UPDATE Please call: Georgia Board of Parole and Pardons (Phone, 404-651-6599 Fax 404-651-8502), Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue (Phone 404-656-1776), and Georgia Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker (Phone: 404-656-3300 / Fax: 404-657-8733).
Bob Herbert of the New York Times weighs in on the scheduled execution of Troy Davis.
There is some question as to his guilt (even the pope has weighed in on this case), but the odds of Mr. Davis escaping the death penalty are very slim. Putting someone to death whose guilt is uncertain is always perverted, but there’s an extra dose of perversion in this case.The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to make a decision on whether to hear a last-ditch appeal by Mr. Davis on Sept. 29. That’s six days after the state of Georgia plans to kill him.
Mr. Davis’s lawyers have tried desperately to have the execution postponed for those few days, but so far to no avail. Georgia is among the most cold-blooded of states when it comes to dispatching prisoners into eternity.
Comments (27)
Hello everyone-- I blogged about this last week here and I can't believe he's slated to die TOMORROW. We can try to save his life by making some phone calls. I just tried calling AG Thurbert Baker and his VM is wacky, will try back again. Pardon & Paroles VM is full :-(
http://vas.newsvine.com/_news/2008/09/20/1891041-a-phone-call-from-you-might-save-a-man
http://vas.newsvine.com/_news/2008/09/22/1895852-troy-anthony-davis-execution-live-updates
In that first article I posted, they are trying to bring this to the attention of Obama, so if anyone knows how to percolate this up the chain...
This is terrible. Though I can't imagine Obama would get involved in this. I would try the governor rather than the two numbers you are currently calling. Sonny is really the only person who can do anything about it.
Unlike most states, in Georgia the Governor doesn't have control over executions. It's all handled by the Board of Pardons and Parole.
just called perdue and said the same thing to me
CALL THEM: 404 656 2808
Ok this is kind of messed up...just called the board of pardons and parole and someone hung up on me as soon as it was answered. Now, you just get our office hours are...
W.T.F.
Right, but Obama doesn't have any control either here. Perdue, however, appoints the Pardons and Parole Board and if he comes out and says there should be a stay, there will be a stay.
call the Parole Board public affairs division
404 651 5897
ok so that number didn't work even when I was transferred directly from the operator.
Now I can't even get through to switchboard. Again.
WTF is going on?
So more than an hour has gone by and still can't talk to ANYONE who can help.
This is absolute shit.
Just left a VM at the AG's office...
MOTS--I think they know that Obama has no real power to do anything-- I think they were trying to get some publicity for it, and that would be a great way to get it.
ACLU has a letter-generator thingy here:
https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=906&page=UserAction&s_src=acluonline_919908
This is MURDER: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/09/22/davis_execution.html?cxntnid=bn_2008-09-22_16_54_id418_e
Parole Board and State Supreme Court denied a stay, says it's US Supreme Ct jurisdiction, but hey, guess what dipshits, they're not back in session until after you murder this man tomorrow!
OK, ya'll need to be contacting the US Supreme Court. They are the only ones who can do squat right now. Even when out of session, there is a justice in charge of Death Penalty appeals. I'm not sure who it is right now, but the lawyers in the case should. That single justice is the only one who can issue a temporary stay, and then contact the rest of justices to get a stay until the hearing.
Anyone wanna bet the reason this hasn't happened is b/c Scalia, Alito, Thomas, or Roberts is in charge of the death penalty appeals at the moment?
Call the Warden and tell him to allow Troy Davis to contact and see his witnesses. According to Martina without warning today, the Warden informed Troy that he will not be able to see his witnesses moving forward. This is a break in protocol and cannot be allowed to stand. Please tell the Warden that he has a world of eyes on him and that he needs to permit Troy to see his witnesses as the law allows.
770-504-2000
Tuesday, Sept. 23
1)10am – picketing of Rainbow Medical Associates at their building -
2840 Emerald Drive, Jonesboro, GA 30236.
Rainbow Medical is paid $18,000 per execution. They are a private
company that provides the physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other
implementers of Georgia's executions, despite the employee's
professional sworn commitment to the Hippocratic Oath ("do no harm")
Please meet near 2840 Emerald Drive, outside Rainbow's driveway or
carpool from Poncey-Highlands. Carpooling meet-up site: 9am - Manuel's Tavern, 602 N. Highland Ave. (corner of North Ave.), Atlanta, GA 30307
(please set aside time to join us to about 11am or 12:15pm)
2)1:15pm – meet at Johnny Rocket's – 50 Upper Alabama St SW, 30303
(near the old World of Coke and under the big whale mural, not far
from Underground Atlanta and 5 Points Marta). We will be doing a "die-in" nearby. This means laying down in front of a particular site as someone holds a sign explaining why people are "dying".
(please set aside time to join us until 2:30/2:45pm)
Note: none of the above activities are intended to be acts of civil
disobedience. They will all be peaceful expressions of our right to freedom of expression.
3)6pm-ish – all of the demos and vigils, that have been previously
announced will be under way if there is no stay of execution from the
US Supreme Court or Parole Board.
6:30pm – capitol – if we get a stay (cause for celebration)
Vigil list:
http://www.gfadp.org/TakingAction/TroyDavis/tabid/68/Default.aspx
Contact person for actions tomorrow: Asha 404-668-2742 or Sara 404-
314-2230. Contact for Capitol 6:30pm – Laura 404-452-8920
Thomas is in charge at SCOTUS and has said he would be willing to hear the case.
then what the heck is Thomas waiting for? Does he know Davis will be dead after today if he doesn't intervene?
IDK, i'm not a lawyer but I think there is some process of appeals or something like that. I know it wasn't as simple as being able to just intervene.
Each federal circuit's stay applications and other emergency order requests are assigned to a particular Justice. IRE is correct that Justice Thomas is responsible for such requests filed out of the 11th Circuit. My understand is that he has 3 choices here: he can either (1) grant the stay and then the issue of whether to continue the stay and hear the appeal will go to the full court at the next conference, (2) he can deny it and the execution will proceed, (3) or he can try to get the entire court in chambers now to decide on a majority vote whether to grant the stay. (I recall someone, maybe it was Karla Fay Tucker, having their stay application denied on a 5-4 vote after the individual justice put the decision on the stay to the full panel rather than deciding it himself/herself.)
Given how close they are to returning to session and the fact that the justices are probably all back in Washington, I suspect Thomas will want to take this last approach in order to give a little more gravitas to the decision to grant or deny the stay because this case is so controversial.
jac, point taken on contacting the SCt, but it doesn't hurt to contact these other folks either. even if it's not his call, sonny could show some leadership on the issue, which might have influence with the powers that be. fwiw, i called the parole board, and they are at least taking down names and city, state.
After reviewing the last couple years' worth of orders on applications for stays to the Supreme Court, it looks like the justices routinely choose to present the application for stay to the entire court rather than deciding whether to grant or deny on their own. So, that vote of the full court on whether to grant the stay and/or grant a writ of certiorari should happen sometime today.
Here is the docket for Davis' appeal:
http://origin.www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/08-66.htm
And here is the list of orders from the Supreme Court:
http://supremecourtus.gov/orders/07ordersofthecourt.html
Once something happens, it should show up on both of those pages fairly quickly.
WOW, Kathy at the US Supreme Court is RUDE!!!! She just hung up on me.
hmm, that's different than the one the rude lady gave me.
http://origin.www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/08a241.htm
Just left another message with the AG...
You're right, yours is for the application for stay and the one I posted was the petition for writ of certiorari. If the stay is denied, the writ will be denied at the same time. If the stay is granted, the court will consider the writ at its conference on Monday as previously scheduled.
Stay granted