Here is the letter sent on behalf of Troy Davis by 6 ex-wardens of US prisons:
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Corrections Officials Sign-On for Troy Davis
Date of Publication: 09/21/2011
Media Contact: Ron McAndrew, 352-342-1450 (EST) and Jeanne Woodford, 415-243-0143 (PST)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA-This morning, six retired corrections officials, including Dr. Allen Ault, retired Director of the Georgia Department of Corrections and former Warden of the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison where he oversaw executions for the state, have sent the following letter to Georgia Corrections Officials and Governor Nathan Deal asking them to urge the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider the decision they made on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 to deny Troy Davis Clemency despite concerns about his guilt. Davis is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00pm at Georgia Diagnostics & Classifications Prison in Jackson, Georgia.
Statement:
We write to you as former wardens and corrections officials who have had direct involvement in executions. Like few others in this country, we understand that you have a job to do in carrying out the lawful orders of the judiciary. We also understand, from our own personal experiences, the awful lifelong repercussions that come from participating in the execution of prisoners. While most of the prisoners whose executions we participated in accepted responsibility for the crimes for which they were punished, some of us have also executed prisoners who maintained their innocence until the end. It is those cases that are most haunting to an executioner.
We write to you today with the overwhelming concern that an innocent person could be executed in Georgia tonight. We know the legal process has exhausted itself in the case of Troy Anthony Davis, and yet, doubt about his guilt remains. This very fact will have an irreversible and damaging impact on your staff. Many people of significant standing share these concerns, including, notably, William Sessions, Director of the FBI under President Ronald Reagan.
Living with the nightmares is something that we know from experience. No one has the right to ask a public servant to take on a lifelong sentence of nagging doubt, and for some of us, shame and guilt. Should our justice system be causing so much harm to so many people when there is an alternative?
We urge you to ask the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider their decision. Should that fail, we urge you to unburden yourselves and your staff from the pain of participating in such a questionable execution to the extent possible by allowing any personnel so inclined to opt-out of activities related to the execution of Troy Anthony Davis. Further, we urge you to provide appropriate counseling to personnel who do choose to perform their job functions related to the execution. If we may be of assistance to you moving forward, please do not hesitate to call upon any of us.
Respectfully and collegially,
Allen Ault – Retired Warden, Georgia Diagnostic & Classifications Prison
Terry Collins – Retired Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Ron McAndrew – Retired Warden, Florida State Prison
Dennis O’Neill - Retired Warden, Florida State Prison
Reginald Wilkinson – Retired Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Jeanne Woodford – Retired Warden, San Quentin State Prison
The actual URL is:
http://www.schr.org/action/resources/corrections_officials_sign_on_for_troy_davis
Friday, 23 September 2011
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Letter written by Troy Davis
“To All” – A message from Troy Anthony Davis
by Soa Watch on Wednesday, 21 September 2011 at 15:17
To All:
I want to thank all of you for your efforts and dedication to Human Rights and Human Kindness, in the past year I have experienced such emotion, joy, sadness and never ending faith. It is because of all of you that I am alive today, as I look at my sister Martina I am marveled by the love she has for me and of course I worry about her and her health, but as she tells me she is the eldest and she will not back down from this fight to save my life and prove to the world that I am innocent of this terrible crime.
As I look at my mail from across the globe, from places I have never ever dreamed I would know about and people speaking languages and expressing cultures and religions I could only hope to one day see first hand. I am humbled by the emotion that fills my heart with overwhelming, overflowing Joy. I can’t even explain the insurgence of emotion I feel when I try to express the strength I draw from you all, it compounds my faith and it shows me yet again that this is not a case about the death penalty, this is not a case about Troy Davis, this is a case about Justice and the Human Spirit to see Justice prevail.
I cannot answer all of your letters but I do read them all, I cannot see you all but I can imagine your faces, I cannot hear you speak but your letters take me to the far reaches of the world, I cannot touch you physically but I feel your warmth everyday I exist.
So Thank you and remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you I have been spiritually free for some time and no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated. There are so many more Troy Davis’. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country.
I can’t wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form, I will one day be announcing,
“I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!”
Never Stop Fighting for Justice and We will Win!
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6,497 people like this.
(Copied from a Facebook notes page)
by Soa Watch on Wednesday, 21 September 2011 at 15:17
To All:
I want to thank all of you for your efforts and dedication to Human Rights and Human Kindness, in the past year I have experienced such emotion, joy, sadness and never ending faith. It is because of all of you that I am alive today, as I look at my sister Martina I am marveled by the love she has for me and of course I worry about her and her health, but as she tells me she is the eldest and she will not back down from this fight to save my life and prove to the world that I am innocent of this terrible crime.
As I look at my mail from across the globe, from places I have never ever dreamed I would know about and people speaking languages and expressing cultures and religions I could only hope to one day see first hand. I am humbled by the emotion that fills my heart with overwhelming, overflowing Joy. I can’t even explain the insurgence of emotion I feel when I try to express the strength I draw from you all, it compounds my faith and it shows me yet again that this is not a case about the death penalty, this is not a case about Troy Davis, this is a case about Justice and the Human Spirit to see Justice prevail.
I cannot answer all of your letters but I do read them all, I cannot see you all but I can imagine your faces, I cannot hear you speak but your letters take me to the far reaches of the world, I cannot touch you physically but I feel your warmth everyday I exist.
So Thank you and remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you I have been spiritually free for some time and no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated. There are so many more Troy Davis’. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country.
I can’t wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form, I will one day be announcing,
“I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!”
Never Stop Fighting for Justice and We will Win!
Like · Share
6,497 people like this.
(Copied from a Facebook notes page)
Last Words
I'm sure no one reading this will be surprised that the last words I am quoting come from Troy Davis, spoken yesterday evening.
Final words
Davis' final words are reported as follows:
“ I'd like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I'm not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent. The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight. For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls.[124] ”
From Wikipedia
I am shocked that Anmesty petitions, even a message from the Pope, plus all the other requests were not enough to change the minds of those responsible. I wonder who the legal system in Georgia is accountable to. Maybe to the voters in Georgia? Who employs them and pays their wages? Authority comes from somewhere and is paid for somehow.
Final words
Davis' final words are reported as follows:
“ I'd like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I'm not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent. The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight. For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls.[124] ”
From Wikipedia
I am shocked that Anmesty petitions, even a message from the Pope, plus all the other requests were not enough to change the minds of those responsible. I wonder who the legal system in Georgia is accountable to. Maybe to the voters in Georgia? Who employs them and pays their wages? Authority comes from somewhere and is paid for somehow.
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
For a few minutes I was a tree
Before we went to the dentist today I decided to imagine what it was like being the life force or soul or tree-ness of a tree. I shut my eyes as trees do not have eyes. I imagined how my branches would shift about and birds would come and go. I thought of the different temperatures in the air by day and night, the heat from the sun and the wind. I didn't think about icy winter though!
It occurred to me that the tree's body as it were, the trunk, bark, leaves would be growing and being shed without any conscious decision from the life of the tree. We do not tell out hair to grow, it just does, so with the leaves.
So the aliveness of the tree was doing nothing as such, apart from constantly being alive, never departing from the tree, always and forever in one spot. Sometimes being listened to by humans who talk to trees, otherwise just being there, ever patient.
I told H on the way to the dentist. He was quite taken by this or tactful. On reflection I had chosen to be deciduous, not an evergreen, a fully grown tree and definitely in England. Funny how such definite choices were made without any moment of conscious choice.
It occurred to me that the tree's body as it were, the trunk, bark, leaves would be growing and being shed without any conscious decision from the life of the tree. We do not tell out hair to grow, it just does, so with the leaves.
So the aliveness of the tree was doing nothing as such, apart from constantly being alive, never departing from the tree, always and forever in one spot. Sometimes being listened to by humans who talk to trees, otherwise just being there, ever patient.
I told H on the way to the dentist. He was quite taken by this or tactful. On reflection I had chosen to be deciduous, not an evergreen, a fully grown tree and definitely in England. Funny how such definite choices were made without any moment of conscious choice.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Words of wisdom
Read, reflect and inwardly digest this guidance from those ahead of us on the Home Educating journey.
Each paragraph is like a warm bath or a smile. All those reminders of exactly what this is about. The reasons for the groups and email discussions, late nights and deep breath decisions.
Each paragraph is like a warm bath or a smile. All those reminders of exactly what this is about. The reasons for the groups and email discussions, late nights and deep breath decisions.
Friday, 2 September 2011
Shouting in the dark
The film showing on Al Jazeera about Bahrain is also available on YouTube.
Seeing a doctor weeping on his desk is heartbreaking.
Seeing the doctor begging for help on the phone takes me back to hearing these desperate calls in the middle of the night on the radio as they were broadcast as part of the news. The news people shared the tapes because they could hear the need and must have known how important it is to break the silence.
You are, have been and will be prayed for, letters have been written for you, links have been shared, Twitter has been overused into the nights.
The same old ghastly tactics of bullying are not special, they have been brought out in all parts of the world. The same old tired denials are nothing new either.
....
I wrote this a few weeks ago, before the film was pulled and people started putting links to it on Twitter. Then I felt embarrassed about publishing this as I am so far away and don't even speak Arabic. But now I feel braver as Bahrain is back on the news, AJE, BBC and SkyNews etc.
Seeing a doctor weeping on his desk is heartbreaking.
Seeing the doctor begging for help on the phone takes me back to hearing these desperate calls in the middle of the night on the radio as they were broadcast as part of the news. The news people shared the tapes because they could hear the need and must have known how important it is to break the silence.
You are, have been and will be prayed for, letters have been written for you, links have been shared, Twitter has been overused into the nights.
The same old ghastly tactics of bullying are not special, they have been brought out in all parts of the world. The same old tired denials are nothing new either.
....
I wrote this a few weeks ago, before the film was pulled and people started putting links to it on Twitter. Then I felt embarrassed about publishing this as I am so far away and don't even speak Arabic. But now I feel braver as Bahrain is back on the news, AJE, BBC and SkyNews etc.
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Voices and faces
Over this summer I have heard my father I's voice in H's as H calls me on his mobile from upstairs! I saw my cousin S in T's face, hair and way of holding himself as he sat at the table.
Once my grandfather P told me, as I made a gesture with my hands, that his mother in law, who I never met, used to make that very same gesture. So that wave of the hand had been transmitted genetically, lain dormant for 2 generations and then surfaced as we were chatting in the hall!
After my grandmother R died I would get a shock when I'd look at myself in the mirror. I could see the same facial structure and could therefore tell what I might look like once dead. Hmm. When I smiled at myself the resemblance would go, so I smile at myself a lot now! I'm also a bit plumper and that helps me look more lifelike.
Once my grandfather P told me, as I made a gesture with my hands, that his mother in law, who I never met, used to make that very same gesture. So that wave of the hand had been transmitted genetically, lain dormant for 2 generations and then surfaced as we were chatting in the hall!
After my grandmother R died I would get a shock when I'd look at myself in the mirror. I could see the same facial structure and could therefore tell what I might look like once dead. Hmm. When I smiled at myself the resemblance would go, so I smile at myself a lot now! I'm also a bit plumper and that helps me look more lifelike.
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