state execution if not killing in cold blood?

UPDATE: From the Guardian:

The execution of Troy Davis was delayed temporarily by the US supreme court on Wednesday night, in a dramatic intervention just as he was due to be put to death by lethal injection.

As the first news came in at the Jackson prison that houses death row, a huge cheer erupted from a crowd of more than 500 protesters that had amassed on the other side of the road.

Thanks be to God and the Justices of the Supreme Court!

H/T to Jonathan Hagger and Dan Sloan on Facebook.

UPDATE 2: At approximately 9:30, I heard on Democracy Now that the execution is now proceeding.

Lord, have mercy on us all.