Troy Davis
It seems that the death of Troy Davis this evening has turned into a historical event that contradicts American public opinion regarding capital punishment.
According to the latest news, the country is currently evenly split between those in favor of the death penalty and those who would prefer a life sentence without the possibility of parole. This division has been made clear in surveys which have been carried out, but it has never been the cause of a passionate public demonstration.
This bizarre situation boils down to a single observation: Despite the international outcry and the appeals of people such as Jimmy Carter, America remains fundamentally indifferent to one of the most controversial issues in American judicial history.
Issues of policy and identity regularly creep into the chaos of appeals and petitions. The Board of Pardons and Paroles in Georgia, which has the exclusive right of granting reprieves and commuting the death penalty, has reacted in its own way to the pressures from the outside world. As is the case in Texas, the death penalty has become an assertion of the identity of the South against the human rights activism of the North.
The reaction of the United States Supreme Court, which is controlled by Republican-leaning judges, can be characterized less as a liking for executions than a purely ideological obsession with the supremacy of state laws, which are applied as the states themselves see fit. Politically, nobody in Georgia had the least bit of interest in taking a stand for Troy Davis. The electorate, despite its foot-dragging on the death penalty, is much more inclined to reproach an elected representative for his leniency than for his determination to put a possiblly innocent person to death.
According to the latest news, the country is currently evenly split between those in favor of the death penalty and those who would prefer a life sentence without the possibility of parole. This division has been made clear in surveys which have been carried out, but it has never been the cause of a passionate public demonstration.
This bizarre situation boils down to a single observation: Despite the international outcry and the appeals of people such as Jimmy Carter, America remains fundamentally indifferent to one of the most controversial issues in American judicial history.
Issues of policy and identity regularly creep into the chaos of appeals and petitions. The Board of Pardons and Paroles in Georgia, which has the exclusive right of granting reprieves and commuting the death penalty, has reacted in its own way to the pressures from the outside world. As is the case in Texas, the death penalty has become an assertion of the identity of the South against the human rights activism of the North.
The reaction of the United States Supreme Court, which is controlled by Republican-leaning judges, can be characterized less as a liking for executions than a purely ideological obsession with the supremacy of state laws, which are applied as the states themselves see fit. Politically, nobody in Georgia had the least bit of interest in taking a stand for Troy Davis. The electorate, despite its foot-dragging on the death penalty, is much more inclined to reproach an elected representative for his leniency than for his determination to put a possiblly innocent person to death.
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