It has been over four years since Amnesty International released its first report on the case of Troy Davis. In that span of time, three states – New Jersey, New Mexico and Illinois – have abolished the death penalty, and 17 men have been exonerated from our nation’s death rows after their wrongful convictions were overturned.
Yet Troy Davis, whose innocence claim did finally get heard last summer, remains at serious risk of execution. He was unable to prove his innocence to the standard required by the court, but the state of Georgia has been unable to remove doubts about his guilt.
It is a fact (and not a surprising one) that our criminal justice system is not perfect, and cannot resolve all questions before it, and it is interesting to note that all three governors who have signed abolition bills since 2007 cited this imperfection as a major reason for eliminating capital punishment altogether.