No funny title for this one.

We Americans are barbarians, merciless rogues of the worst variety. Yesterday, the state of Georgia murdered a man named Troy Davis. They would claim that he was executed because he shot and killed an off-duty police officer one night in 1989, yet there was no confession and no physical evidence. The case hinged on the testimony of nine eyewitnesses, seven of whom have since recanted. Even if the vast majority of witnesses had NOT recanted, it would hardly matter. We’re increasingly aware that the eyewitness testimony of strangers is so unreliable as to be virtually useless. The fact that this crime occurred at night – when it’s hard to see – and involved a gun – which tends to distract witnesses – only made matters worse. Additionally, at least one person submitted a signed affidavit after the trial claiming that another man has since confessed to having been the shooter.

Essentially, the police bungled this case. They and the prosecutors set their sights on Troy Davis, and molded the evidence to fit their vision. The point here isn’t that Davis was unequivocally innocent; he and a number of other people were absolutely present when the crime occurred. The issue is doubt. While not a supporter of capital punishment, I don’t lose sleep over the execution of people who are most assuredly guilty, but in the presence of uncertainty, execution becomes murder.

Of course, guilt isn’t even the only mitigating factor. All available evidence suggests that race plays a major and inappropriate role in determining who is sentenced to life and who is sentenced to death. Indeed just last week, the Supreme Court rightly halted the execution of a black man named Duane Buck whose race had been given as a compelling reason why he should be put to death; a psychologist testified at his trial that, as a black man, he was likely to re-offend and would therefore pose a permanent threat to society. In short, a white man in his shoes would have been jailed for life. Buck was to be killed for being black.

There are also criminals whose mental capacity is a concern. During the 1992 campaign, Bill Clinton, as Governor of Arkansas, oversaw the execution of a man named Ricky Ray Rector. While Rector was unquestionably guilty, a botched suicide attempt just prior to his capture left him effectively lobotomized. He had no understanding of the court proceedings, nor of his sentence; he is said to have left to the side a piece of pecan pie from his final meal, telling the prison officials leading him to the death chamber that he was saving it for later.

That an innocent man may have been killed last night is unconscionable. The time has come to reign in our baser instincts, and join the civilized world.