Covering Troy -- or not.

When news broke yesterday that Troy Anthony Davis was denied cert by the U.S. Supreme Court, many of Troy’s supporters stepped it up a notch. Amnesty International put out a press release (which you can read here). Folks on Facebook and MySpace swung into action. (For Facebook users, you can see Rachel Sadler’s posting here.)

Unfortunately, the mainstream media could hardly be bothered with the story. After all, didn't Paris Hilton get out of the slammer last night? (and going on Larry King Live tomorrow, I might add. It would be nice if Larry King demonstrated the same interest in an innocent person who is about to face an execution date.)

Where is the Associated Press? The New York Times? The Washington Post? Where are the TV networks? The daily newspaper did do a tiny story, but barely mentioned the evidence supporting Troy’s innocence.

It’s not that the mainstream media doesn’t know about Troy’s case. They know. We’ve told them. Unfortunately, to them, it’s just not a priority.

Whether one agrees or disagrees on the utility and morality of capital punishment, we should all be able to agree that a country that executes innocent people occupies an entirely different – and even scary – moral ground than a country that executes only the truly guilty. And while my organization opposes the death penalty in every circumstance, we are truly concerned when society seems to simply stop caring about guilt and innocence.

Not all hope is not lost. An aggressive executive clemency campaign is being waged. Some progressive media outlets are sniffing around the story. And, of course, we have an army of supporters on Facebook and MySpace who are ready, willing and able to act.