Troy Davis: How To Help

Update: Wednesday, September 21. I will continue to update this post with links as I find them. Thanks to everyone who has posted the link to this on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr! All updates from today are in bold font. We have less than 12 hours to continue fighting for Troy Davis! 

Well, good morning, Meg. Woke up to the news that the Georgia Board of Paroles and Pardons has denied clemency for Troy Davis. I've been all over Facebook and Twitter, sharing my outrage and opening links to articles and petitions and people to email. I have, at this writing, eight tabs open, and keeping track of what I've signed and who I've emailed is getting a little hectic. So I'm consolidating my links here at the Little Pink Blog in the hopes that maybe someone will find them useful.

So, below, I've posted links for people to contact, petitions to sign, and articles you may find interesting or useful if you are still struggling to understand the case, and why I've crawled out of my usual self-absorbed blogger shell to devote most of the last few days to this case. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact These People: 

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal -- Yes, it is true that he really can't do anything, but one would think he at least has some political influence over his state. You can send him an email here. This is the domestic form; if you are from outside the U.S. there is a link to click at the top of the form. I have found a phone number--I understand it's hard to get through, but keep trying! They're being flooded with calls. (404) 656-1776
 

DA Larry Chishom is another good person to contact. You can do so here, via the NAACP. The DA requested the death warrant against Troy Davis, and he can also petition the judge to withdraw it. I'm hearing reports that some emails are being rejected by the DA's office (in an awful move by them). You can get heard, however, through Amnesty--the links are posted in the petition section below!

Here is the email for the Georgia Board of Paroles and Pardons. They denied clemency, but they can still reverse their decision...right up until Troy Davis is set to be executed. Update: Here's a phone number--according to Amnesty, the office is being flooded with calls! (912) 652-7308 Apparently, they've started blocking emails, which is ridiculous. Here are some phone and fax numbers provided by Amnesty:

  Fax or call the Parole Board and ask them to reconsider their decision and grant Troy clemency. Fax: 404-651-8502 and 404-651-6670 (try both as they will be busy), Phone: 404-656-0693 and 404-656-5651 

I'm not sure how much the President Obama can do, but I'm including this link to the page where you can contact the White House. At least it's another avenue for getting voices heard.


Thanks to Ana, in the comment section, for this! Contact Dr. Musso, of Correct Health, using this form from Georgians For Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Update: Just saw this on Twitter--Georgia Senator Vincent Fort is also urging Dr. Musso of Correct Health "to decline to participate and not allow any physician or other medical personnel associated with his companies to participate in the immoral execution of a possibly innocent man" by calling for a strike on the part of the prison medical staff.



Now I'm hearing that only Judge Penny Freesemann can withdraw the death warrant. Call her at (912) 652-7252

Also, you can send a message to Troy himself, here. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sign These Petitions:

Amnesty International has been working tirelessly to get this case out in the news. They have this petition. Last week they collected over 650,000 signatures. They will also keep people apprised as to what is happening with vigils and rallies on behalf of Troy Davis. Here's another one.

The NAACP has this petition to DA Larry Chisolm. 


Thank you, Lindsay, for sending the link to this petition! 


Here is a list of vigils for Troy Davis provided by Amnesty. Check back throughout the day as they get info for more!

Not sure how effective it is, but here is a "Twitition" you can sign on Twitter.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read and Share These Articles:

The Campaign to End the Death Penalty: A Travesty of Justice

The Atlantic: Why We Fight For Equal Justice (This is an excellent article--it's long, but worth a read.)

Think Progress: Scalia says there’s nothing unconstitutional about executing the innocent.

The Huffington Post: Bianca Jagger: Letter to Chairman of Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles: Grant Clemency to Troy Davis

The Atlantic: Explaining the Death Penalty to My Children

From the Files of Nefarious Newt (a blogging friend of mine): Georgia On My Mind

Feministing: Breaking: Troy Davis denied clemency

The Huffington Post: Why Are We Killing Troy Davis? This op-ed is fantastic.

"We, America, like to pat ourselves on the back and say job well done whenever there is a shred of racial or social progress in our fair nation. But then we habitually figure out ways to take one, two, several steps back, with this Troy Davis execution, with the rise of the Tea Party and its thinly-veiled racial paranoia politics, to push America right back to the good old says of segregation, Jim Crow, brute hatred of those who are different, while social inequalities run rampant like rats in the night."

From Lindsay--The New York Times: Georgia Pardons Board Denies Clemency for Death Row Inmate



From @richardkeane--Interview: Troy Davis' sister and nephew on YouTube. Also from Richard (via Twitter), Democracy Now will be doing a special broadcast for Troy Davis tomorrow night. They would like you to ask your local stations to air it.


Another one from Richard--he keeps Tweeting links and I keep reading and thinking, "Hell, this one's great, too." Time Magazine: Troy Davis's Clemency Denial: The Failure of a Legal "Safety Valve"



Here is an aerial view of the prison where Troy Davis' life hangs in the balance.


CBS News: Polygraph for Troy Davis blocked, attorney says

Listen to Richard Hughes of Keane speak on behalf of AmnestyUK.  

House Judiciary Committee Members Send Emergency Letter to Georgia State Parole Board. 

A 3-2 split at the clemency hearing? According to the New York Times, the NAACP believes it may have been that close.

The Guardian (UK): Troy Davis: 10 reasons why he should not be executed 



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worth Quoting:

"To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice." -Desmond Tutu

"I have never heard a murderer say they thought about the death penalty as consequence of their actions prior to committing their crimes."
-Gregory Ruff, police lieutenant in Kansas

"As if one crime of such nature, done by a single man, acting individually, can be expiated by a similar crime done by all men, acting collectively."
-Lewis Lawes, warden of Sing Sing prison in NY in the 1920s and 30s

"The most glaring weakness is that no matter how efficient and fair the DP may seem in theory, in actual practice it is primarily inflicted upon the weak, the poor, the ignorant and minorities."
-Pat Brown, former CA governor

"What says the law? You will not kill. How does it say it? By killing!"
-Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables

"I have yet to see a death case among the dozen coming to the Supreme Court on eve-of-execution stay applications in which the defendant was well represented at trial... People who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty."
-Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

"I've been haunted by the men I was asked to execute in the name of the state of Florida. This is premeditated, carefully thought out ceremonial killing."
-Ron McAndrew, was a prison warden in Florida

 

I fully believe there is time for the Georgia Board of Paroles and Pardons to see reason and reverse their decision. If you believe in this cause, please, act! And if you know of any other people to contact or petitions to sign on behalf of Troy Davis, let me know and I'll add them.