Is Antonin Scalia coming to Georgia?

We’ve all been led to believe that there are mechanisms in place to prevent miscarriages of justice, like an innocent man being executed.

We’re familiar with the “CSI Syndrome,” the fanciful theory that new DNA technology prevents such miscarriages from occurring. We know about the 200 people who have been freed from prison because of such technology – including 15 from death row. We’ve read the investigative reports from Texas and Missouri, which indicate that at least four innocent people have been executed. And when we hear the number 124, we know that’s the number of people released from death row after new evidence of innocence emerged.

However, despite these facts, figures and the tremendously popular hit television shows, we still have people like Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia who cling to the notion that an innocent person has never been executed in our country. It was Scalia himself who famously said last year that if an innocent person were executed, that person’s name would be “shouted from the rooftops.”

How could Scalia be so wrong? And has he now taken up residence in Georgia?

The truth is that recent polls reveal a large majority of people believe an innocent person has been executed. And soon – very soon – it could happen in Georgia.

Troy Anthony Davis is sitting on death row. His life is in the balance for a crime many believe he didn’t commit. Davis’ case is a classic example of “CSI Syndrome;” no physical evidence links him to the murder: no hair, no fibers, no blood, not even a murder weapon was found. The appellate courts, yet another mechanism designed to prevent wrongful convictions, are of no help, thanks to a federal law passed in 1996 that prevents federal courts from reviewing new claims of innocence.

Next Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court will consider Davis’ case one last time. After that, an execution date could be set next month.

The state of Georgia is basing its decision to put Troy Anthony Davis to death on eyewitness testimony — the only evidence used to convict him. Of the nine eyewitnesses that implicated Davis, all but three have recanted. In all incidences, these eyewitnesses have given disturbing reasons for implicating Davis in the first place, such as police intimidation and coercion. One witness was persuaded to sign a police statement implicating Troy Anthony Davis despite the fact that he could not read.

No DNA, no physical evidence, no murder weapon, and a lack of reliable eyewitness testimony have not been enough to lead Georgia back from the brink of making a colossal error. With Troy’s life in the balance, the Scalia mindset harshly moves forward. Most disturbingly, this execution is being carried out in our name.

Troy’s fate now lies in the hand of Georgia’s Board of Pardons and Paroles—which has the sole power to grant him clemency. Regardless of your personal feelings on capital punishment, we can all agree that the state of Georgia should do everything in its power to prevent the execution of an innocent man. We need it “shouted from the rooftops” that there are problems with this case and that Georgia must not execute a person when such pervasive doubt about guilt exists.