As I write this on September 18, 2011, the entire world — in large part because of the power of social media — is focused on the State of Georgia. On September 21st, Georgia is scheduled to murder Troy Davis.
Much has been written about Mr. Davis’ innocence. In particular, his sister wrote a moving piece in The Huffington Post titled “The Execution of Troy Davis — A Mother’s Story.”
Troy Davis’ case has all the hallmarks of a wrongful conviction: mistaken eyewitness testimony, law enforcement misconduct, lack of physical evidence, and recanting witnesses. Sadly, it has reached the point that every story of a wrongful conviction has the same plot. Indeed, the stories would seem repetitive if the consequences weren’t irreversible, if the consequences didn’t involve flesh-and-blood human beings.
I just finished John A. Farrell’s magnificent new biography of Clarence Darrow titled “Attorney for the Damned.” (This should not be confused with the same title which came out many years ago.) Unquestionably, Darrow was a flawed human being and Farrell does a fine job of showing Darrow’s weaknesses including his cavalier treatment of women and his ethical lapses. But one of Darrow’s great strengths was his consistent, passionate opposition to the death penalty. Even in cases where the guilt was certain, the crime particularly heinous, the accused despicable, Darrow advocated life in prison rather than execution.
Given that, what would Darrow think about our executing people like Troy Davis where the evidence presented at trial was suspect?
One of the major reasons why Darrow opposed the death penalty was because he pointed to the fact that its premise of deterrence was false. Indeed, the sheer number of homicides in this country since Darrow’s time proves the validity of his argument.
