Supreme Court Delays Troy Davis Decision

by Matt Kelley

Published June 29, 2009 @ 03:17PM PT

The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it was delaying its decision until September in the case of Georgia prisoner Troy Davis, who has spent nearly two decades on death row for a murder he says he didn't commit.

Mounting evidence points to Davis' innocence in this case, and much of it has never been heard by a court. The court's delay means he won't be executed this summer, and advocates were encouraged that the delay was a sign that the Court may have reservations about allowing Davis to be executed. The delay may also put pressure on Georgia officials to act in the interest of justice before the fall.

Although Chatham County District Attorney Larry Chisholm said today that he would wait until all appeals were exhausted before considering the case, it's hard to ignore the 60,000 signatures - including 11,000 from his district, that were delivered to his doorstep today. Add your name to the petition here.

I spoke about the case recently with Laura Moye, the director of Amnesty International's death penalty abolition campaign. Although she said Davis' appeals have been "an incredibly uphill struggle," she remained hopeful that the unprecedented awareness and activism around Davis' case would get him a day in court.

"Troy Davis would have been executed two years ago if it had not been for the advocacy efforts of hundreds of thousands of people," she said. "His case has really woken people up in a way that we haven't seen in a long time and it has galvanized a movement."

Davis was convicted of killing a police officer in Savannah in 1991 and sentenced to death. Since his trial, seven of nine eyewitnesses have come forward to say they were wrong - many have gone further and said another man (one of the two 'eyewitnesses' who haven't recanted) was the killer. Davis has come within hours of execution three times only to receive last-minute stays.

Moye said that aside from the Supreme Court, Davis was focused on appealing to Chisholm, who was elected in 2008 after a campaign promising to "increase the sense of fairness" in his office.

A diverse group of world leaders has spoken up for fairness and justice in Davis' case - including President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, Desmond Tutu and many others.

Take action today - call on Chisholm to stand up for justice for Troy Davis.

Here's more on today's U.S. Supreme Court announcement.